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name: knowledge-management description: | Guide for capturing, organizing, and sharing organizational knowledge. Use when creating knowledge bases, organizing documentation, reducing knowledge silos, or establishing knowledge sharing practices.

Knowledge Management

When to use this skill

Use this skill when:

• Creating or organizing knowledge bases
• Documenting institutional knowledge
• Reducing single-person dependencies
• Establishing knowledge sharing practices
• Making information discoverable

Knowledge Capture

What to Document

• Decisions: Why we chose X over Y
• Context: What we knew when we decided
• Procedures: How to do recurring tasks
• Troubleshooting: Common problems and solutions
• Architecture: How systems work and why

When to Capture

• After making significant decisions
• After solving novel problems
• Before someone leaves or changes roles
• When you explain something more than twice
• During incident post-mortems

Knowledge Organization

Structure Principles

• Organize by task, not by team
• Use consistent naming conventions
• Create clear navigation paths
• Link related content together
• Maintain a clear hierarchy

Discoverability

• Searchable titles and headings
• Keywords and tags for filtering
• Landing pages for major topics
• Recently updated sections visible
• Cross-linking between related docs

Knowledge Maintenance

Keep Current

• Review docs when code changes
• Date-stamp time-sensitive content
• Archive rather than delete outdated info
• Assign ownership for key documents
• Schedule periodic review cycles

Quality Standards

• Clear ownership for each document
• Last-updated dates visible
• Contact for questions listed
• Review schedule defined
• Deprecation process documented

Reducing Knowledge Silos

Identify Risks

• Single points of knowledge failure
• Undocumented tribal knowledge
• Expertise concentrated in individuals
• Critical processes in one person's head

Mitigation Strategies

• Pair programming and shadowing
• Recorded walkthroughs for complex systems
• Cross-training sessions
• Written runbooks for critical processes
• Regular knowledge sharing meetings

Knowledge Management Checklist

• Key decisions are documented with rationale
• Procedures are written and discoverable
• No critical single-person dependencies
• Documentation ownership is clear
• Content is regularly reviewed and updated
• New team members can self-serve information
• Search finds relevant content quickly