What Is The "Knowledge Base" That Strengthens The Public Relations Team?

Public relations work that tends to be personal. Especially in the case of startup public relations, it often happens that the public relations work that each person is in charge of becomes personalized and does not function well as a team due to reasons such as not being able to take a long time for education.

It is recommended to create a " knowledge base " so that the team can share and take over information without personalizing the public relations work .

In this article, it will explain the merits of creating a knowledge base, and also introduce the flow of creation and three points.

What is a "knowledge base" in the first place?

A knowledge base is a database that summarizes business knowledge and knowledge in one place. It is a term mainly used in the business scene that combines knowledge, which has the meaning of information that is useful to an organization, and base, which represents a database. 

A database that accumulates business knowledge becomes an intellectual asset of a company . The scope of disclosure remains company-wide or within the department. Except in certain cases, it is rarely disclosed outside the company.

The knowledge base is a place where all employees can utilize things to grow together. But it is also necessary to create a system in which each employee regularly edits and updates various knowledge, information, and skills gained through his work.

In recent years, knowledge management has been the focus of attention to improve the inability of experience and knowledge to contribute to the entire team. It is important to consider not the end of creating a knowledge base, but also the subsequent operation system.

Three benefits and utilization methods for public relations to create a knowledge base

The knowledge base is effective for strengthening and growing the public relations team in public relations work that tends to be personal.

So what are the specific benefits of creating a knowledge base? Please also refer to the method of use.

Benefit 1. Depersonalize of public relations work

The first benefit of creating a knowledge base is the ability to depersonalize public relations work . By creating an environment in which the knowledge gained in business can be accumulated in the knowledge base, useful knowledge that can be utilized in business can be efficiently shared.

Benefit 2. Increase productivity

The second benefit of creating a knowledge base is increased productivity . Making tacit knowledge of an individual into explicit knowledge leads to improving the productivity of the public relations department.

Of particular importance is the knowledge of highly specialized information that is not available to everyone. By providing a place where personal work can be summarized and shared in a document, you will be able to acquire specialized knowledge. As a result, the expertise of the entire public relations team will increase, and productivity can be expected to improve.

Benefit 3. Helps new employees become independent

The third benefit of creating a knowledge base is that it helps new employees become independent .

As is the case with many companies, the most common problem in educating and instructing new employees is that they do not have time to thoroughly educate. Public relations that cross departments and are often involved in internal and external projects are no exception.

Even if you are busy with work, if there is a place where you can get a bird's-eye view of the entire information, even a new employee will be able to carry out more work. By creating an environment where students can learn independently, it will be easier for new employees to become independent.

How to create a knowledge base for the public relations department? 5 Steps Creation flow

The knowledge base is not just about making it. What is important is how to operate and nurture the knowledge base after deciding the structure.

Next, it will explain the creation flow in five steps. If you are considering creating a knowledge base in your company's public relations department, please refer to it.

STEP 1. Decide which knowledge base tool to use

First, decide which tool to use for your knowledge base. Depending on the company, the knowledge base may be created from scratch in-house, but it is recommended that you first use the existing knowledge base tool, including the implications of trial operation.

STEP 2. Determine the structure of the knowledge base

Once you've decided which knowledge base tool to use, before you actually move your hands, think about the structure of the knowledge base. We will decide on a knowledge base structure that is easy for members to use while discussing whether it will be used only by the public relations department or whether it will aggregate company-wide information in the future.

When deciding, it's easy to think of dividing your daily work into categories. At the same time, let's look back on the business contents and organize the information that we wanted to know when we were newcomers.

It is recommended that the structure initially decided in this step is basically fixed and not changed. If you need to expand the knowledge you have accumulated, consider in advance so that you can respond by adding subsections.

STEP 3. Decide the management method / administrator

After deciding the structure of the knowledge base, you can reduce the occurrence of troubles after operation by setting rules for management methods and administrators .

If there are only a few members in the public relations department, it is possible to accumulate knowledge with a common understanding and maintenance-free. However, it is still better to decide the management rules and the main administrator. For example, it is possible to set up a place to freely throw knowledge candidates and consider whether or not it is possible at a team meeting once a week.

In addition to setting up an administrator for the entire knowledge base, it is also a good idea to have an administrator for each category. By setting a narrow range managed by one person, the burden of work can be reduced.

STEP 4. Enter knowledge base data

After deciding which tool to use, structure, management method, etc., actually input data to the knowledge base.

First of all, enter the information that is absolutely necessary for doing business and common manuals. It will be a guidepost for managing and using knowledge in the future, so be sure to enter it without omission.

In addition, it covers frequently asked questions from new employees and information on the agenda at meetings. If you get lost in doing business, make sure to link the relevant information so that you can get hints on how to solve it in the knowledge base.

STEP 5. Equipped with a function to propose additional information

In the last step, we will prepare functions and systems that can freely propose information that you want to add to the knowledge base.

If a manager or the like manages the knowledge base, there may be a discrepancy between the information that the player thinks is needed and the information that the manager knows is needed. Not only waiting for the information added by the administrator, but also creating an environment where everyone can actively exchange opinions makes it easier to replace fresh information.

It is good to add the suggestion function to the knowledge base tool, or to create a separate management sheet. Think of a method that is easy for your company to access.

Three points when public relations creates a knowledge base

Apart from the creation steps, here are three points to keep in mind when creating. Please check it carefully as it is a point related to the operational aspect of the knowledge base.

Point 1. Easy-to-search and easy-to-read system

The first point is, an easy-to-search and easy-to-read system.

Knowledge base is meaningless unless it is utilized. In order to accumulate information on a daily basis, a simple system that can be easily edited by anyone is required. What is needed for this is a search function and a FAQ function based on the information accumulated in the knowledge base.

Also, be aware of the tree structure of information in order to effectively utilize the vast amount of knowledge. Even if you don't have the knowledge to get the information you're looking for, consider the information you include in your knowledge to help you get there.

Point 2. Establish standards for publication in the knowledge base

The second point is, establish standards for publication in the knowledge base.

Knowledge should be updated daily. If there is something you want to share company-wide, it is a good idea to actively disclose information. However, if anyone can edit it, it may not be possible to collect it.

If you operate under the maintenance-free system, make sure that you have a clear knowledge base posting standard. For example, do not add categories, do not create too many branches, update new manuals, archive old information, etc. There is no problem with simple posting standards.

Point 3. Take inventory of knowledge on a regular basis

The third point is, Regular knowledge inventory.

By taking an inventory of knowledge, you can keep only the latest information that can be used now. In addition, not only the operation staff but also the entire team can take inventory, which will lead to confirmation of the extent to which knowledge sharing has permeated.

At the same time, it is a good idea to consider the functions that should be incorporated into the knowledge base in the future. It is important not only to accumulate information, but also to think about what to do to make more use of it and update it.

Conclusion

Sharing knowledge and utilizing the knowledge base do more than just improve business efficiency. Sharing specialized knowledge throughout the team will lead to the strengthening and reform of the team . It is important to utilize the knowledge base because it will be reflected in the results of the team.

Public relations work tends to be personalized. Creating an environment where each other's work can be supported within the public relations team. It reduces the work burden of each person and creates a margin for taking on new challenges. How about trying to create and utilize a knowledge base to strengthen the public relations team by referring to the contents of this article?