Create a knowledge initiative

Overview

A knowledge initiative bundles everything you need to secure one body of knowledge: the goal, the knowledge givers, their interviews, documents and results. You set it up in a chat with an assistant. After that, Omnora plans the next steps automatically.

Initiatives are available depending on what is enabled for your organization. Anyone who is signed in can create an initiative and becomes its manager.

Step 1: Start the assistant

1. Click Capture knowledge at the top of the sidebar, or open Initiatives and click Create initiative.
2. Describe in the chat which knowledge should be secured, or pick one of the suggested starters.
3. Answer the follow-up questions. The assistant records the starting point, the goal, capture guidance and a deadline. It derives the title and description itself.

Your first message creates the initiative as a Draft. The side panel shows what has been saved and what is still missing.

Step 2: Name the knowledge givers

1. Name the people whose knowledge should be secured. The assistant looks them up in your company's user directory or adds people without an account by name and email address.
2. In the Knowledge givers panel, enter each person's email address, interview language and a note on what they know. The note steers which questions the AI asks.

Step 3: Add documents

Accept matching documents the assistant suggests, upload files, import a web page (if enabled for your organization) or pick existing documents. Add a short note on the role each document should play in the initiative.

Step 4: Review and start

1. Confirm the summary of situation and goal.
2. Review the proposed first interviews. Each knowledge giver gets a proposal with topic, estimated duration and content.
3. Ask for changes in the chat or click Start knowledge capture.

All knowledge givers now receive their invitation by email; people without an account get a personal link. The initiative is In progress, and from now on Omnora plans the next steps.

Tips from pilot projects

These tips come from pilot projects with Intelligence Management. They help you get good interviews and useful results with little effort. They are experience, not fixed rules.

Before you start

• Name the people: clarify who steers the initiative, who gives their knowledge and who will use it later.
• Goal in one sentence: what should be different in three months?
• Get approvals early: involve IT, data protection and, if needed, the works council before the first interview.
• Plan time: agree the knowledge givers' time budget with their managers.

The target picture

• Fill in starting point, goal and capture guidance.
• Make it checkable, for example: “A successor decides a comparable new case without asking back.” A deadline alone doesn't tell the AI when the knowledge is sufficient.
• Choose a narrow topic. A broad topic produces shallow results.

Documents

Upload documents that describe the framework before the interviews and check that they have been processed. What is added only during the conversation no longer changes the questions.

Supporting knowledge givers

• Talk to each person before the invitation arrives: time needed, process and benefit. Also say what they don't need to do: no preparation, no writing.
• Note for each person what they know. The note steers the questions.
• Agree a fixed time slot in the calendar with the knowledge givers.
• Check the overview once a week and send reminders for open interviews.

In the interview

• A quiet place, a headset and a current browser help.
• A few bullet points are enough preparation.
• Speak freely, as with a colleague. Concrete examples and special cases are especially valuable.
• If a question doesn't fit, say so. If you need time, use the thinking break or pause.
• The first interview often feels unusual. That usually passes after a few questions.

After the interview

• Have the knowledge giver review the highlights in the knowledge report.
• Ask someone without subject knowledge to read the first report. If they understand it, the report works.
• Decide audience, purpose and format for each result before creating it, and test new formats on one interview first.

Frequently asked questions

I left the assistant. Is my initiative lost?
No. After your first message the initiative is kept as a draft. You find it under Initiatives and on Home under Your open items, where you can finish it.

Why can't I start knowledge capture?
Usually a knowledge giver has no email address yet. If you changed knowledge givers or the briefing after the proposal, the assistant has to create the proposal again first.

How long can my first message be?
Up to 4,000 characters.

Why doesn't the assistant propose an interview for one person?
The assistant may decide that no interview is needed for this person at this point. That can change in later planning rounds.

Questions? Send us a message, we are happy to help!