3 reasons why your process management is the ultimate knowledge repository

“Knowledge is power” – people have known this for at least half a millennium. And even if the phrase sounds a little too... dictatorial for the average consumer, it still makes it clear: knowledge has always been a valuable treasure that must be protected and preserved.

Knowledge, regardless of the context, must be protected. This naturally also applies to every company; be it the gigantic New York corporation or the small baker around the corner who has bravely held his own in a village somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Germany. The topic becomes even more interesting when you start to consider how diverse the topic of knowledge, or information in general, is in a corporate context: production techniques, market experience, interview guidelines, supplier data, or even just when regular customer Mr. Alm Öhi has his birthday, the examples are endless.

At this point, we will now make the (admittedly wide) leap back. The question that unites our two rather opposing players: how exactly do we store knowledge in the company? And how do we deal with the fact that knowledge comes in so many different forms? Let's give it a try...

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Since a company is made up of a wide variety of processes, it makes sense to link the knowledge to these. It's like using the existing building blocks to tell a story with them (if the allusion isn't enough, I mean this beautiful picture here). So can we store something like knowledge in a process-related way? Yes, yes we can.

Confronted with the previously defined hurdles and requirements, process management is almost predestined for the task of serving as a knowledge repository in the company. After all, it's all about the planning, implementation, control and optimization of processes in the company. By definition, process management needs knowledge of all processes in the company in order to function efficiently. So why not use this characteristic? We have therefore listed 3 reasons below why a process management system is the ultimate knowledge repository for your company – and compiled 3 tips to make your process management system a better knowledge repository!

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1.     Documentation of processes and procedures

We have already touched on this first point, but it is important to explain it in more detail here: your process management system documents and visualizes all business processes, workflows, and procedures in the company. In this context, detailed process documentations are essential: these not only store the knowledge about processes in general, but also the specialist knowledge and the direct approach of the responsible employees. The more precisely a process is documented, the better it is understood.

Our tip: Make sure that a detailed description exists for every important process in the company – if possible, also visually represented. This way, nothing is lost and the stored knowledge can be passed on more easily at the same time.

2. Standardization and knowledge transfer

In connection with a detailed documentation of processes, this point fits in seamlessly: Process management not only promotes the standardization of processes, but a documented process also facilitates the transfer of knowledge from experienced employees to new colleagues. Process documentation makes it possible to record proven, existing procedures in order to ensure that they are not lost over time. Proper process documentation therefore captures the current „best practice“ and can almost be understood as training material. This cultivation of employee knowledge and experience brings with it another advantage, as knowledge is thus made company-related instead of employee-related.

Our tip: Keep your process documentation as understandable as possible. Use clear language, and flowcharts or diagrams if possible. The process must be understandable for all employees, not just for you. The better the employee experience with a process, the better this process is also suitable as a source of knowledge.

3. Continuous improvement

The cultivation of employee knowledge also provides another argument for process management as a knowledge store: Not only is the knowledge of existing colleagues about proven processes secured, but also their experiences about possible bottlenecks, problems or inefficiencies within the process. Since problems can of course always be understood as "thorny opportunities", we have here a way in which potential improvements for the entire process can be identified at the same time. Tapping into and retrieving this knowledge naturally also brings with it a certain degree of employee integration, even „empowerment“, which is always an advantage in today's working environment.

Our tip: Encourage your employees to reflect on their processes on a regular basis in order to receive better suggestions for optimization. Another way to improve the company as a whole would be to enable employee training by employees themselves: Empowerment and workshop in one!

Conclusion: Processes are knowledge.

By linking the knowledge of our company to our processes in our process management system, we enable it to be used much more efficiently. The cultivation of company knowledge, as is common practice in process management anyway, offers many advantages for companies – not least that the company knowledge is thus centrally condensed in one place and presented in a way that is understandable for everyone involved. A knowledge management system can be built on the basis of processes, which not only strictly collects information, but one that also puts it into context – process management builds us our Le- no, brand name: our clamp brick house.

At the same time, process management enables the existing knowledge about the current state of the company to be used for improvement measures in the company by updating a discussion guide and by knowing that Mr. Öhi has a birthday and will probably spend more money in the store today if this is acknowledged. The company can therefore turn its knowledge into power through detailed, continuous process management.

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