Make a list of 5 really critical pieces of information.
This can be information that’s critical to your team (or to your community).
What are the 5 most important things you know how to do that are game-changers?
It might be how you convert leads to clients, research and develop successful products, recruit highly talented staff members etc…
Now put someone in charge of keeping each of these 5 items updated. This means the knowledge is owned. This person is responsible for keeping the information at the best possible level.
They seek out feedback from people who use the knowledge and update accordingly. They seek out new ways to improve the knowledge. They ensure it’s properly tagged and easy to find. They make sure all newcomers acquire this knowledge.
This is what turns the information you already have into a powerful asset for everybody.
It’s crazy how rarely we do this. Most organisations have countless staff writing up important documents, publishing them, and watching them decay with each passing day. What a waste!
My colleague Todd is probably one of the foremost experts in community platforms today. He knows the capabilities and differences between each platform. He knows the costs of each platform. He knows exactly who to contact at each vendor for the best deal. He knows who can implement platforms and how to select a platform by any client’s need.
That’s a powerful piece of knowledge. The trick is to keep it updated as platforms rise and fall. As costs change. As staff move between different platforms. As new updates are released and we get more customer feedback on different vendors.
This works just as well in an online community as it does in an organisation. Determine the five critical pieces of information people need to know. Put someone in charge of keeping each updated and actually learnt by everyone else in the organisation.
