Did you know that 92% of customers say they would use a knowledge base for self-service if it was available?
It is often alleged that a business’s ability to perform well in the information age relies on how well it uses knowledge. This is why many leading firms have started to count on Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS)—a renowned concept of capturing, updating, and moderating knowledge to resolve customers’ issues.
But the big question is how to head the process in the right direction so that it reaps fruits for a prolonged period. The answer is KCS coaching. It is a proven tool that helps organizations build a KCS culture by improving knowledge sharing and collaboration among service agents.
Let’s dive deeper into the core concept!
First Thing First—What is KCS Coaching?
To understand the idea of KCS coaching, consider your organization as a garden. If you were trying to cultivate your garden, you would water and nurture each individual plant. You would also consider the impact other plants have on them and how they would work together functionally and aesthetically. Establishing an effective KCS culture is quite similar.
To get the best out of your agents and knowledge workers, you need to create a culture where they can collaborate and share knowledge to expedite resolutions. KCS coaching plays a catalytic role in making it possible. It involves training and coaching the service team on how to apply KCS principles and best practices to specific situations.
The Role of KCS Coaches
Coaches are critical change agents and KCS experts who are responsible for guiding organizations in adopting and optimizing KCS practices.
Some of the specific responsibilities of KCS coaches may include:
- Developing and delivering KCS training programs for agents at all organizational levels
- Providing ongoing coaching and support to individuals and teams as they apply the KCS methodology to their work
- Monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of the KCS program and identifying areas for improvement
- Creating and maintaining documentation and resources related to the KCS program
- Collaborating with other departments to ensure that the KCS framework is being integrated across all functions
Sowing the Seed of KCS Coaching with 5 Steps
As already cleared, KCS coaching is the seed to plant the KCS culture in your organization. Its successful implementation involves several stages, discussed below:
1. Awareness
The first step is to introduce the KCS methodology and the benefits it provides to the organization. The coach will explain how KCS aligns with the company’s goals and objectives.
2. Assessment
Secondly, the coach will assess the current knowledge management practices within the company. The focus should be to evaluate the gaps and identify the areas that needed to be revamped.
3. Planning
Once the coach has assessment results, the next step is to build a customized coaching plan. It should involve objectives and timelines for implementing KCS. Additionally, the roles of agents and knowledge workers should also be highlighted.
4. Planting
The third and most important stage involves implementing the KCS coaching program. Coaches should conduct training sessions, and workshops, and provide online resources to help employees understand KCS better.
5. Nurturing
Coaches should guide the employees in incorporating KCS into their day-to-day work. They need to help employees in applying the KCS methodology and tools effectively to capture, reuse, and improve knowledge.
6. Watering
KCS is an iterative process, and continuous improvement is a vital stage. The coach should guide agents in improving the KCS practices, processes, and tools to enhance the organization’s knowledge management capabilities.
7. Regular Monitoring
The next step is to measure the success of the KCS coaching program. This involves tracking KCS adoption and collecting feedback from agents about the coaching program. Based on this feedback, coaches are required to make adjustments to enhance the effectiveness of the coaching program.
Redefining KCS Coaching Practices with Cognitive Technology
It is now beyond doubt that coaching is integral in optimizing KCS improvements in the workflow. Continuously evaluating the impact of the coaching program and making necessary improvements can pave the way for success. However, stumbling blocks like a lack of clear metrics and limited resources makes it a hard nut to crack. This is where cognitive apps like Knowbler come into the picture!
This cutting-edge AI-powered app comes with a robust reporting module that makes it feasible to monitor the performance of KB articles and quantify KCS coaching success.
Coaches can gather intelligent insights with these two reports:
- Content Health: It lists the contribution of each agent to overall content quality by highlighting the agent’s score on a particular parameter.
- Content Health Summary: It lists the parameters that do not meet the content standards.
Based on the analytics, coaches can make the decision about whether the agent is qualified to be promoted to the position of KCS publisher or need further training.
Upskill Your Service Team with an Effective KCS Coaching Program
Having an effective KCS coaching program in place is the need of the hour. After all, It empowers agents to constructively adopt the KCS practices in their work. Interested in learning more about the importance of KCS coaching for your service team? Stay tuned for our upcoming posts!
If you want to witness the power of cognitive technology in ensuring the success of your KCS coaching program, request a free trial now!
