Internal Knowledge Base - What It Is and How to Implement It

This might be a strange personality quirk, but I love systems and processes — I've created training documents, where there were previously none, for my replacement when I was leaving several jobs. You can imagine how excited I was to join a company like HubSpot that has an internal knowledge base where standardized systems and processes are kept.

This was my actual reaction.

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When your employees need to find information, collaborate with other teams, or are in training, an internal knowledge base can be extremely helpful.

In this post, let's review what an internal knowledge base is and the best software to use to implement one. We'll cover:

• What is an internal knowledge base?
• Internal knowledge base software

With an internal knowledge base, you can store policies, handbooks, guidelines, and share information and findings cross-departmentally. Whether you're sharing short or long form documents, an internal knowledge base acts as a Wikipedia for your company. It's an internal help center where employees can get information quickly.

So, what's the benefit of an internal knowledge base?

• Save employees time. When your employees need to find information, they don't need to wait for an email response or spend hours trying to figure it out themselves. They can easily search your internal knowledge base to find information they need, boosting productivity.
• Efficient way to disperse information. Sending emails to your entire company isn't the most efficient way to disseminate information that employees will need to continue referencing. When you want to share information like employee benefits, holiday schedules, or FAQs, an internal knowledge base is the way to go.
• Team collaboration. It can be hard to communicate what all departments are up to. With an internal knowledge base, teams can share their experiments and findings with the entire company. For instance, your support staff could share information about support tickets with each other and other departments who want to review customer pain points.
• Centralized information. Finally, one place to find everything you might need. Having a single source of truth for information is important for companies that want to streamline, scale, and grow.
• Assists with onboarding. An internal knowledge base helps onboard new employees so they can review documentation and policies.

As a customer service team, you might store customer FAQs and troubleshooting guides on an internal knowledge base. With these types of articles, your support staff can bookmark and continue referencing them during their calls.

Now that we're up to date on what an internal knowledge base is, you might be wondering, "How can I implement this?"

Below is a list of the top internal knowledge base software to use.

1. Iorad

When it comes to creating tutorials and developing training documents, Iorad is one of the best tools.

Essentially, Iorad can help you create step-by-step knowledge base articles by recording your actions and auto generating the instructions.

Additionally, if you're using HubSpot Knowledge base, Iorad integrates directly with the tool.

With a combination of HubSpot's Knowledge base and Iorad, you can create onboarding and training systems within minutes.

2. SharePoint

SharePoint is a team collaboration software tool that will help you share and manage content, knowledge, and applications.

Your employees can quickly find information and seamlessly collaborate with other teams. You can share files, data, news, and resources.

SharePoint, as a Microsoft product, is a customizable way to build cohesion and inform your employees through your intranet. One of its best features is that it's accessible on both mobile devices and desktop computers.

This is a great option for both small and large businesses because of the affordable pricing.

3. MediaWiki

MediaWiki is a free tool that allows you to create an internal knowledge base on your existing server.

With this software, you'll collect and organize knowledge and make it available to your employees.

Some of the best features are that it's multilingual, free and open, customizable, and reliable. This is a great option for small businesses looking to get started with an internal wiki.

4. Confluence

Confluence, by Atlassian, is a software where you can create an online team workspace. It makes collaboration in your internal knowledge base easy with its focus on social interaction.

The collaboration tools and templates are two of the best features. You can create actionable meeting notes and use quick templates for any report you're creating.

There are both free and paid versions of this tool for both small and large businesses.

5. Tettra

Tettra is an internal knowledge base and company wiki software. With this tool, you can document important processes, policies, and procedures in one centralized place.

Additionally, you can build smart workflows to help you keep the content updated. Tettra's suggestion engines can tell you what content to add, update, or archive.

Again, this tool can be used by any sized business as there are free and paid options.

6. Wikidot

Wikidot is a tool to build your wiki-based internal knowledge base. You can use it to publish content, share documents, collaborate with coworkers, and create a place for your community.

You can even host both public or private wiki sites.

Overall, it's a great option for both small businesses and enterprise companies because they offer free options and premium accounts.

7. Zendesk

With Zendesk's software, you can create an internal knowledge base for your customer support team.

It'll help you manage and streamline your employee support interaction. With an internal knowledge base, your support reps will always have quick access to the information they need.

Zendesk has a variety of pricing options for any size business.

Plus, if you're a HubSpot customer, it integrates with your support software.

When your team needs a way to organize systems and processes, an internal knowledge base is a great option.