Challenges in knowledge management

Illustration by By Rajashree Rajadhyax

AI is one of the most widely discussed technologies today, with its benefits being widely recognized. On a personal level, we often use AI in various aspects of our daily lives, sometimes without even realizing it. Businesses, however, are particularly eager to harness its potential, having seen firsthand the advantages it can bring.

One key application of AI is helping organizations gain valuable insights from their existing knowledge. However, to fully unlock these benefits, organizational information must be well-organized and efficiently managed. This article will explore the challenges organizations face in managing knowledge effectively.

👉 Knowledge is in abundance but is in silos.

Knowledge is abundant but fragmented across different departments, making it difficult to access or share. Information, expertise, and insights are confined within specific departments, teams, or individuals. Complex hierarchies and departmental boundaries can impede the free flow of information. A "silo mentality" may develop, where individuals or teams prioritize their own goals over collective organizational objectives. This lack of integration leads to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for leveraging collective intelligence.

👉 There is tacit knowledge.

Tacit knowledge encompasses the skills, experiences, and insights that individuals acquire through personal experience and practice. Individuals often find it challenging to express tacit knowledge verbally or in writing, as it is deeply rooted in personal intuition and experience. Sharing tacit knowledge requires deliberate efforts, such as mentoring or collaborative projects, to facilitate the exchange of experiential insights. Under tight deadlines, individuals may prefer to execute tasks personally to ensure that everything is done right. There is often no time to delegate tasks, train others, or articulate and preserve tacit knowledge in written form.

👉 Organized for Storage, Not for Sharing.

Tools used to manage this are designed from the perspective of better storage as documents/ files than quick and easy access to knowledge within them. Many organizations rely on Document Management Systems (DMS) as their primary knowledge management solution, often adopting these systems as data and files organically accumulate. However, these systems are primarily designed for document storage, not easy knowledge access. A significant portion of valuable data remains scattered across employees' personal computers and folders, often unshared or inconsistently organized. Each person tends to classify and index information based on their own needs, making it challenging for others to locate or use these scattered pieces of knowledge.

👉 Mining Unstructured Knowledge is difficult.

Knowledge exists in various forms, including Excel files, documents, databases, and reports. Organizing and standardizing this information for effective mining is a massive task, and it often lacks the necessary initiative. It's an effort that requires participation from everyone in the organization.

👉 What to keep, what to skip?

People often struggle with deciding what information should go into a common knowledge repository because it’s not always clear what’s important for the broader team and what’s not. It can be tough to distinguish between valuable insights that others could benefit from and routine or irrelevant details that might just clutter the system. Everyone has their own perspective on what’s important, so this task becomes subjective, and without clear guidelines, it often leads to inconsistency in what gets stored. This can make the shared knowledge base less useful and harder to navigate for everyone.

👉 Struggle with Tech and Tools

There are significant technology and infrastructure challenges that make it tough to create a seamless knowledge store. For one, many organizations lack the necessary systems to integrate diverse types of data, such as documents, spreadsheets, and databases, into a unified platform. Even when these systems are in place, they often aren't user-friendly or efficient enough to facilitate easy access and collaboration. Additionally, maintaining data security, ensuring proper categorization, and managing updates across various tools and systems add complexity to the process. All of these technical barriers hinder the creation of a truly seamless and effective knowledge store.

👉 Knowledge Management Isn’t a Priority

Everyone wants to mine and use knowledge, but the challenge lies in prioritizing it. It becomes one of those tasks that’s important to everyone, but at the same time, nobody takes full ownership of it, so it often ends up taking a back seat. Knowledge management needs to be treated as a process, something that requires a structured system and a supportive culture, but this is hard to implement because leadership often doesn’t know where to start. There’s a desire for results, but the process takes time and effort, and people are often unwilling to invest because the benefits aren’t immediately visible. This leads to a cycle where knowledge management is sidelined, even though its long-term value is clear.

👉 There are budget constraints.

Effective knowledge management requires several investments. It’s not that it’s expensive, but it demands consistent time and effort, which organizations are hesitant to invest. First, time and effort from employees to contribute and share knowledge. Human resources are essential, including knowledge managers and IT specialists to maintain the system. Technology investments are needed for platforms that store and organize knowledge. Training ensures everyone can use the system effectively, and ongoing updates are necessary to keep it relevant. Resources are typically allocated to projects that promise immediate returns, while knowledge management, being a long-term initiative, doesn’t offer instant benefits, making it harder to justify the necessary investment.

While knowledge management presents significant challenges, such as siloed information and the difficulty of capturing tacit knowledge, organizations can unlock immense value by prioritizing it. By investing in technology, training, and a supportive culture, companies can break down barriers, promote knowledge sharing, and leverage AI-powered tools to foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

Generative AI has revolutionized knowledge management by automating content creation, enhancing search accuracy, and extracting key insights from complex data. This empowers organizations to transform their knowledge into a strategic asset, driving innovation, streamlining operations, and ultimately achieving sustainable growth.

By Rajashree Rajadhyax

Co-Founder, Cere Labs