KCS 6.3 How Does KCS Enable Value In The Support Process? – Knowledge Centered Support
Some General Considerations for Enabling Value in the Support Process
Now just before we look into Content Health techniques, we will start with some general considerations like;
- Understanding how KCS enables value in the support process,
- Knowledge base size and article age,
- Migrating and integrating legacy data,
- Priming the knowledge base for new product information,
- Global support considerations, and finally,
- Just-in-time training
Understanding How KCS Enables Value In The Support Process: The Practices
One of the first considerations is understanding how KCS enables value in the support process knowledge has value but only if we capitalize on it! Our goal is to maximize the value of what we learn in the support process. Lets consider some of the key content best practices that drive the value of what we learn to the whole organization:
• Capture all the KCS article information during the problem solving process.
Rather than documenting resolution articles at the end of a support case, KCS recommends capturing the KCS article information during discovery. The situational elements should also be collected so that the KCS article represents the entire experience. This practice of considering all the elements such that they can be captured provides focus on the problem-solving process and creates operational efficiencies, even when solving a new and unique problem.
• Respect the contributions of all people interacting with the knowledge.
Support Analysts are the primary creators and conduits of KCS articles through their interactions in resolving issues. However, KCS articles can be captured or modified whenever and wherever they occur. Customers and service partners are both in positions to capture new KCS articles, and their different perspectives on the environment and context of the situation can enrich the knowledge base and speed recognition of relevance. The combination of the KCS licensing model and the KCS article states provides a means to manage who can see and do what.
• Structure KCS articles for rapid reuse.
Consortium members have observed that the redundancy rate for repeated problems is anywhere from 65% to 90% of total incident volume. Reusing existing KCS articles improves the speed, accuracy and consistency of support. With reuse taking minutes compared to new issue resolution taking hours, the efficiency improvement and positive impact on customer satisfaction is significant.
• Structure information for sustainability.
Historically, the formats used for storing information (or lack of format) have not provided flexible and effective access. As volumes of unstructured information increase, it becomes harder to find information. A simple structure enables the KCS methodology to provide a balance of process and flexibility and maintain a high level of findability.
• Collective ownership.
KCS article quality is the responsibility of everyone who interacts with the knowledge base. Shared responsibility for the content encourages ownership and accountability, and the KCS article quality practice of “reuse is review” and “flag it or fix it” are the behaviors in the Solve Loop that reflect collective ownership and drive continuous improvement in the quality of the articles being used.
• Continuous learning.
Patterns and trends in the just-in-time content (Solve Loop content – KCS articles created as issues are being solved) are the basis for high value Evolve Loop content. Evolve Loop content includes KCS articles that are created through the added information from reuse patterns. Based on the analysis of a collection of just-in-time KCS articles (usually thousands), a small number of KCS articles may be updated, merged, or created to improve the effectiveness of the users. Also, related KCS articles may be linked to each other in the knowledge base. These can be diagnostic or procedural KCS articles; a collection of diagnostic KCS articles can be linked together to create a complex diagnostic process. Based on web analytics, new KCS articles may be created to fill gaps in the knowledge base. The Knowledge Domain Experts analyze the collection of just-in-time KCS articles and create, edit, or link existing KCS articles. We call these KCS articles Evolve Loop content or “high value content.”
Implemented in everyday actions, these core ideas enable the organization to realize the full value of the knowledge base. The Content Health Techniques provide specific techniques to help adopters understand the KCS article structure and maintenance processes for optimizing the value of the collective experience through the knowledge base. We will review these techniques after covering the remaining Content Health consideration.
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Content as shown in KCS Version 5.3 Knowledge-Centered Support Practices Guide (2012) S3 [3.1-9]. KCS v5.3 was written and edited by Melissa George, David Kay, Greg Oxton, Rick Joslin, Jennifer MacIntosh, and Kelly Murray.
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The entire suite of KCS topics is available in one location for FREE via my KCS video book/training course. These are designed to guide interested people through the entire KCS concepts and practices, as well as provide evidence of understanding for those involved in a Knowledge Centered Support program of work or implementation. All you need to is register!
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