If 2020 taught us anything in IT service management, it’s that knowledge management needs to be more than a handful of “how to reset your password” articles to save your IT teams from a flood of tickets.
The term knowledge management refers to the practice of gathering knowledge, documenting it, and then making it available for those who need it (essentially, anyone who works at the company who’s stumbled upon an IT issue). Knowledge management allows employees outside of the IT department to access advice and tips that could help them solve problems. And when they can find this information on their own, it saves the entire organization time and money.
And, one thing we know well is that automation gives you the opportunity to streamline requests without a technician needing to be called upon every single time an incident comes up.
We’ve talked a lot about artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, and these impactful technologies are powerful ways your service desk can take your knowledge base to the next level. While you may not be able to go as big as you need (or want) to right this minute, automated requests for services from all the departments in the enterprise is a dream that can be achieved with the right IT service management software.
Today’s service desk tools will help users find the knowledge they’re looking for. This means that you don’t have to have a technician monitoring requests that come in through email each day, and it also means that your employees can find the answers themselves. And it’s not just limited to IT.
As you populate the knowledge base with new articles and resources, your portal can suggest these solutions to users before they go through the trouble of creating a ticket. Through modern search functions and smart technology, users are more connected to your knowledge base than ever before.
If automation and AI aren’t immediately in your next steps to service management success, here are two ways you can grow your knowledge data so that it’s ready to automate knowledge management down the road.
Sharing is Caring
The reality of the modern enterprise is that everyone needs to work together. It can be easier said than done, particularly if you have multiple offices in multiple locations. But this doesn’t mean that you have to share everything that you know; you can pick and choose the information that other departments frequently request.
Let’s say that you need a service that requires multiple permissions. Instead of the craziness of emailing back and forth, you can automate knowledge management permissions based on the process that’s outlined in the knowledge base. You can also create automations that route and prioritize requests based on the departments and requesters from whom they originate.
Make Knowledge Management Routine
It’s a best practice to initiate a knowledge article the moment you close a service desk ticket. That doesn’t mean an article actually gets written or edited immediately. So, write an automation that sends an email to the technician with a link to the knowledge base, reminding them to take action and then periodically reminding them to update their articles until they close out the tasks.
Instead of telling an analyst to handle the write up during their downtime, set aside a block of time daily, weekly or in other increments depending on your service desk staffing needs. If needed, develop a content creation process from other departments within your business for extra assistance. It can be a great way to build cross-departmental relationships while improving the quality of your entries.
A robust knowledge base will help solve tickets and fulfill requests with minimal intervention from the service desk. If, for example, someone has forgotten their password again, you can easily find the steps to reset it without a technician’s help. Empower your users by allowing them to seek the answers themselves instead of waiting around for someone from IT.
