unleash logo

Unleash Blog

Read the latest insights and tips on digital organization, workflows, productivity, and ways to unleash your potential.
Unleash: Unified enterprise search across all workplace applications
Knowledge managementUnleash: Unified enterprise search across all workplace applicationsEnterprise search engines facilitate information retrieval from internal or external sources, doing for an organization what Google does for the internet—creating a secure, efficient, and functional search engine so that businesses don't have to manually tag, index, share, and retrieve information. These tools organize data so that users can encode and access data across multiple sources, like documents, databases, websites, intranets, applications, and more. In a business context, enterprise search tools should be able to integrate with data management solutions and business intelligence software. Such seamless integration ensures information remains organized and easy to locate, not siloed under different data banks. Having excellent enterprise search software is one of the keys to productivity and proficiency, especially in industries where customer-facing information needs to be accessed quickly. * Which type of search do you need? Learn the difference between federated search and enterprise search. Traditional Enterprise Search Traditionally, enterprise search tools were used to search through structured documents such as application forms and invoices. In addition to formats having to be predictable and search keywords having to match the database exactly for the user to find what they're looking for, searchability was limited to natively digital text. This meant that only the texts typed in specific file formats were recognized, and not scanned or handwritten documents. However, although enterprise search has traditionally been restricted to cloud data, you can now opt for a secure enterprise search solution that offers capabilities for both cloud and on-premise data. Nevertheless, certain problems with regard to implementation still exist—as with anything tech-related, not all solutions are easily adaptable. Some solutions may come with all the bells and whistles but require a rigorous onboarding process that costs businesses more time and money in the long run, while others may offer quick onboarding but not much else in terms of functionality and features. So, is there a sweet spot for an enterprise search solution that offers all the key features a good enterprise search tool should have? Our Full-Spectrum Solution Enter Unleash, an enterprise search tool that seamlessly marries powerful features with quick onboarding. Offering an enterprise search tool for cloud and on-premise data, Unleash allows you to find everything you need with just one tool. In addition to integrating with all your favorite apps, Unleash will help you search for anything from files stored in the cloud to those in computers or anywhere else, all in one place! Costing less than 10 cents a day, our full-spectrum solution is incredibly easy to set up. Powered by seamless searching technology, our software does away with context switches, allowing you to activate productivity in one click. Most importantly, you can rest assured your data is secure with us—our company was founded by cyber security veterans, so we take privacy and security very seriously. With Unleash, you never have to worry about these things: Multi-layer security: your data is isolated and fully encrypted on our secured AWS data center cloudPrivacy: your data will never be shared or sold to anyoneControl and visibility: you have full control over which services you wish to link with Unleash, as well as the level of access you’re comfortable withCompliance: Unleash is GDPR-ready and SOC2 Type II-compliant What Makes Unleash Special? Unleash allows you to access your data at lightning speed to find what you need in one place– be it emails, receipts, videos, images, records, or anything else. Our intelligent search engine also analyzes user behavior and delivers relevant information, giving you a smart, personalized experience each time. Some of our stand-out features include: Search inside documents: you can find a file without remembering its actual file name, as Unleash brings up the most relevant results to your search inquiryAdvanced filters: get more personalized and intelligent results, as Unleash learns user behavior and frequently accessed informationAll-around calculator: get instant answers for currency conversions, time zone differences, computations, temperatures, volumes, distances, and moreMeetings: organize and launch meetings all in one place with the calendar viewSearch the web: search isn't limited to cloud and on-premise data—you can also search Google, Bing, Wikipedia, and DuckDuckGo directly from Unleash! Unleash Your Potential With a Comprehensive Enterprise Search Tool Harness the power of intelligent searching with Unleash! Once you try our comprehensive enterprise search tool, you won't have to deal with too many tabs on your desktop whenever you’re trying to look for something. Pull up a file, contact, or email in a split second! Improve collaboration and productivity in your workplace for a fraction of the cost—that’s the Unleash promise. * Still not convinced? Try it for free!
Enterprise Search Engines: Key Features & Benefits
Knowledge managementEnterprise Search Engines: Key Features & BenefitsAn enterprise search engine is essentially a technology that enables employees to easily find the information they need within the organization, whether through email, databases, file shares, or document management systems. Businesses are constantly collecting vast amounts of data, making it difficult to find relevant information. However, enterprise search engines shorten the time it takes to find data, allowing employees to focus on higher-value tasks. Keep reading to find out all you need to know about this innovative technology and how to optimize your enterprise search. * Does your company need enterprise search or federated search? Find out here How to Use an Enterprise Search Engine According to McKinsey's estimates, a typical digital worker spends approximately 28% of their time looking through email and 20% of their time looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can assist them. We all know that time is money, but that's even more true in enterprises. In fact, the International Data Corporation found that companies with 1,000 knowledge employees waste $48,000 per week due to information retrieval issues. To prevent such waste, organizations can use enterprise search engines to improve their search capabilities, allowing employees to look for information anywhere in the organization, even if it’s scattered across multiple databases or file systems. Here are some common use cases for an enterprise search engine: Knowledge Management Most businesses have a lot of information, so enterprise search engines are most commonly used as internal company search engines to facilitate looking up and managing that information. To simplify knowledge management, enterprise search engines allow finding and gathering data across multiple systems to do an intranet search for an improved employee experience. * Need help managing information? Here's how to develop a knowledge management strategy E-Commerce and Customer Service In addition to presenting customers with products they're most likely to purchase on an e-commerce website, an enterprise search engine can also provide businesses with data about customers' past purchases and purchasing habits. Also, if a customer has a problem, an enterprise search engine will enable a customer service representative to quickly find the solution. Finding Contacts An enterprise search engine efficiently finds the contacts you need by looking through name fragments and providing results for names with similar spellings. Recruitment Large companies will have a huge pool of candidates in their databases, which can be difficult to navigate. Enterprise search engines can be used to search and match applications with job descriptions, speeding up the process of finding the right applicant for the job. Insight Engines Enterprise search engines equipped with AI should be able to detect insightful relationships between data points, whether that’s people, content, or other data. However, with so many enterprise search engines available, it's essential to choose the right engine for your business and configure it correctly to provide value to your business. We’ve established that data needs to be accessible, but you don’t want any corporate information to get into the wrong hands. To safeguard your data, your organization should implement secure enterprise search software that will encrypt data, have ways to send alerts and detect intrusions, and protect information with access authentication. * Learn the key differences between enterprise search and web search The Benefits of an Enterprise Search Engine Enterprise search engines not only make it easier to access data, but they also help organizations centralize information and reduce data silos. Here’s a closer look at the five benefits of enterprise search engines for your organization. 1. Improved Productivity On average, employees spend almost 2 hours daily just searching and gathering information, which amounts to over 9 hours per week that could be spent focusing on tasks or improving their skills instead. Having an effective enterprise search engine can also empower employees to act independently since they won't have to seek help from coworkers as much. In addition, they'll be more productive since enterprise search engines allow users to refine their queries. 2. Increased Collaboration Enterprise search engines make it easy for any employee to stay up to date on any information in the company. They'll also be able to share what they know with their coworkers, which will help them work together better and reduce miscommunications. 3. Enhanced Decision-Making Organizations face many challenges that require swift, data-driven decision-making. Without access to accurate information, workers are unable to move freely and may even perform worse, which has a detrimental impact on the organization as a whole. 4. Reduced Data Silos Data silos hamper collaboration and knowledge sharing. When data is locked away from users who need it, the organization suffers from duplicated or fragmented data, flawed decision-making, and lowered productivity. One way to reduce data silos is to implement an enterprise search solution and enable employees to search across all the data repositories in the organization, including internal and external sources. * Why are data silos problematic? See the answer and ways to fix them 5. Refined Data Enterprise search engines are designed to centralize information. When employees have access to accurate information, the organization can uphold its data integrity. This means data stays consistent, and employees get information from one true source, which is a massive benefit for businesses of all sizes, especially larger organizations with vast amounts of data. Key Features of an Enterprise Search Tool Now that we’ve outlined the many benefits of this technology, here are some key features to look for in an enterprise search tool: 1. Scalability If your organization is growing rapidly or acquiring high volumes of data, the enterprise search engine you choose must be able to scale accordingly. 2. Semantic Search Semantic search is a useful enterprise search engine feature for organizations with plenty of unstructured data. This feature lets the tool understand the context behind an employee’s query and deliver the most relevant results. 3. Data Security Not all data should be available to all users. To keep this in check, enterprise search engine security features like role-based security authorization restrict data access to authorized users only. 4. Search Analytics This feature will provide organizations with more than just searching for data—it also offers new insights that can help improve operational efficiency. 5. Smart Recommendations AI-powered tools recommend results to employees with similar interests and search patterns. This makes their search results more relevant to their current needs. How Do I Select an Enterprise Search Engine Provider? Now, how do you implement enterprise search? You’ll first need to choose the right enterprise search engine provider. To do this, take the following aspects into account: Can it accommodate all your files and employees?Is it easy to use?Can it return the most relevant results first?Can users customize the search results based on their needs?Can users preview documents before clicking?Is there a limit to how many documents you can index?Can it integrate with your existing systems? Overall, the best enterprise search engine for you is the one that meets your company's specific needs. Using an Enterprise Search Engine: The Verdict If you're wondering whether you should use an enterprise search engine, consider your organization's size, the number of documents you need to index, and the amount of time and money you're willing to invest. Although a powerful enterprise search tool like Unleash is very useful for large organizations, if you're running a smaller organization or only have a few hundred documents to index, you should be able to get by with a basic search engine. * Looking for a powerful enterprise search tool? Supercharge your company search with Unleash
Knowledge Management Matrix: 4 Steps to Improve Team Performance
Knowledge managementKnowledge Management Matrix: 4 Steps to Improve Team PerformanceOrganizations are always in a state of growth, developing and exploring new ways to conduct business. Consequently, they accumulate extensive institutional knowledge that is vital for their success. A knowledge management matrix helps organizations assess their knowledge assets. It can be used to develop an awareness of any skills shortages, enhance operational proficiency, and boost overall performance. The matrix comprises four quadrants (internal, external, institutional, and individual), each representing a different kind of knowledge. In order to accomplish these goals, a company must capture knowledge, improve access to knowledge, improve the knowledge environment, and manage knowledge as an asset. By doing so, organizations can improve team performance, streamline processes, and create a culture of continuous learning. To use a knowledge management matrix to improve team performance, organizations should follow these four steps: Identify and prioritize the types of knowledge that are most important for achieving organizational goals.Create a system for capturing and organizing knowledge in a way that is accessible to all team members.Foster a culture of knowledge sharing by encouraging team members to contribute and participate in the knowledge management process.Continuously evaluate and refine the knowledge management process to ensure that it is meeting the needs of the organization. To foster a successful knowledge management system, companies should create a learning and growth-oriented atmosphere that motivates employees to share their findings. This will ultimately benefit the overall workforce by providing access to valuable resources. Here are four steps to successfully implement and maintain a knowledge management matrix: 1. Encourage Collaboration No matter what knowledge management methods you have, employees may keep their most important insights to themselves if your team's atmosphere does not promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing. In competitive work settings, people attempt to outdo one another—often causing a lack of trust and communication between employees. To circumvent this issue and allow for the free exchange of ideas among staff members, organizations should cultivate an environment that builds camaraderie and encourages collaboration, so everyone feels comfortable enough to share valuable information. Leaders need to create and encourage a culture of collaboration at every level of the organization, which can significantly improve team performance. Foster a knowledge-sharing culture by incentivizing your employees to collaborate on projects and share their expertise. Provide tangible rewards for those who contribute meaningful solutions that help the company grow while recognizing the individuals and teams responsible. This will encourage more engagement with your knowledge management systems and promote an atmosphere of trust among colleagues. 2. Prioritize Important Information Effective knowledge management requires a focus on sharing meaningful information that can boost productivity and innovation. It's essential to prioritize information that is critical for achieving your organization's goals, such as knowledge related to product development, distribution, and customer service operations. By doing so, you can help employees work more efficiently and better serve customers. Focusing on sharing important information can lead to improved team performance. By identifying priority areas and developing a system for capturing and organizing relevant knowledge, you can ensure that your team members have the information they need to make better decisions and work more effectively. It's important to note that you will have the opportunity to fill in the gaps with non-priority information later. This allows your team to focus on the information that is most critical for success while still leaving room for additional knowledge to be added to the system over time. To create an effective knowledge management system, start by identifying the priority areas for your organization. Then, develop a system for capturing and organizing relevant knowledge related to these areas. By prioritizing and sharing important information, you can improve team performance and help your organization achieve its goals. 3. Identify the Experts in Your Organization In today's rapidly evolving workplace, knowledge management is no longer just about storing data—it's about creating an environment of continuous learning. Identifying the experts within your organization and tapping into their insights can be a powerful way to manage knowledge. An efficient knowledge management matrix allows experts from different departments to come together and share their experiences in an organized manner. By periodically conducting surveys or interviews with these experts via the matrix, you can better understand their knowledge base and enrich institutional knowledge. Experts can also submit reports or articles that capture the latest insights on relevant topics, allowing your organization to keep up with industry trends. Setting up a platform for knowledge exchange enables you to tap into the expertise of your top performers and ensure that the most valuable information is shared among all members of the organization. This way, everyone in your company can benefit from the collective wisdom of its experts. By creating a culture of continuous learning and improvement, you can improve team performance and help your organization achieve its goals. 4. Find the Right Tools Effective knowledge management requires finding the right tools to help your team capture, store, and share institutional knowledge. However, this can be challenging, especially if the size and needs of your organization change over time. To maximize the benefits of knowledge management, you need to be adaptable and willing to try different tools to determine which are the best fit for the needs of your business. If you find that the tools you are using are not a great fit, don't hesitate to change. The success of your knowledge management system depends on your team's ability to effectively use the tools available to them. One popular knowledge management tool is Confluence, a digital workspace for teams to exchange knowledge. It's great for document management and makes it easy to collaborate on projects. However, it only reaches its full potential when you make use of third-party integration like Unleash. Put simply, Confluence search sucks as a lot of its search functions are not in the main navigation menu, and users need to perform complex workarounds to actually use it. Streamline Productivity and Improve Performance with Unleash By embracing a knowledge management approach, companies can leverage the expertise of their employees and teams to increase efficiency by disseminating crucial information. However, finding and organizing that information can be challenging. This is where tools like Unleash, an enterprise search tool that integrates with third-party apps, can streamline productivity and improve team performance. A robust knowledge management system and matrix can help organizations protect institutional memory, even during periods of uncertainty. However, without an efficient way to search for and retrieve information, this knowledge can be difficult to access. Unleash addresses this challenge by providing a simple, easy-to-use search tool that searches every folder and application in your organization, allowing team members to easily find the information they need. By integrating with third-party apps, Unleash can help you consolidate all your organization's knowledge into one place, making it easier to manage and access. In addition, Unleash allows you to customize your search and even set up personalized search rules. By taking advantage of these features, you can improve team performance, streamline productivity, and help your organization achieve its goals.
Confluence: How to Boost Team Performance With Knowledge Management
Knowledge managementConfluence: How to Boost Team Performance With Knowledge ManagementTeam performance is an important aspect of any organization. The way people collaborate can greatly affect their overall productivity, as well as their ability to achieve results within a given time frame. When it comes to improving team performance, knowledge management is one of the most effective tools at your disposal. What Does Knowledge Management Do? Knowledge management systems increase output by allowing quick access to previously developed processes, solutions, and best practices without having to start from zero. They also reduce the information loss brought on by employees leaving the company. If it's accessible to all team members and used on a regular basis, a well-designed and well-implemented knowledge management system like Confluence can directly impact a team’s productivity. This means that to be successful, the system needs to be user-friendly and heavily utilized by the team, as well as able to integrate with workflow solutions like Asana. * Learn how to improve Confluence search with Unleash Use Case: Confluence as Knowledge Management System Knowledge management is a process of identifying and documenting the knowledge within an organization. With the help of Confluence, you can have an online library that contains all the relevant information related to your business. Confluence is a versatile knowledge management and collaboration platform that makes it easy for teams to organize, build, and share their work with others. It allows users to better manage information, set up spaces to structure and organize groups of content, and connect people with the tools they need to do their best work. How Knowledge Management Improves Performance As a knowledge management system, Confluence aids performance in multiple ways: Enables Cross-Functional Accessibility Cross-functional accessibility is one of the most important aspects of knowledge management. When teams can share information across silos and access it in a centralized location, it makes collaboration more efficient and effective. When dealing with more complicated projects, organizations typically identify employees from various departments and unite them to maximize their diverse skill sets and complete the project quickly and successfully. Such collaboration fosters a culture of learning from each other. Using a knowledge management system may also help members of a team increase their proficiency in certain tasks, improve the quality of their work, and better equip them to handle project challenges. Facilitates Team Collaboration The way we work has evolved. As technology improves and becomes more accessible, teams have become increasingly virtual in nature. This means team members may not even be located in the same time zone as one another—and yet they're expected to collaborate effectively. Collaboration is key to any successful organization, as it allows teams to work together toward common goals. Knowledge management systems are designed to facilitate this type of collaboration by creating a platform for employees to share information with each other efficiently and easily. Promotes Organizational Innovation A good knowledge management strategy helps organizations identify problems and opportunities for improvement, as well as develop new products and services. When people are able to access the knowledge they need from the organization’s internal repositories, they can learn more about it and build on that knowledge. Knowledge sharing also enhances communication among coworkers working together on projects, enabling them to collaborate more effectively by understanding each other's roles better. This sets up an environment where ideas flow more freely between employees, aiding innovation. Detects Opportunities for Improvement A knowledge management system like Confluence enables organizations to identify any gaps in their processes and helps eliminate them. This is done by leveraging the collective knowledge of employees, who can then identify potential problems before they become real issues. * Learn how to improve Confluence search with Unleash Enhances Overall Employee Well-Being When employees feel connected to their company, they're more likely feel responsible for its success. This can help boost employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention rates. In addition to creating a better environment where everyone on your team feels comfortable sharing ideas with one another, Confluence helps improve overall communication within your organization's ecosystem. With improved communication, employees are more likely to perform better and contribute more value to the company. Without a proper knowledge management system, the organization risks losing valuable institutional knowledge when an employee quits. Unleash Your Full Potential With Confluence Knowledge Management Confluence is an excellent tool that allows you to create and manage a knowledge hub inside your organization. It will allow your teams to uncover new opportunities for improving their workflows, communication, and efficiency. Moreover, teams who use knowledge management systems like Confluence report a greater ability to work together, more ideas, and more effective collaboration. For an additional boost in overall performance, Unleash can make your team's experience with Confluence run more smoothly.
Knowledge Audit: What Is It & Why Is It Important?
Knowledge managementKnowledge Audit: What Is It & Why Is It Important?A knowledge audit examines an organization's knowledge requirements and how its leadership, organization, technology, and learning can work together to meet those needs. Instead of focusing on numbers, it examines what people in an organization know, how well they know it, and how they share that knowledge. When there is no clear structure for sharing information within a company, people start working in isolation. The result: information silos and duplicate work—leading to inefficiency and wasted productivity. The purpose of a knowledge audit is to show hard evidence of what knowledge an organization requires, its location, how it is used, any challenges and obstacles that exist, and what can be done to improve the flow of things. 4 Components of a Knowledge Audit 1. Knowledge Needs Analysis A knowledge needs analysis is a way to figure out what knowledge people and organizations already know and what other knowledge requirements they may need to be more productive. A knowledge needs analysis will help a company develop an effective knowledge management strategy by highlighting basic requirements and showing areas for improvement. 2. Knowledge Inventory Analysis A knowledge inventory analysis aims to find, record, index, and categorize the organization's existing explicit and tacit knowledge assets. Because explicit knowledge is physical, solid, and generally documented, this analysis may be carried out by looking at where the knowledge is located, how it is organized and accessed, its relevance, and its uses. During an audit, being unable to find documentation can pose serious problems. Document management software can make finding and managing your files easier. In contrast, the analysis of tacit knowledge could be based on people's knowledge and expertise. This can be done by looking at employee directories, their academic and professional degrees, skills, and experience. This analysis helps an organization uncover knowledge gaps and duplicates by comparing its results to a knowledge needs analysis. 3. Knowledge Flow Analysis This is a look into how knowledge flows from where it is to where it is needed. For example, the analysis could look into the organization's policies and practices for web publishing, managing records, or data handling. A knowledge flow analysis will demonstrate how people behave and think when sharing knowledge and highlight good and poor practices. It also involves studying the degree to which people use knowledge daily. When it comes to technology, the focus should be on the systems being used, such as portals and content management, as well as how accessible they are, how easy they are to use, and how frequently they are used. 4. Knowledge Mapping Knowledge mapping is the visualization of sources, flows, barriers, and sinks of knowledge within an organization. It's an impactful guide that shows relationships and dynamics. It also helps better define people's roles, like who creates knowledge, who collects it, or who uses it. It can influence how organizations see knowledge and help them focus on viable opportunities. How to Conduct a Knowledge Audit You can run a knowledge audit through the following steps: Identify Your Objective Setting objectives before you start can help you explicitly state the purpose of your audit and direct you toward the kind of information you should gather.Form an Audit Team Choose the right people to be part of your knowledge audit team. Ensure you include various stakeholders for accuracy. If it's a team audit, you might want to involve a few members who you think will have valuable input.Compile and Catalog Existing Knowledge In this crucial step, you need to make an inventory of the existing knowledge available in your organization and where it is located (i.e., intranet, shared drives, documentation platforms, etc.).Examine the Flow of Knowledge This is where you study how knowledge is shared. Ask yourself, "How do employees access information?" and "Who are they sharing it with?"Spot Obstacles and Gaps As you progress through these steps, you may notice gaps and barriers such as duplicates or knowledge hoarding that impede the flow of knowledge. Here, you can also identify methods that will improve knowledge sharing. Benefits of a Knowledge Audit A knowledge audit improves your organization by uncovering gaps and obstacles in one's internal knowledge base, allowing you to identify areas for improvement. It will help to recognize and avoid duplicates in the future. Additionally, creating a shared understanding of how to use knowledge management processes will help teams stay in sync and better understand how much knowledge is available, where it is stored, and how much more is required. Deliverables & Outputs of a Knowledge Audit While deliverables and outputs may vary, generally, a knowledge audit should: Establish what knowledge an organization needs to attain its goalsHelp assess the significance of knowledge and its contribution to the organization's performanceOffer evidence of how well knowledge is handled and areas where adjustments should be madeIdentify untapped knowledge areasCreate knowledge and social network mapsExamine the usage of external knowledge and identify better ways to use it
Overcome the Dangers of Knowledge Hoarding in the Workplace
Knowledge managementOvercome the Dangers of Knowledge Hoarding in the WorkplaceThe problem of knowledge hoarding has become a growing concern in today's workplace. When employees hoard knowledge, they intentionally withhold critical information from their colleagues and the organization for personal or professional reasons. Knowledge hoarding can also be costly for the organization. According to a study by International Data Corp, Fortune 500 companies lose approximately $31.5 billion annually by failing to share knowledge among individuals and across teams. Why Employees Hoard Knowledge Some reasons why employees might hoard knowledge include: Leverage An employee might believe that possessing something others lack gives them power—in this case, knowledge. For instance, having certain knowledge could give someone an upper hand or make them a star performer, solidifying their position as a valuable team member. Similarly, if they are the only person in the team or company who understands how to handle unique challenges, they would be indispensable or immune to layoffs. Fear It's no secret that people don't like to be wrong. For example, someone working on a project may discover something that will make it better—but instead of sharing this knowledge, they keep it to themselves for fear of rejection or ridicule from colleagues and supervisors. Because of this fear, valuable knowledge is lost, and potentially innovative ideas are never realized. Competition Competition is a great motivator, but it also comes with its cons, especially in organizations with a culture of unhealthy competition. When employees are rewarded for individual victories rather than team achievements, they may be more likely to keep any valuable knowledge to themselves to stay at the top of the ranks. Trust Issues Unfortunately, about 1 in 4 employees do not trust their employers. Layoffs, benefit cuts, and job insecurity can all contribute to distrust. Furthermore, rivalry within teams may cause workers to mistrust team members, leading to knowledge hoarding. Potential Consequences of Knowledge Hoarding Employees who hoard information do the business or organization a great disservice. Knowledge hoarding impedes corporate growth in many ways: Teams or individuals may end up causing knowledge and information silos, which hamper efficiency. Employees who do not have the knowledge they need may waste significant working hours looking for it or creating it from scratch.Without a refined system for knowledge management, you risk losing the expertise or tacit knowledge when an employee leaves.Employees who cannot work due to knowledge setbacks might be frustrated and quit the company.It will impede the onboarding of new talent, or new employees may struggle to transition to their new positions. Benefits of Knowledge Sharing In contrast to knowledge hoarding, knowledge sharing offers companies a multitude of benefits. Encouraging a culture of knowledge sharing means everyone on the team feels like they have access to the tools needed to succeed—and more importantly, it means that everyone is motivated by team success. A knowledge-sharing culture provides companies with the following benefits: It fosters a culture of learning where employees want to take part in sharing and obtaining knowledge actively.There is improved productivity and efficiency since employees have access to knowledge and do not have to wait for a specific person to finish their tasks.It helps to heighten employee engagement and, in turn, reduce employee turnover. Collaboration is encouraged, where employees openly communicate with their peers instead of working in silos. How to Prevent Knowledge Hoarding Make It Easy to Share Knowledge Sharing knowledge can often be time-consuming. If just one individual has the knowledge, they'll have to keep explaining the same thing repeatedly, which is time away from more valuable tasks. In the absence of a system, some employees may become frustrated when searching for the necessary information. A knowledge management system (KMS) can promote knowledge sharing by centralizing all relevant information, making it easy for team members to collaborate and access information from any location. However, with all the ways data can be stolen, it's essential to understand the risks and take steps to protect yourself. Having data center security measures in place can help protect vital company information from getting into the wrong hands. Provide Clear Guidelines One of the best approaches to counteract knowledge hoarding in your organization is to teach employees how to share their knowledge. As part of your knowledge management strategy, your company should adopt a user-friendly KMS and take employees on a walkthrough so they feel comfortable making it a part of their routine. Additionally, proper document management of your guidelines can help make this process a breeze every time new employees are onboarded. Reward Those Who Share Knowledge Because knowledge sharing isn't natural for everyone, you might need to give your employees an incentive to share. You can encourage healthy competition by holding a contest and rewarding everyone who adds to your internal knowledge base within a certain deadline. Incentives don't have to be extravagant, but they should be something your employees want.
5 Steps to Developing a Knowledge Management Strategy
Knowledge management5 Steps to Developing a Knowledge Management StrategyA knowledge management (KM) strategy is a comprehensive and actionable plan that organizations implement to manage and centralize their institutional knowledge. It aims to significantly improve the organization, employee productivity, and product or service quality. Knowledge management strategies work best when they align with the organization's overarching goals and strategy. Importance of a Knowledge Management Strategy It is estimated that ineffective knowledge sharing costs large US companies $47 million in productivity yearly. If your team wastes time at work waiting for knowledge from other staff members or having to recreate it because they couldn't access information, it will cost you in terms of project delays and missed opportunities. Furthermore, it can also lead to employee dissatisfaction. A knowledge management strategy addresses the problem of information silos. This will help boost employee productivity since they will waste less time searching or waiting for information. In turn, it will improve your team's understanding of knowledge management and encourage sharing of best knowledge management practices. A successful KM strategy can provide a strong business case for innovative solutions that could improve your organization, such as encouraging product or service development. How to Develop a Knowledge Management Strategy in 5 Steps 1. Establish Your Objectives To start, outline and document your objectives. By outlining these goals, you can design a roadmap for accomplishing them and ensure your team knows their roles and the expectations that are to be met. This will allow them to work towards similar goals without overlapping or conflicting with one another's efforts. You can further categorize your goals as either short-term or long-term, depending on how important they are to fulfilling your company's knowledge requirements. 2. Assess Your Current State There is no template or blueprint for knowledge management since a KM strategy needs to be tailored to your business goals. To make it feasible and successful for your organization, you first need a deep understanding of your current state. A typical assessment should outline where you are currently, any gaps in the process, and proposals for addressing those gaps. It must also address the five fundamental components of knowledge management, which are: People Don't forget to consider the end user. Adoption will be low if your plan fails to assist users or meet their needs. Determine who they are, what information they need to operate effectively, and how they share knowledge or what prevents them from doing so. Processes You will want to look into the current processes within the organization and each business unit. Then you'll have to see whether those are applied and followed. Your analysis should expose the gaps and show how these processes work in real life—whether employees find them efficient or taxing. Technology It is vital to be conversant with the systems that are in place, including how they work, who uses them, what their limits are, and where they are in their lifecycle. Content Doing a content analysis will help you find gaps, irrelevant content, potential security risks, inefficient processes, and other areas that need to be remedied. Culture How employees capture, manage, and share knowledge depends on the company's culture. You might ask, "Is there a culture of knowledge sharing within the organization, or do people hoard knowledge?" 3. Define Your Knowledge Management Strategy Show how you seek to incorporate KM with the overarching objectives of your organization. There are many parts to an effective knowledge management strategy, such as: Capture and Organize Information Organize and categorize information in your internal knowledge base so it is easily accessible. Proper document management can aid in this endeavor. Distribute and Exchange Knowledge Standardize how your employees can access and share knowledge with their colleagues. Information that no one can see or access is technically worthless. Establish a Search-First Mindset If people don't explore the knowledge base and instead ask repetitive questions, it will discourage others from documenting information since the mindset will be that no one searches for it anyway. Facilitate Collaboration It would be a massive undertaking for any organization to achieve its objectives if just a few people contributed to its knowledge base. Therefore, make sure to choose a knowledge management system that promotes cooperation. Analyze and Identify Gaps Building internal knowledge is an ongoing process. Therefore, evaluating usage and identifying areas that can be further improved is essential. 4. Identify Technology Needs It is important to choose up-to-date knowledge management software as part of an effective electronic management system that satisfies the requirements of your organization. Archaic technologies can impede your knowledge management efforts. Check for any preferences within the team and go for one that boosts employee confidence. Furthermore, check for data center security measures to reduce data integrity risks and protect the company from data breaches. 5. Lay Out Your Action Plan Lay out how you intend to implement your strategy to help remove ambiguity from the process. This will also give you a clear overview of the resources (such as people, technology, and financing) needed to meet your KM strategy objectives. With that, it's time to put your approach into action, analyze the results, and make adjustments based on what you've learned.
The Reasons You Should Integrate IAM With Data Center Security
Knowledge managementThe Reasons You Should Integrate IAM With Data Center SecurityIdentity and access management, or IAM, is a term used to describe the practice of managing users' identities and the permissions that are associated with them. Essentially, IAM systems help organizations ensure that only authorized users have access to the resources they need, while also keeping track of who has accessed which resources and when. IAM systems can also be used to manage passwords and other authentication information. The Purpose of Data Center Security According to a study by Ponemon Institute, the average data breach now costs companies $3.86 million—up 23% from 2013. The healthcare and financial services industries are the most frequently targeted, accounting for 43% and 28% of all data breaches, respectively. That amount of money can potentially bankrupt a company if not properly secured. In addition, data breaches can cause irreparable damage to a company's reputation, which can lead to fleeing customers and long-term financial losses. Putting the financial implications aside for a moment, the sheer opportunity for security breaches further highlights that data center security is critical in protecting the privacy of company information. To put this into perspective, the amount of data created, shared, and stored is growing at an unprecedented rate. The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that some 64.2 zettabytes of data were created or replicated in 2020. This rapid growth creates new opportunities for criminals to exploit, as well as new challenges for organizations trying to keep their data safe. The frightening part? Data breaches can occur in many ways, but some of the most common is through malware attacks, stolen or compromised credentials, and social engineering schemes. With all this considered, data center security should be a top priority for companies and businesses. No matter the size or scale of their operations. Data integrity is another serious consideration companies should be making. Learn more about the importance of data integrity here. How Does IAM Boost Security? Through the use of IAM, administrators can control access to systems and data, ensuring that only authorized users have access to the information they need. IAM can also help streamline operations by providing a single point of control for user access, making it easier to manage user permissions. How is this achieved? IAM systems use a variety of methods—such as passwords, security tokens, and biometric identification—to verify the identities of users and grant them appropriate levels of access. Through these methods, IAM can help boost security by providing a centralized way to control user access, and by enabling administrators to more easily identify and respond to potential security threats. IAM can also help improve compliance with government and industry regulations governing data privacy and security. During these tough economic times, are you worried about your institutional memory? If so, learn how to preserve your company's institutional memory here. Benefits of IAM Systems IAM systems can provide several benefits, including: Reduced administrative overhead Managing user identities and access privileges can be a time-consuming task, particularly if there are many users. IAM systems can automate many of the tasks associated with managing users, which can help reduce administrative overhead and make your employees' lives easier.Improved compliance posture IAM systems can help organizations meet compliance requirements, such as those set forth by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). More efficient and secure user authentication IAM systems provide a more efficient and secure way for employees to authenticate themselves when accessing company resources. Reduced help desk costs IAM systems can help reduce help desk costs by automating many common tasks, such as password resets. How to Integrate IAM With Data Center Security The scale and breadth of potential data risks are rather scary. Thankfully, there are several ways to integrate IAM with data center security. One of the most effective approaches is to use a federated identity management system. With federated identity management, users can authenticate against a single identity provider, such as Active Directory or LDAP, and then be granted access to multiple resources, both within and outside of the data center. Businesses can also use role-based access control (RBAC) to manage access to data center resources. RBAC assigns roles to users and groups and then allows those roles to perform certain actions on specific resources. Worried that the flow of information within your company is compromised? If so, be sure to read about information silos and data federation and how you can better streamline the sharing of information within your organization. Before you head off, be sure to learn more about how you can improve both document management and knowledge management within your organization.
Why Your Engineering Team Needs a Multi-Platform Search Engine for Their Code Repository Tools
Knowledge managementWhy Your Engineering Team Needs a Multi-Platform Search Engine for Their Code Repository ToolsMany experts have talked about how the inability to access information can hamper software engineers’ productivity. In his talk, “The hero’s journey: how we are solving internal technical documentation at Spotify,” Gary Niemen, a product manager at Spotify, mentioned that not being able to find necessary information was among the top three productivity blockers for Spotify engineers. Quality delivery with speed is the key to staying relevant and competitive in the software industry. As such, you should not allow anything to hamper your developers’ productivity, especially if you can do something about it. With a multi-tool search platform like Unleash, you never have to worry about your engineers wasting valuable time looking for anything. They’d be able to find everything they need — across multiple code repository tools and platforms — from files to emails, meetings, issues, and tickets, in seconds. The Average Engineer Wastes up to Three Hours of Their Day Searching for Information According to a survey conducted by Zapier on how employees spend their time, 73% of workers spend 1–3 hours of their day “just trying to find information or a particular document.” In total, that’s about 5–15 valuable hours a week wasted looking for information. Easier access to information can make a whole lot of difference. Studies have found that developers are “almost 60% more likely to feel equipped to do their job when they can easily find what they need.” They also get an 11% bump in productivity simply by having a team repository that is easy to search. A typical developer’s day is spent searching for information across different platforms and code repository tools to enable them to do their jobs. They spend time searching project management tools like Jira to find details about projects or tasks assigned to them. They’ll also need to search through Slack to remind themselves about the discussion details on certain matters. And, when they run into problems with a particular API or need to debug, their first line of action is to search through FAQs, documentation, or code repository tools to find clues or instances of how another developer may have used the same API. Without an efficient search mechanism, all this information may take significant time to find. Using a multi-platform tool, you can give your engineers a central place to search across all code repository tools and platforms used within your organization. With impressive features like advanced filters and semantic, contextual, and deep search, your engineers will be able to find whatever information they need in one spot in seconds. You’d get to save every engineer on your team considerable time and help them become more productive and better contribute to the company’s bottom line. Switching Between Multiple Platforms and Code Repository Tools Causes Developers to Lose Focus and Concentration Searching through multiple apps and code repository tools doesn’t only drain engineers’ productivity because of time wasted; it also breaks their natural flow and concentration, which may eventually decrease the quality of code they write. The “context switching” that occurs when we jump from one digital app to another causes a lull in productivity and can even produce fatigue. Research suggests it takes 9.5 minutes to regain our flow when we make that switch. Research also indicates that a person who is multi-tasking between 30 applications will make 28% more errors than someone working with less. Pavel Avgustinov, VP of Software Engineering at GitHub, explained the problem with context switching from a developer’s perspective: “As a developer, staying in a flow state is hard. Whenever you look up how to use a library, have a test fail because your developer environment has diverged from CI, or need to know how an error message can arise, you are interrupted. The longer it takes to resolve the interruption, the more context you lose.” However, this wouldn’t be the case with multi-platform search engine tools. Using such tools, your developers can access all information, platforms, and code repository tools from one interface and reduce the effects of context switching. Unleash integrates with several apps used by developers, so it can function as a central workspace for them. That way, they can: Search and locate files across multiple repositoriesGet a quick overview of their weekly schedule and instantly launch their meeting with the Calendar viewSearch across their servers and major cloud providers to allow them to instantly monitor or access VMs, databases, storage, and instancesSee all pending PR and understand the changes that have been madeCreate an issue, task, document, and so much more, all from one place Also, suppose a platform or tool that your engineering team uses is not supported. In that case, they can build custom integrations with our exposed SDKs (software development kits) to connect them. Unleash can streamline your workflows and increase productivity no matter what apps you use. And, no matter how you work, Unleash can accommodate your workflows. Engineers Can’t Reuse Code if They Can’t Find the Code The mantra “do not reinvent the wheel” encourages developers to reuse code and not to duplicate a method or solution that already exists unless they absolutely have to. Code reuse — recycling or repurposing code parts to improve existing or create new software—cuts down on development time, avoids code bloat, and lowers development risks. Using a component that is already known and approved means there’s less risk involved in writing something entirely from scratch. Developers will always run into difficulties, and if your company builds multiple products using multiple code repository tools across different teams, chances are another developer on another team may have used the same API or solved a similar problem. However, because manually looking through various repositories or bug reports can be tedious, a developer will find it difficult to locate helpful code to reuse or study. Using multi-platform search tools, your engineers can avoid tabbing between GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or other code repository tools and find all relevant info—documentation, design specs, and everything else — in one place. Empower Your Developers to Save Time and Focus On Their Jobs Your engineers spend so much time fruitlessly searching for information and files, which will eventually drain them and keep them from doing their best work. With a multi-platform search tool like Unleash, all of that will be in the past. Effective code search tools can help developers substantially improve their software development efficiency and effectiveness. The good news is adding Unleash to your workflow doesn’t require a large team of developers or a free weekend to take servers down. You can get up and running in minutes without changing your existing infrastructure. Not so sure about it? You can try Unleash for free and then decide whether you want to make a commitment or not.