Product Knowledge Documentation
Brief Overview
Product Knowledge Documentation is a standardized process to record critical technical and tactical aspects of the project throughout the project lifecycle leading up to go-live.
A knowledge documentation strategy at the project level provides the foundation for a scaled knowledge management strategy at the program/Digital Adoption Center of Excellence (CoE) level.
How This Impacts Your Program
✅ Benefits of operationalizing
- Maximized resource efficiency
- Faster ramp time for new Builders
- Higher satisfaction on the Builder team
- Accelerated scale for your Digital Adoption Center of Excellence
- Documentation of lessons learned
❌ Risks of not operationalizing
- Efficiency loss
- Slowed project cycle
- Slowed time to value for business stakeholders
Best Practices
Consider the following:
- Decide on a knowledge documentation strategy early in the project (during the Plan phase), including where the documentation lives long-term
- Document throughout the project lifecycle, not just at the end
- Record critical calls, like content reviews, solution design meetings, and go/no-go conversations
- Assign ownership of knowledge transfer documentation – Consider having more than one owner share responsibility (for example, Project Lead and Builder) to reduce potential bottlenecks
Project Summary Handover
In a situation where a new set of Project Leads and/or Builders will be managing the content post go-live (for example, if a Center of Excellence hands optimization over to a Line of Business), use the Project Summary Handover meeting to expand on the Knowledge Documentation and ensure alignment.
- When: After the Project Debrief meeting
- Owner: Project Lead
- Participants: Project Lead, Department/team responsible for Ongoing Operations of the content, Builders (optional)
- Prerequisites for Business Stakeholders: Ongoing implementation team responsible for taking required courses in Digital Adoption Institute (specific to role)
Sample Call Agenda
- Review initial agreed-upon BO’s and KPI’s
- High-level review of Knowledge Documentation checklist
- Review processes and pain points (+How these were scoped and prioritized) and their link to BO’s and KPIs
- Solution design Reviews
- Initial Value Discussion + Who/When/How value will be quantified for the next meeting (Internally or with WalkMe)
- Review Maintenance and Optimization Expectations/Standard Operating Procedure
Product Knowledge Documentation Checklists
Checklist to standardize for Builders
Builders should document following information throughout the project and confirm comprehensiveness with a checklist at the project end.
Checklist to standardize for Project Leads
Project Leads should document the following information throughout the project, ideally in the Project Planner resource (available in the Digital Adoption Institute)
Get Started
- Program Manager creates a focus group with 2-3 top Builders and 2-3 top Project Leads at your organization
- Program Manager reviews the Knowledge Documentation Checklist for Builders and Knowledge Documentation Checklist for Project Leads (see above) and invites feedback
- Program Manager aggregates feedback and creates a Standard Operating Procedure for how the Project Lead and Builder should keep track of important application and implementation details
