Capturing and Diffusing Knowledge in SMEs:

Growing the Collective Brain

SESSION RESOURCES

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Note there is no voiceover to this video. For a detailed walkthrough of the presentation, visit the Knovolution Academy or contact Janine Weightman directly.

Check out some of the technology we discussed

To start capturing some of the knowledge in your company, we discussed the idea of a knowledge base and how technology could help us get started. Whilst we didn't go into the nuts and bolts of constructing a knowledge base, as the technologies provide training on how to set up the solution and content, we thought more about what would be beneficial to capture in a knowledge base. Here are my front of mind solutions for different sized SMEs by way of example.

Notion

I've been very impressed with the flexibility, interface, and integration of Notion as a tool to form knowledge bases, especially for small-medium enterprises. It is essentially a collaboration tool where you can create collective documents, information, integrate with other systems and keep everyone up-to-date. Now with AI capabilities, Notion offers a feature rich platform to start or grow your knowledge base. It will be useful for teams and growing departments, or even just as a stop-gap to pull information together ready to build out into another system.

Check out https://www.notion.so/product/wikis to learn more about the knowledge base capabilities.

Check out https://www.notion.so/teams to see how Notion helps teams collaborate.

Check out https://www.notion.so/product for more info on product features.

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Nuclino

I started using Nuclino before Notion. I like how crisp and clean the interface is. By comparison, Nuclino seems less technical than Notion making it easy to create just the pages and structure you need. I loved the graph view to see my content represented in a diagram, however unlike Obsidian, the graph view in Nuclino shows fewer interconnections between content. I'd recommend Nuclino for clear, easy interfaces that can help you quickly get content published and shared with your team.

Check out Nuclino at https://www.nuclino.com/

This handy comparison will help you decide if Nuclino or Notion is best for you https://www.nuclino.com/solutions/nuclino-vs-notion

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Obsidian

Obsidian is more of a personal tool to capture your knowledge. It has a technical feel to it, and the functionality helps you see patterns and additional context within your content via the graph view. I'd recommend this for individuals trying to get a handle on what they know or if conducting research for example.

Learn more at https://obsidian.md/

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Asana

I celebrate the day I discovered Asana. It is mainly for task management and project management, however I love the ability to capture insights on tasks, discuss with team members in the chat for each task, and link things up. One of the best ways to help knowledge management seed and succeed in your company is to integrate it into the flow of work. Asana, and project management tools like it, are cost effective ways to add some KM into your project work. It is a tool that can scale with your growing business too.

Learn more at https://asana.com/product

See a comparison between Notion and Asana at https://www.notion.so/compare-against/comparison-notion-vs-asana

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Method Grid

Method Grid is a hugely impressive product that will suit medium-sized enterprises. It fully integrates knowledge management within the flow of work, enabling you to capture evidence, insights, and know-how at every step of the project. It's AI capabilities to help you create a playbook for your project fasttrack the process of kickstarting your knowledge base. This system grows and scales with your business and your projects.

In their own words: "AI-empowered knowledge and project management platform. Build trust and confidence in the way you deliver your projects and services, through improved knowledge capture, assured delivery, continuous improvement and team collaboration".

Learn more at https://methodgrid.com/features/

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Howspace

Howspace is a digital facilitation platform with AI capabilities. It is my go-to choice when facilitating workshops as you can provide content, stimulate engagement, and use the AI to help you analyse results. I mention it as a potential platform for knowledge capture since it supports synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, contains a range of functionality to present content, and can provide extra insight through the AI features. Howspace offers a free trial.

Learn more at https://howspace.com/

Check out the product features at https://howspace.com/product/

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Get further insight on the 7 Stages of Growth

We explored the Stages of Growth for an SME by way of understanding key rules and challenges. It serves as a blueprint when investigating where knowledge management and technology could help overcome pertinent business challenges. Here are some extra links and resources per stage. Stay tuned for more resources in the Knovolution Academy to help you navigate your stage of growth.

Stage 1 - Startup (1-10 employees)

In this stage, passion and guts are the fuel. To envision a company where none existed before and to transform that vision into a living reality is not a simple task. Read more about Stage 1 https://www.rewildgroup.com/blog/stage-1-starting-up-a-company-embrace-the-chaos

Stage 2 - Ramp-up (11-19 employees)

In this Stage, survival is quickly replaced with growth as the top priority.  The business owner is starting to worry about the management of their growing staff and many other issues that can arise as a company begins to ramp up. Read more about Stage 2 https://www.rewildgroup.com/blog/stage-2-ready-to-ramp.

Stage 3 - Delegation (20-34 employees)

In this Stage, the leader is no longer in control of the organization entirely on his or her own.  Work and decision-making authority must now be delegated. Read more about Stage 3 https://www.rewildgroup.com/blog/2019/7/11/stage-3-the-art-of-delegation-takes-on-new-meaning.

Stage 4 - Professional (35-57 employees)

In this stage, the CEO at this Professional Stage must invest the time and money to either hire or train strong professional managers. Having a strong management team in place will help the company through this Stage of complexity, as well as set the company up for future success. Read more about Stage 4https://www.rewildgroup.com/blog/2019/7/11/stage-4-complexity-drives-need-for-experienced-managers .

Stage 5 - Integration (58-95 employees)

In this Stage, the CEO must take the independent group of managers from Stage 4 and get them to work together as a harmonious, synergistic team. Read more about Stage 5 https://www.rewildgroup.com/blog/2019/7/12/synergy-equals-strength-as-company-matures.

Stage 6 - Strategic (96-160 employees)

In this Stage, the risk of not seeing the larger strategic picture could cause the ‘too little, too late’ syndrome. The planning horizon must go beyond a year in order to compete in the marketplace. Read more about Stage 6 https://www.rewildgroup.com/blog/2019/7/12/stage-6-lack-of-strategy-will-kill-you.

Stage 7 - Visionary (161-350 employees)

In this Stage, the CEO’s mission is to improve performance by stimulating higher levels of innovation and employee authorship. It is the stage of growth wherein the CEO makes an internal entrepreneurial “call to arms.” Read more about Stage 7 https://www.rewildgroup.com/blog/2019/7/12/stage-7-creating-a-vision-for-the-future.

Articles and Tools

Check out this article for an overview of the Stages of Growth and Organizational ReWilding https://www.rewildgroup.com/blog/2021/1/22/what-are-the-stages-of-growth

The Growth Matrix Tool is a handy overview of all the elements and characteristics for SME growth https://www.rewildgroup.com/lp-tool-matrix

The 60-minute guidebook series is a great resource to dive into specific stages and elements https://www.rewildgroup.com/lp-sog-guidebook

The ReWild Business Assessment is an investment that will show you where the business is misaligned for its stage of growth and how to resolve it https://www.rewildgroup.com/lpassessmentrbainfo

Further self-guided resources are available at https://www.rewildgroup.com/free-resources

Get in touch if you'd like direct support in navigating the resources or your stage of growth!

Check out these other resources

Thought Starter Kit

Access the free resources to kickstart your ideas and actions around knowledge management for your company.

Knovoscope App

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Clarity Call

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