Which Microsoft tools for knowledge management?

Knowledge Management is a process that aims to capitalize on the information that circulates in the company to transform it into usable data and make it accessible to all employees. It generally takes the form of document management, i.e. a set of processes that allow the management of the lifecycle of documents, on a solid or dematerialized support.

What Microsoft tools can be used with this in mind?    

Follow the guide.

The importance of knowledge management in business

Knowledge management is a key element of the company. It allows to identify, analyze, structure and share all the knowledge of the members of an organization, whether it is internal knowledge (research and development, marketing, communication...) or knowledge acquired externally (cultural capital, experience and expertise of employees, etc.).

On average, it takes 1.8 hours per day to find information, which is an obvious loss of productivity for the company. It is estimated that the losses linked to information management methods within European companies amount to 46 billion euros, knowing that the cost to find a simple misplaced or lost document is 90 euros!

This is the reason for the importance of good knowledge management, which not only simplifies access to information, but also promotes the sharing of data between members of the same company.

Microsoft has understood the importance of this issue for its customers and has long sought to provide them with concrete solutions in this area. In 2001, Microsoft launched the SharePoint software to create collaboration portals that allow companies to store and share documentation. With the arrival of Teams and Viva, a true ecosystem has been built based on SharePoint.

How can you take advantage of these new tools to implement a knowledge management strategy? Let's take a closer look.

What tools should I use in Microsoft?

Tool1: SharePoint

Electronic document management (EDM) is the ultimate tool for knowledge management, enabling increased productivity and promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing.

More generally, the EDM allows to follow the lifecycle of documents: creation, storage, different modified versions, deletion and archiving. This document management tool is part of this era where dematerialization and the use of technology in business are becoming increasingly important.

SharePoint, which makes it easy to organize your document management, is at the heart of the Digital Workplace and Teams.

SharePoint sites are used to store and organize documents, but also to make them available to users. These sites offer document templates, which users can use to describe their knowledge. Tags can be added to categorize documents. Mozzaik365's advanced search then makes it very easy to find a document: all this creates a SharePoint document management.  

Here are the benefits you will get by creating your DMS in SharePoint:

• Information security;
• A fluid sharing of documents and information between collaborators (no more sending by email, no more lost files, no more problems with bulky documents, no more time wasted to find the last version of the files...);
• Documents are organized and always at hand, thanks to the ability to access SharePoint document databases from within Teams.

Internal and external users can work on the same file without having to create a copy. They only need to have access to the file's link, which preserves the documentary quality of the data.

Finally, it is possible to go even further in the organization of documents with Mozzaik365 thanks to the addition of Tags(or, metadata) and the advanced search feature to facilitate access to resources and knowledge.

Tool 2: Onedrive

Onedrive is a personal online document storage tool. With this tool,

you have access to all your files and work documents, no matter where you are. This access works from any device, be it a computer, a smartphone or a tablet. All you have to do is log in to the Onedrive application with your Microsoft account. You can also share your documents by sending a simple link.

The advantage of Onedrive is that your documents are stored in the Cloud, for maximum security. This provides additional protection: for example, if a device is lost, the stored documents are not lost because they are saved in the Cloud.

Onedrive is particularly suitable for :

• Personal work-related files (meeting notes, expense reports, legal documents such as employment contracts, etc.);
• Draft documents, before transferring them to SharePoint.

Tool 3: Teams

Teams is a secure collaborative platform from which you can access SharePoint documents. Project stakeholders can collaborate on a daily basis, including working on document editing in real time. Collaboration is organized by channels and/or teams, which helps structure projects.

The Wiki application allows team members to use their channels to create, add or edit information within Teams. It also serves as a communication tool for the team. Each Teams channel comes with a Wiki tab by default, but additional tabs can be created to suit your needs. Every collaborator has access to the right information.

Finally, tabbed systems allow you to integrate external applications, such as task management tools (Planner, etc.), note-taking tools (OneNote) and reporting tools (Power BI). The result: less disjointed teamwork.

Teams brings a real advantage as a collaborative tool in order to keep the document base alive. It is a complementary tool and 100% linked to the document base in order to better manage the lifecycle of documents, especially during a project involving different collaborators and stakeholders.

Note that Teams is equipped with a system of mentions that allows users to be notified that content is added or updated. This avoids sending unnecessary emails, knowing that 88 emails per employee are received every day in companies!

The best thing: Teams is compatible with many project management applications (such as Planner) and collective knowledge, thanks to the Apps system.  
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Use SharePoint, Onedrive and Teams to leverage their features

The three tools we have just described can be used together to optimize the document lifecycle.

For example, you can start by creating a draft document in Onedrive, before sharing the file in SharePoint so that the people of your choice can work on it in a collaborative manner. Once this file is finalized, it can be accessed from multiple locations by members of the same team or channel.

The features brought by the apps

Applications such as Confluence, Jira or Trello can provide additional features and thus optimize knowledge management in companies.

For example, Confluence allows you to host all types of content and collaborate with your teams, notably by sharing the stages of a project's progress. Confluence automatically creates a report that can be modified according to your needs. Similarly, it is possible to publish internal notes that can be used by all team members.

The Jira application allows you to track projects and tasks, thanks to a predefined workflow customized to the team's needs. The advantage: detailed follow-up, thanks to reports and dashboards adapted to the team's specificities.

All these features allow to enrich and expand existing knowledge management tools.

Conclusion

Knowledge management tools offer efficient ways to centralize the information available to a company, and to optimize its use. They enable knowledge to be organized and stored in media that are accessible to all, in order to avoid the loss of productivity caused by searching for scattered information. For employees, it is also a guarantee of more autonomy in their functions, and of an increase in skills induced by learning from peers.

Why use Microsoft tools for knowledge management? In addition to their numerous features, these tools are interconnected and integrate into a unique work environment called the Digital Workplace.  

This facilitates innovation, collaboration between teams, information dissemination, learning, and ultimately, the capitalization of all resources acquired by the company.