Knowledge Mapping
Knowledge mapping is the process of identifying, visualizing, and analyzing where critical knowledge exists within an organization and how it flows between people, systems, and departments.
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What is Knowledge Mapping?
Knowledge mapping is essentially the practice of figuring out where your organization's know-how actually lives. Instead of trying to store all that knowledge in one place, a knowledge map shows you who knows what, which systems hold critical information, and how knowledge travels (or gets stuck) between teams.
Think of it like creating a treasure map for your company's expertise. The knowledge mapping process helps you chart all those valuable insights hiding in people's heads, buried in old documents, or scattered across half a dozen tools nobody remembers signing up for.
Organizations turn to knowledge mapping when they realize they have no idea where important information actually is. These knowledge maps give employees a clear picture of where to look for answers, how knowledge flows between departments, and where dangerous knowledge gaps might be lurking.
Key Characteristics of Knowledge Mapping
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Visual Representation: Knowledge maps turn complex webs of information into something you can actually look at and make sense of. They show relationships that would be impossible to explain in a spreadsheet.
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Location-Focused: A knowledge map doesn't contain the knowledge itself. It points you in the right direction, whether that's a specific document, a database, or the one person who actually knows how the legacy system works.
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Gap Identification: When you map things out, problems become obvious. You'll quickly spot where knowledge is missing, where bottlenecks slow things down, and where too much critical expertise sits with just one or two people.
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Flow Analysis: Knowledge maps trace how information moves around your organization. Sometimes that movement is smooth. Often, it's not. The map shows you where things break down.
Knowledge Mapping Examples
Example 1: Onboarding Process Map
A mid-sized company decided to map out their employee onboarding knowledge. What they found wasn't pretty. Training materials lived in three different systems, HR policies were buried somewhere in SharePoint, technical docs varied wildly by team, and two senior employees held most of the institutional knowledge in their heads. With this visibility, they could finally do something about it.
Example 2: Customer Support Knowledge Map
A support team mapped their knowledge ecosystem after noticing the same questions kept coming up. The knowledge map revealed troubleshooting guides scattered across email threads, random Slack channels, and wikis nobody had touched in years. Worse, 60% of escalations landed on the same three agents. That kind of bottleneck needed addressing through proper knowledge sharing.
Types of Knowledge Maps
| Type | Purpose | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural Maps | Document step-by-step processes and workflows | Standardizing operations, training new employees |
| Conceptual Maps | Connect ideas, topics, and their relationships | Strategic planning, research organization |
| Competency Maps | Identify skills and expertise across teams | Training needs assessment, succession planning |
How Glitter AI Helps with Knowledge Mapping
Glitter AI takes a lot of the manual work out of the knowledge mapping process. As team members create how-to guides and document their processes, the platform automatically captures where that knowledge exists and who created it. Over time, you end up with a living knowledge map that builds itself.
What makes this particularly useful is how Glitter transforms screen recordings into structured documentation. All that tacit knowledge trapped in someone's head suddenly becomes visible, shareable, and accessible to everyone who needs it. This feeds directly into your knowledge base, making your knowledge map more complete over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is knowledge mapping?
Knowledge mapping is how organizations figure out where their critical knowledge actually lives. It involves identifying, visualizing, and documenting knowledge whether it sits in documents, systems, or people's heads, and tracking how that knowledge moves between teams.
What is the purpose of a knowledge map?
A knowledge map gives you visibility into where your knowledge assets actually are. It helps you spot gaps, identify bottlenecks, reduce the risk of depending too heavily on individual experts, and improve how information gets shared across your organization.
How do you create a knowledge map?
Start by identifying your key knowledge domains. Then document where each type of knowledge exists, who holds it, and how people currently access it. From there, visualize these relationships using diagrams or dedicated mapping tools.
What are the three types of knowledge maps?
The three main types are procedural maps for documenting step-by-step processes, conceptual maps for connecting ideas and showing relationships, and competency maps for tracking skills and expertise across your teams.
What is the difference between knowledge mapping and knowledge management?
Knowledge mapping is one specific technique for visualizing where knowledge exists. Knowledge management is the bigger picture, covering how you capture, organize, share, and put organizational knowledge to work.
Why is knowledge mapping important for organizations?
It exposes inefficiencies you might not have noticed. It flags risks when too much knowledge sits with too few people. It supports succession planning. And it helps with decision-making by making clear what knowledge exists and where to find it.
What tools are used for knowledge mapping?
People use everything from mind mapping software and process documentation platforms to specialized knowledge management systems. Some tools can even track and map organizational knowledge automatically as it gets created.
How does knowledge mapping help with employee onboarding?
New employees can see exactly where to find what they need, who to ask for help, and how different knowledge resources connect to their specific role. It cuts down the time spent hunting for information.
What is the knowledge mapping process?
You define your scope and objectives, identify knowledge sources and the people who hold them, document how knowledge relates and flows, create visual representations, and then keep the map updated as things change.
How often should a knowledge map be updated?
A quarterly review is a good baseline. Beyond that, update whenever something significant changes, whether that's a new system going live, a key person leaving, or a major process overhaul.
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