There are many knowledge base software options available. Many of them are specifically for creating and running a knowledge base, and that’s all they do. In addition, some others combine knowledge base functionality with help desk and CRM capabilities. However, if you’re already using Favro for team collaboration and planning, why not use the platform’s flexibility also to create your knowledge base?

Knowledge Base Benefits

There are many benefits to creating a company knowledge base. Some of the key benefits include:

• Always Available Access to Information - You no longer have to worry so much about working hours and access to subject matter experts. A knowledge base might not have all the answers, but it can go a long way towards providing 24/7 on-demand access to information.
• Improved Internal Cohesion - A knowledge base enables employees, regardless of department or discipline, to always have access to company-wide best practices, information, documents, marketing materials, etc. This empowers them, breaks down silos, and also helps to provide a more cohesive culture internally and messaging externally. 
• Reduces Onboarding Time - You want new employees to get up to speed and contribute as soon as possible. An internal company knowledge base makes onboarding simpler and faster. All new employees know where to look for playbooks, company documents, access to software tools, and all of the other important information they need to kick start their time in your organization. 
• Better Customer Experience - While some customers still prefer to talk with a company representative, many just want to find the answer as quickly as possible. An external knowledge base lets them do just that, anytime from anywhere.

How to Set Up a Knowledge Base in Favro

You’re already working with Favro to handle all of your team planning and collaboration. You might also be using Favro for high-level goal setting and tracking, portfolio management, and a myriad of other functions. So, why not use the same platform for your knowledge base? This will make Favro an even more vital single source of truth within your organization. 

Let’s walk through exactly how to create a knowledge base in Favro. I’ll also show you how to create both internal and external versions using a combination of collections and permissions. 

Internal Knowledge Base

First, let’s create the basic structure of your knowledge base. If you’re going to have multiple internal knowledge bases (HR, Marketing, Development, etc.), it’s a good idea to create a Knowledge Base collection folder.

For all of your organization’s private employee information and documentation let’s begin by creating an organization-wide Favro collection, within the “Knowledge Bases” collection folder. Only Favro administrators and full members will be able to see this collection and its contents. 

Do the same for any other internal only knowledge bases you plan to create. For example, here you see the overall company knowledge base, along with marketing and development specific knowledge bases. 

With the basic structure in place, let’s start filling these collections up with knowledge. 

Creating Kanban boards with columns representing different knowledge areas or disciplines makes it easy for employees to find what they’re looking for.

Use Favro cards for each specific document, checklist, or best practice relative to each area of knowledge.

Each Favro card can contain all of the information specific to that topic. This could be simple text, checklists, document attachments, even images and video. There’s no limit to Favro’s cloud storage, so why use a separate cloud storage solution? Keep it all in one place.

Now do the same for your department-specific knowledge bases, possibly taking advantage of Favro’s multiple board views. In this Marketing knowledge base example, a sheets view is used for easy access to information, while the Kanban view is used to track each card's creation flow, from selected to published. 

Once you have all of your knowledge bases created, use Favro’s unique ability to have boards in multiple collections simultaneously to create an overall company knowledge base dashboard. This becomes the one-stop-shop, always available, instant access repository for all of your important company information. 

External Knowledge Base

The process for creating a customer-accessible knowledge base is exactly the same as for the internal knowledge base. The only differences are the collection privacy setting and, if you using some of the same cards both internally and externally, the custom field visibility settings. 

A customer-facing knowledge base in Favro could look something like this:

After you’ve created your own version specific to your customer base, simply go to the collections privacy settings and select “Public”.

You would then create a shareable link for “Anyone with the link” and select whether or not you’d like customers to be able to comment on the individual cards (Enterprise plan only).

If you are sharing some cards across both internal and external knowledge bases, you want to make sure that any internal-only confidential data is visible only within internal collections. To do this, change your custom fields visibility settings so that private fields are visible only to internal collections.

All the Information in One Platform

It just makes sense to use a single platform for all your internal and external knowledge base requirements. Coupled with the ability to have your work flowing in the same system, creating and maintaining your organizational knowledge bases in Favro makes it your definitive single source of truth. This reduces complexity, minimizes your tool stack, and ensures that both employees and customers always have access to the most up-to-date information anytime they need it.