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Software
One of your employees has just tried to print something and
he/she gets a printer error. The error says, “Out of
paper.” Well the employee knows that the printer is
not out of paper and it does not have a paper jam. What to
do? Well the traditional answer is to call technical support.
But wait. Hasn’t someone else in the office seen this
error before? Can it be corrected faster with the help of
a co-worker? In this article we will review 7 ways a Knowledge
Base program can improve overall office communication.
1. The biggest reason to use a Knowledge Base program is to
keep track of software problems. Almost all offices have three
dynamics to their software: Operating System, Productivity
Software, and custom built software for your business. Entrusting
all your business computers to all of this software is indeed
a brave move. A Knowledge Base program allows your employees
to enter detailed information on a variety of software topics
including; how-to(s), program errors, settings and options,
hardware settings, and many others.
2. A Knowledge Base program is perfect for storing…
well, knowledge. Quite often your office will have an employee
who has been with the business for several years and then
suddenly submits their two week notice for a variety of reasons.
This employee takes all of his/her knowledge with them. This
leaves other less informed employees to fill their shoes.
Not an easy task. It doesn’t need to be that way any
more. With a Knowledge Base program, an employee can be required
to make at least one entry a week. If you have 5 employees,
that is 260 entries in your Knowledge Base per year!
3. How does one define knowledge? A Knowledge Base can be
basically anything you desire. Quite often we have contact
information, vendor information, and policies and procedures
stored in hundreds of files over the whole hard drive; or
worse, papers all over the office. A Knowledge Base makes
it easy to have all that information in one place. If the
Knowledge Base has a robust search engine; a search can be
completed in a few seconds.
4. Customer Relations. A Knowledge Base can improve customer
relations. Customers can now have advanced knowledge of polices
and procedures and well as product and service pricing, and
with a quick response from the employee.
5. More accurate answers. Often, you simply give up trying
to find the information and take your best guess at what you
think the material contained. While this may be acceptable
to you some of the time, it may not be acceptable to the customer
or client you are talking to.
6. Improve Office productivity. The same employee that had
the “out of paper” error message found out from
the Knowledge Base that he/she needed to re-install the printer
driver. This saved the employee twenty minutes out of the
work day.
7. Beat the competition. The competition may have never even
considered using a Knowledge Base program in the office. By
having this basic idea and software in place, you will be
able to work smarter, save time, and save money. The competition
will be left in the dust!
Bonus Tip:
Research the best Knowledge Base software for your business.
Knowledge Base(s), sometimes called Knowledge Management comes
in many different flavors. Check out the vendors! Make sure
they have a free demo or product information on their website.
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