Documentation Domination: How to Build a Knowledge Sharing Culture in 4 Easy Steps
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Liz Gray and Carolyn Sinon presented on how to build a knowledge sharing culture at Braintree in 4 steps. They started with multiple disjointed documentation systems and no centralized knowledge base. To address this, their four steps were: 1) Provide extensive training resources to encourage wiki contributions, 2) Incentivize participation through recognition and community building, 3) Gain leadership support for knowledge sharing initiatives, and 4) Plan for rapid growth through dedicated resources and process improvements like taxonomy. Regular surveys and metrics showed improvements in areas like wiki usage, criticality, accuracy and searchability over time as these steps were implemented.
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Documentation Domination: How to Build a Knowledge Sharing Culture in 4 Easy Steps
- 1. Liz Gray Knowledge Management Lead Braintree @elcgray Documentation Domination: Carolyn Sinon Technical Communicator Braintree @carolynsinon How to Build a Knowledge Sharing Culture in 4 Easy Steps
- 2. Worked at Braintree for the past four years, founded Docs team in 2014 Moved into education as Director of Technology Started working in tech at Apple Liz Gray: Knowledge Management Lead
- 3. Function as the Operations Liaison for Braintree’s Documentation team Started working in tech at Groupon Carolyn Sinon: Technical Communicator Focus: Community and collaboration
- 5. 2007
- 6. 2011 Ranking: #47Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies
- 7. “Online Payments Service Braintree Acquires Social Payments Startup Venmo for $26.2M” Posted Aug 16, 2012 by Frederic Lardinois
- 9. “Braintree’s Payments Platform Launches Across Europe and Canada” Posted Aug 29, 2012 by Sarah Perez
- 10. “Braintree launches in Australia!” Nov 14, 2012
- 14. Support the people who support our customers
- 16. Articles Walkthroughs Product guides Reference material Less technical audience
- 17. API Docs Walkthroughs Product guides Reference material Technical audience
- 18. Where We Started Problems We Encountered Four “Easy” Steps Measuring Progress Agenda
- 19. Where We Started Problems We Encountered Four “Easy” Steps Measuring Progress
- 20. Multiple wikis Google Docs White Boards Post-It Notes
- 21. ? ? ? ? ? ?
- 22. ? ? ? ? ? ?
- 24. The system wasn’t working
- 26. • Easy to use • Easy to modify • Content migration • Expansion options Needs
- 35. Build a Docs army
- 37. Braintree Docs team today
- 38. Where We Started Problems We Encountered Four “Easy” Steps Measuring Progress
- 40. The most challenging aspect of knowledge management is fostering a documentation- minded culture
- 44. We asked ourselves Why does it matter that they contribute? Why is it valuable to them? How do we get people to want to be involved? What happens if they don’t?
- 45. Where We Started Problems We Encountered Four “Easy” Steps Measuring Progress
- 46. Tip 1: Provide lots of training resources and be prepared to repeat yourself
- 51. BTU 411 Early introduction Encourage participation Create personal spaces Promote experimentation
- 52. Weekly Update Internal communication Team updates Product updates Fostering community
- 53. Tip 3: Get leadership buy-in
- 54. Tip 4: Plan for rapid growth
- 55. 0 1250 2500 3750 5000 M arch 2013 Septem ber 2015100 1.209 790 4.080 Pages Users Page and User Count
- 56. Where We Started Problems We Encountered Four “Easy” Steps Measuring Progress
- 58. Poll employees
- 59. • How regularly do you use the wiki? • How critical is it to your job? • How accurate is it? • How easily can you find what you need? • What would you like to see change or improve?
- 60. 93%of employees regularly use the wiki for their jobs
- 61. What we learned May 2015 The wiki is considered to be a necessary tool for employees, but the accuracy of some of the information is still questionable
- 62. What we’re doing Start at the door Ensure that wiki training is a part of every new hire’s education Continuing education Introduce tips and tricks for better wiki use via Weekly Update PSAs Dedicated resources Hire someone to focus entirely on improving the wiki
- 63. 95%of employees regularly use the wiki for their jobs
- 66. 0 1,25 2,5 3,75 5 May November 3,5 3,5 Accuracy of Content
- 68. “I think even having like a Docs check- in person per team so you know who you can hound to fix things or give you truth might be helpful.”
- 69. “I wish it was easier to add things. There are so many things I learn that should be wiki-ed, but it’s so much effort to update.”
- 70. “more consistent title names”
- 74. Mar Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec Feb AprMarJanNovSepJulMay 20152014
- 77. • Create a taxonomy • Establish a controlled vocabulary • Eliminate outdated and duplicate information • Identify content experts that can help oversee quality and accuracy of department-specific content • Establish a tiered permission structure
- 78. Conclusion
- 80. Tip 1: Provide lots of training resources and be prepared to repeat yourself
- 82. Tip 3: Get leadership buy-in
- 83. Tip 4: Plan for rapid growth
- 85. Thank you! Liz Gray Knowledge Management Lead Braintree @elcgray Carolyn Sinon Technical Communicator Braintree @carolynsinon