Support Materials

Support Materials supply the foundation of an organisation’s knowledge base. They provide direction through new initiatives, guidance in the mist of ambiguity, and reassurance in times of change. Support materials stem from the solution design. In developing support materials there are three points to consider:

• type, 
• medium, and 
• deployment. 

These considerations account for the nature of the knowledge being documented, the consumer of this information, and the access to this information. 

Support materials should be a single source of truth. This makes it easy for users to retrie, and developers to update.

Select a type that suits the functionality. 

This could be a 

• quick reference guide, 
• user guide, 
• step by step guide,  
• process map or 
• standard operating procedure. 

Part of the challenge of creating an effective learning ecosystem is identifying the boundaries of type. How much business process is captured in a step-by-step guide? How much detail is captured in a standard operating procedure? BingWorks helps organisations to understand these boundaries and establish and maintain defined practices.

Select a medium to suit the audience. 

Some users relish a step-by-step guide, while others prefer a video’s visual context. Some users are concerned with the detail of a standard operating procedure, while other seek an overall context of an info graphic. Some users are comfortable viewing support materials on a computer, while others prefer printed options. Most users like varying degrees of multiple mediums. The mediums cater to different learning styles and consumption preferences. 

Select a deployment method that makes the support materials easily accessible. Bingworks performs a deployment analysis to ensure the support materials can be accessed easily within existing frameworks. This may be an intranet site, SharePoint, Google site, a learning management system, or even the default help menu in a platform. A careful consideration of deployment methods results in support materials being utilised and updated regularly.