The best return on investment: Preparing the ground for digital transformation with an intelligent knowledge management system.
Digitalization is the buzz word on everyone’s lips right now. For the majority, this brings to mind AI, blockchain or the IoT. Not many think about documentation. While plenty of companies are content with their trusty ring binders and PDFs, experts agree that the first step towards a knowledge-based society is making internal company knowledge fully digital. Aside from anything else, this boosts company efficiency at a manageable cost.
Crane your head around the door of any management conference and you’ll hear a similar refrain: knowledge is the most important resource in the 21st century. Where hammer and chisel once held sway, information and knowledge-based processes now dominate our working days. However, a company’s internal expertise can only be harnessed efficiently if it is accessible, accurate and kept up to date. This calls for a modern knowledge management system – or, to be more precise, a digital knowledge management system. Which is far more than just a collection of individual documents.
Here are the four of the most important reasons why investing in one makes sense:
- Efficient teamwork and information sharing
Digital documentation facilitates prompt employee access to information. This translates into a marked improvement in the quality of in-house collaborations, allowing information to be shared quickly and easily between teams and departments.
- Reducing delays in communication
Whether it’s for customer service or related to security, the correct information needs to be available right when it’s needed. This not only helps to avoid errors and limits inefficiencies but greatly enhances company responsiveness.
- Faster decision-making with less manual intervention
Well-documented processes and information pave the way for faster decision making while reducing the need for manual interventions – saving valuable time and resources.
- Facilitating remote work
A key advantage of our globalized world is being able to work virtually from any location. Only fully digital documentation guarantees immediate access to the information your team needs – whether they’re working from home via digital devices or as part of teams dotted across the world.
The price of inefficient documentation
The advantages of intelligent documentation are plain to see. But many companies still fail to notice the elephant in the room. There’s an old argument that is often trotted out – “things work just fine the way they are” – but it can end up strangling innovation. Below is a short list of the detrimental effects that can occur when working with outdated document management systems:
- Wasted time:
People waste precious time looking for information or performing duplicate tasks – for example, preparing documents that already exist. - Out-of-date files and obsolete procedures:
Locally saved documents do not get updated. Using outdated procedures inevitably leads to outdated solutions. - More employee errors:
If your team members lack a solid understanding of key processes and guidelines, you risk error and a culture of inefficiency. - Dependence on key individuals:
If only a handful of key individuals have access to critical knowledge and information is not documented, their departure from the company can prove incredibly challenging. - Compliance violations:
Insufficient documentation can result in missed deadlines, inaccurate reporting and – worse still – failure to adhere to legal requirements and compliance standards. - Inefficient onboarding:
Onboarding processes that are not well documented eat up valuable time and hamper employee efficiency.
Intelligent knowledge management: the low-hanging fruit of digitalization
The above list may sound all doom and gloom, but there is good news, too: implementing an intelligent knowledge management system is easier than you might think. With its excellent benefit-cost ratio, it’s the ripest of low-hanging fruit – and the ideal cornerstone of an efficient digitalization strategy for your company. Specifically, it offers the following benefits:
- Easy to implement:
Modern documentation management systems are easy to implement – updated documents (e.g. Word or PDF files) can be imported automatically. - Strengthening digital workflows:
Digital documentation is central to the transformation process for companies aiming to shore up their internal digital workflows for the long term. - High cost efficiency:
Many parts of the digitalization process come with a hefty price tag. But switching to a digital knowledge management system doesn’t – it’s actually very cost-efficient. - Fast return on investment:
On average, it only takes 12 months to recoup the investments of a digital knowledge management system through productivity gains – which should please your CFO.
In a world where data and information are crucial success factors, an intelligent knowledge management system is at the heart of efficient company processes. Decision makers should be aware of the importance of knowledge management and willing to invest in state-of-the-art systems. After all, investing in an intelligent knowledge management system means investing in what sets successful companies apart: employee knowledge. And superior quality across the board.
A live demo: see what Yonder can do for you.
We would love to show you in person how moving to an intelligent knowledge management works and how making the switch works wonders on efficiency.
So why not book a demo today? We look forward to hearing from you.