Knowledge workers are often tasked or sometimes even pressured with figuring out complex tasks with limited amounts of time. Here’s a list of some of the main challenges that exist in today’s workplace:

• Knowledge workers are under constant pressure to learn new technologies and to read up on current trends in the industry.
• The traditional office environment is being replaced by one in which employees work anywhere, anytime, and with anyone.
• It is often hard for employees to solicit information from their coworkers without having to leave their desk, and wasting valuable time searching for the person with the right answer.
• Knowledge workers need information on an ongoing basis to do their jobs; not having the right information at their fingertips can be a drain on productivity.

In situations like these, a Question-and-Answer directory can play a crucial role. When you have questions about complicated or confusing topics, looking for authoritative voices will help to enlighten you on the subject of your inquiry. And when you find the answer you are looking for; you can form a relationship with the contributor, colleague or stakeholder, or even their future client.

The QandaPress Question-Answering system is a learning-focused way to get information to stick and be useful to employees by making sure all archived questions and answers can be managed and accessible at the right time and in places where the learner will use them. Having 24/7 access leverages employees’ natural way of learning and allows them to look back at the material as needed.

Implementing best practices around gathering answers and safeguarding them as knowledge for later use is the first step towards better problem solving, more accurate decision making, or even just to save someone time tracking down a piece of information.

As your Question-and-Answer directory grows in complexity, with more involved questions that are increasingly addressed by knowledgeable experts in your company or members in your community, rather than viewing each answer principally in terms of the immediate information need of the question-asker, the focus will be broadened to  further include the potential value to people in the future who might have similar questions.