In short. In one hour you get a real answer by mapping a single process, completely: its structure, its weighted tasks, five or six people, the knowledge it requires, then each person's mastery level. The “Knowledge at risk” screen then shows the high-criticality knowledge and the real number of its holders.
Resist the urge to map everything. The fastest way to see whether this tool is useful to you is to map one process you are already worried about, completely, and look at what comes out.
1. Create your structure
In Org chart, create the site or department that owns the process.
The hierarchy is: Structure → Process → sub-process, as deep as
you need.
2. Declare the process and its tasks
In Processes, create the process and break it into tasks, each with a weight. The weights are what make the process score meaningful — a task that represents 40% of the work should not count as much as one that represents 5%.
3. Add the people
In People, add the individuals who actually run that process. Five or six is enough for a first pass. You can import a list later.
4. Declare the knowledge
In Competencies & knowledge, attach competencies to the process, and knowledge to the competencies. Write them as a practitioner would say them aloud — "restarting the line after an emergency stop", not "operational procedures".
5. Assess mastery
For each person and each piece of knowledge, set a mastery level from 0 to 5: in Skills & Knowledge, click a knowledge item then Declare a holder — or, from a person's profile, Assign. The link is direct, without going through a task. This is the step people want to skip, and it is the only one that cannot be skipped: without it, availability cannot be computed, and criticality means nothing.
6. Look at the result
Open Knowledge at risk. What you should see: a short list of items where the criticality is high — and, next to each, the number of people who actually hold it. If that number is 1 anywhere, you have found something worth a meeting.
What a good first hour produces. Not a complete map. One process, honestly assessed, and two or three uncomfortable facts you did not have in writing this morning.
See also: Free 14-day trial and pricing · Import your data and connect your systems · Knowledge criticality: how it is computed · How to build a knowledge management system from scratch · Skills mapping: method and software
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to map everything before seeing a result?
No. A single process, honestly assessed, already produces useful findings. You then extend, process by process.
Which step cannot be skipped?
The mastery assessment. Without it, availability cannot be computed and criticality means nothing.
Where do we see the result?
On the “Knowledge at risk” screen: high-criticality knowledge with, for each item, the number of people who actually hold it.