How a Knowledge Base Can Help Grow Your Leadership Skills 

Great leaders don’t just make good decisions themselves; they empower others to make them too. 

One of the many tools leaders use in a successful corporation to support their team in confident decision making is a “knowledge base” (KB). A knowledge base is a software that can store information in the form of digital documents and is centrally accessible.  

A comprehensive knowledge base ensures there is one source of truth with central accessibility, and ideally it includes a robust search system that enables finding and accessing information in milliseconds. This kind of resource enables employees to make the best decisions because they have access to the most relevant and up-to-date organizational information. 

A knowledge base can also be powerful for leaders on an individual level…as they too can use the information in it to make better decisions for the corporation. 

So, how does one go about creating such a knowledge base? Let’s dig in further. 

Understanding Why a Knowledge Base Matters for Leaders 

A great leader is a great communicator; however, in the modern work environment, where employees may be working remotely, face-to-face communication is not always possible or feasible. So, for effective team management, something else is required that can impart what the leader wants from their employees. 

A knowledge base software can help with that in various ways. For example, knowledge base software: 

• Makes key information accessible to everyone. 
• Reduces repeated explanations and confusion. 
• Allows leaders to focus on strategy instead of micromanagement. 
• Encourages team autonomy and self-learning. 

In short, the clearer your collective knowledge, the more confident and independent your team becomes.  

How a Strong Knowledge Base Can Help Improve Leadership Skills Across Teams  

A knowledge base is both for external and internal use. There are a myriad of well-built options on the market, so it’s important to do individual research based on your teams’ needs. Helpjuice knowledge base software is one such tool that was built just for the specific purpose of creating and managing knowledge bases.  

Here’s the breakdown of how you can create a strong knowledge base for cultivating leadership skills. 

Step 1: Identify the Core Knowledge Your Team Needs Most Frequently 

A knowledge base should contain information that is useful to your team. So, start by defining what kind of knowledge your team needs most. Ask yourself the following questions: 

• What are the most common questions team members ask me? 
• Which processes take up the most time to explain? 
• What information do new hires need right away? 

You will probably come up with answers like: 

• Company mission and values 
• Workflows or SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) 
• Templates for communication or reporting 
• Project guidelines  

And many others, depending on your specific workplace. As your team discusses needs and gaps in knowledge, certain categories will most likely come up repeatedly. These are the types of knowledge that will be included in the end product.  

Paying close attention to these recurring themes will guide your work in the process of building a helpful KB. While this build process can initially be arduous, your team will ultimately save a great deal of time by reducing redundant communication, increasing efficiency, and creating more ease in ongoing content management. These improvements will allow managers and supervisors across your org more time to focus on the ins and outs of their actual leadership roles. 

Step 2: Choose the Right Knowledge Base Platform 

Today, creating knowledge bases is much easier than it once was due to the variety of software available. Choosing the right platform will depend on your goals and team size. For smaller teams, even simple knowledge bases can have a significant impact on operations. Many KB tools offer tiered plans where they provide more features for more investment, so customization to your unique corporation is often very possible. 

Some knowledge base tools function as secure collaboration platforms for teams handling sensitive information. Personal information like human resource questions, background checks, or individual development plans can also be stored within a knowledge base…but every tool is different in how it keeps this kind of data shared with only the correct individuals. Speak with your software account manager to know how your tool works in regard to secure collaboration. 

To say it broadly, if you are not sure of what all you need from a knowledge base platform, keep a few of these ideal features in mind:  

• Easy content organization, including categories and tags that improve searching.
• Collaborative editing and version control features so that you and senior team members can create documents by pooling information—especially useful when working within secure collaboration.
• Access management, particularly with roles, so sensitive information stays protected.
• Integration with your other tools like Slack, Notion, Google Workspace, etc. 

You will find plenty of knowledge base products that tick these boxes, so from there you’ll be able to determine if the tool you’re considering matches your company’s needs regarding budget, contract, and service. If your team needs extra support managing documentation, processes, and ongoing updates, working with an ecommerce virtual assistant can help maintain your knowledge base smoothly and ensure important information stays organized and current.

Step 3: Structure the Knowledge Base for Clarity 

Leadership success is entirely dependent on clear communication. The more clearly a leader can convey their vision to their team, the better the whole group will be able to bring that vision to life. Your knowledge base should mirror your organizational vision just as much as any other company asset. 

A clear structure to the knowledge base goes a long way in creating some of that vision clarity. Based on your niche and company size, there may be a need for alternative structures, but to get you started…we have provided a boilerplate sample that you can modify and apply as you see fit. Include sections in your KB for: 

• Core Values and Vision: These indicate what the team stands for and where the company is heading. 
• Roles and Responsibilities: These lay out the specifics about various roles in the org and their individual responsibilities…so everyone knows who’s doing what. 
• Processes and Playbooks: These are the specific instructions on how to do various processes and how things get done. 
• Learning and Development Resources: These are resources for team members to work on upskilling and professional growth. 

This basic layout is a great starting point for creating a culture of information sharing and accountability. 

Step 4: Involve Your Team in Building the Knowledge Base 

Leadership is not a one-man show. A leader is only as capable as the team they lead. So, involving your team in the knowledge base building process is necessary.  

Here are some key questions to get your team members ideating: 

• What information does the team refer to most often?  
• What confuses your team members during their day-to-day tasks? 
• What company insights do they have trouble gathering? 

Keep in mind, as you’re building a KB for your corporation, that this process will be iterative. Your team will have an initial version of the knowledge base, but it is very rare to get everything perfect on the first pass. After the team has had some time to use the KB, it’s a good idea to conduct a feedback survey on what may be missing, or how the tool is working in day-to-day application.  

This collaborative approach will bring about several advantages, such as:  

• Building trust and engagement with your team. 
• Surfacing hidden expertise within the team. 
• Strengthening communication between leaders and members. 
• Inspiring team members to use the knowledge base frequently. 
• Motivate employees to contribute to making it better over time. 

Step 5: Keep it Updated 

Once you do have a knowledge base ready, make sure to keep it updated. A stagnant knowledge base is worse than none at all. It leads to all kinds of problems due to team members not having access to updated information. 

Schedule regular reviews, e.g., once every quarter, to keep it updated. To make it easier to update the KB, you can do things like: 

• Assign section owners. These can be project leads or team leads who are responsible for keeping a specific part of the knowledge base updated. 
• Add “last updated” timestamps. This is usually handled by the knowledge base software itself, but you can make it a habit to add the last updated date and time in the file name so that everybody knows instantly when it was changed. 
• Encourage feedback or content suggestions. As mentioned earlier, ask for feedback on knowledge gaps and content usefulness, and update the knowledge base accordingly.  Many modern KBs actually provide this functionality and have detailed analytics that reveal knowledge gaps, least used information, and most used information. 

Also, you must show that the knowledge base is not only for team members, but for individuals in leadership roles too. Demonstrating that you use it regularly by referencing it in meetings, linking to it in chats and emails, and pulling out information during real time project discussions will highlight the importance of the KB, and subliminally encourage everyone to use it. 

Final Thoughts 

So, there you have it, the complete breakdown of how to create a knowledge base that will help your leaders grow and your organization thrive. A great leader is one who can empower their people to perform at peak levels. A knowledge base is a great tool that can help both leaders and individual contributors achieve that goal.  

Aarish Singh is a guest contributor to the Leadership Circle blog.