Knowledge Base launch advice

[Ionut]

Hi guys,

As I'm working on a Confluence Knowledge Base the final launch is approaching quickly.

I am supposed to present the new platform to my department (40~ people) that currently don't know what I'm working on. 

Does anyone have any advice on how should I approach this? Because they're aged between 21 to 25 and just finished their studies I don't want them to think that this will be another "boring and useless corp platform", I want them to like it because it facilitates their work and helps them save time. Beside useful operational information it will contain, it will also have integrations with Jira, like new Bugs alert, new Stories notifications and Statistics.

P.S. It's my first product launch and I am somehow unsure of how this will go. Also I have never worked on Confluence before. I've been working on this Knowledge Base alone.

Thanks :)

Ionut

[Thomas Bowskill]

Hey @Ionut 

First, I hope it all goes well!

Here are a few things that I think will help:

• Checking out some of the recent Community KB articles -- there was a drive last month to create some, so you will get some good inspiration from there (I created one myself, which covers most of my thoughts)
• Getting participation and enthusiasm is definitely a good thing to identify -- the best system in the world can fail if there isn't a shared vision and people don't have the drive. I'd say include as many people as you can in building it out and improving it -- let people know it's something that they all can make decisions on; see if you can hand over ownership. Likewise, I hope your management is backing the drive and has some way to measure participating and encourage it on an ongoing basis :)
  • I'd say seek approval to get some 'early previews' done to key members of the 40-person team; make them know they are part of it and their views are taken on board. You'll also tease out any reactions and questions in advance of the full unveil. 
• Being clear on the why is such a vital thing -- focus on that at the beginning; how it will help people, what happens without it, etc
• And, I'd def. recommend reading up on the various Confluence macros that exist and help with presentation / templating pages. The nicer the KB looks and the easier it is to create content, the less barriers to entry. Several of the KB articles I linked to make references to macros you can use to improve the experience 

Best of luck & let me know if you want me to clarify anything