Documentation: The foundation of knowledge management

Although it seems like common sense to document processes used in business, many companies have a sever lack of documentation on routine tasks preformed by their employees. Remember that solid documentation is one of the most important asset a company has, however more is not necessarily better.

So the question comes down to what to document and what not to document. Ideally everything should be documented, however this is not necessary. Many standard practices are already available in book, and electronic format. Purchase reference books to accommodate general knowledge. Small tasks that are repeated regularly or large projects should be recorded to fill the gaps of any new entrant into a particular position not covered by reference material. Documenting technical, but well known information (such as how to FTP a file) wastes time and money.

The format should be clear enough to understand to a qualified individual for that job, but should be brief enough so that a pertaining section can be read in a few minutes (5-15 min). Storage format needs to be consistent for use by other applications if it is to ever be used for a solid knowledge management program. This means it information needs to be stored in a central database, albeit you can use whatever template programs you wish when the forms are filled out including "JSP", Java, ".net", and "cgi" applications.

Methods of collection come in three flavors: active, passive, and interactive. You can maintain historical logs of when users log in, what applications they use, who contacts them via telephone & email, and where they use them through system & application logging automatically for passive documentation. Documenting systems actively, requires users to open up a designed interface, or pull out a pen and paper to write documentation out as the project resolves. Interactive documenting methods are an automated system that forces users to write documentation as they perform their work. Some examples are a call center that records conversations and requires users to generate call tags, or an application development system that requires programmers to insert a certain ratio of comments to code. Clearly interactive systems provide superior results in regards to consistently, however not necessarily in quality.

Resistance to documentation should be handled severely. If employees make themselves indispensable because they are the only ones to know a "non-standard" practice then it is the equivalent of blackmail to the company. Expect to fire a few people to set an example if resistance is high. Set up a system of checks and balances so your employees continue to document their work. In the end the company will benefit from the ability to look up how practices are previously accomplished and benchmarks on each process that needs to be fulfilled. Индивидуальный подход к каждому клиенту прессотерапия по доступной цене.