How to Create an Internal Knowledge Base: Step-by-Step Guide for Teams

Nothing kills productivity faster than hunting for the right file across multiple folders or tools. Searching for information, bothering colleagues, or switching between platforms slows down your work and hinders collaboration.

In fact, a Panopto study reveals that 81% of respondents are frustrated when they can't access the information they need to get their job done.

This step-by-step guide shows you how to create an internal knowledge base that centralizes knowledge, fosters teamwork, and improves productivity.

What Is an Internal Knowledge Base?

An internal knowledge base is a central place where your team can store, manage, and share important information. Its main goal is to make it easy for employees to find what they need to do their work efficiently.

Unlike customer-facing knowledge bases, which are open to everyone, an internal knowledge base is just for your team. By keeping information in one place, you reduce duplication, rely less on “tribal knowledge,” and make teamwork smoother.

From onboarding new employees to solving common problems and keeping everyone on the same page, an internal knowledge base helps your team work smarter and stay productive.

A well-structured internal knowledge base acts as a central hub for storing, managing, and sharing employee knowledge. By creating one, your organization can improve workflow, reduce redundancies, and enhance collaboration across teams.

Types of Knowledge Base Systems

There are 5 primary categories of knowledge bases:

• Internal knowledge base - Designed for internal team use to improve efficiency and collaboration.
• Hosted knowledge base - Cloud-based, maintained by a provider.
• Self-hosted knowledge base - Managed on your own servers for more control.
• Customer service knowledge base - Public-facing, supports clients and customers.
• Open-source knowledge base software - Free, customizable, but requires technical setup.

What To Put In Your Internal Knowledge Base?

• Company information:  Annual reports, organizational charts, and contact lists.
• Training material: Onboarding materials, employee training plans and templates, health and safety training, and certification training.
  
• Best Practices: Including best practices in your internal knowledge base is essential for promoting efficiency and productivity within your organization. These best practices can cover a wide range of topics, such as project management, communication, customer service, and more. By sharing proven strategies and techniques, employees can learn from each other's experiences and adopt successful approaches to their work.
  
• Sales collateral: Case studies, sell sheets, sales process information, and the latest sales numbers.
  
• HR material: Employee handbooks, payslips, and employee review forms.
  
• Documentation: Process documentation, software documentation, standard operating procedures, and checklists.
  
• Marketing collateral: Editorial calendars, social media post templates, and copywriting guidelines.
  
• Media and press kit: Press releases, contact lists, and press images.
  
• Design files: Design guidelines, branding handbook, and color codes.
  
• Legal documents: Contracts, release forms, policies, and regulatory documents.
  
• Customer service: FAQs, call scripts, and email templates that can help your customer support team better assist customers

Benefits of Using an Internal Knowledge Base

An effective internal knowledge base offers a lot of benefits. They include:

Improve employee productivity

Productivity takes a nosedive when you're stuck waiting for the right information.

According to a Panopto study, the average employee loses 5.3 hours each week just trying to find what they need.

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Foster team collaboration

Employees from different departments can add their knowledge to a shared platform, making it easier for everyone to access and learn from it.

This kind of collaboration helps teams work together, share experiences, and come up with better, more efficient solutions.

With an internal knowledge base’s collaborative features, team members can work on content together in real time, leave comments, and suggest improvements, keeping everyone aligned and informed.

Streamline onboarding and training

When it comes to onboarding new employees, having an internal knowledge base can significantly streamline the process.

Instead of dragging through endless training sessions, new hires can access the knowledge base to pick up the lowdown on company rules, procedures, and useful tips. 

This not only saves time but also ensures that all employees receive consistent and accurate information.

It's not just onboarding that gets a boost when you gather all the necessary info in one spot, but regular company training benefits too.

Prevent knowledge loss

Does your organization have a way of retaining tacit knowledge?  If not, every time someone leaves, you're at risk and end up spending time, energy, and resources to fill the knowledge gap.

On average, large U.S. companies lose about $42.5 million yearly because they're not sharing knowledge effectively, and a significant portion of that is due to knowledge loss. 

By improving how your organization shares and transforms tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, you can cut down on the costs of recovering lost information.

Improve work flexibility

Traditional methods often lock information in content silos like hard drives.

By storing knowledge in a central, cloud-based hub, you and your team can access it from anywhere. This accessibility minimizes the disruption of unexpected sick days, canceled flights, or bad weather.

Troubleshoot common issues

Instead of relying on a few individuals with specific expertise, employees can search through the knowledge base to find solutions to common issues. 

This not only eases the workload on a few individuals but also encourages a culture where everyone can handle things independently and take the initiative to solve problems within the organization.

What Makes a Great Knowledge Base?

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Share and grow knowledge together. Simply highlight, save, and collaborate with anyone on any content you find online.

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How to Maintain a Collaborative Knowledge Base

1. Regularly review content - Update information and remove outdated files
2. Encourage team contributions - Recognize active collaborators
3. Track usage and performance - Measure engagement to improve workflows
4. Integrate with other tools - Ensure smooth knowledge flow across platforms

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