Curating a Confluence Site - Day 1

[#1]

The value of Curation - Setting the stage

If you are new to Confluence, you may not yet have discovered that Confluence is a tremendous product with a myriad of different uses. It can be the central repository of organizational knowledge. Confluence can serve as the collaboration hub for software design, HR practices, Contract management, finance and accounting practices, and any other part of corporate management. It is the backbone of a customer-facing Knowledge Base and the source for trouble-shooting articles for Service Desk Agents. Confluence can be a file repository and a content aggregator. Regardless of the type of content, Confluence has the tools and functionality to help you create, manage, publish, and transmit information to everyone who needs it.

Yet, one of the most frequent complaints that I receive from my customers is that Confluence doesn’t deliver on the promises that I described above. Too often, Confluence is introduced with great enthusiasm only to lose steam about six months into its use because the content has become stale or irrelevant, out of date, or key information is hard to find. On its surface, Confluence is easy to use and invites rapid adoption. But lurking under the surface is extraordinary functionality and flexibility that can overwhelm Confluence users who are left to fend for themselves.

The difficulty in creating and maintaining Confluence as a high-functioning corporate information repository is equally true of the quality of the customer-facing Knowledge Base. A new Service Desk may incorporate a Knowledge Base into their Jira Service Management portal with an initial spurt of enthusiasm only to see it devolve into a mass of useless information. This leads to a decrease in customer satisfaction and an increase in tickets that might have otherwise been deflected.

On the other hand, a well-curated Confluence-based Knowledge Base can have important upside contributions. It can substantially improve customer satisfaction when customers find it easy to get answers to their pressing questions or solutions to their immediate problems. Service Desk agents can focus on the hard problems, demonstrating their expertise, and increasing their value to their customers. Confluence spaces that meet organization standards deliver information that helps everyone do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.

Key Elements of Curating a Confluence Site

Curating a well-organized Confluence site requires thoughtful planning, consistent maintenance, and strategic use of built-in features. A properly curated site can foster collaboration, streamline knowledge sharing, and ensure that content remains relevant and useful over time. Below are key elements for effective Confluence curation:

• Standard usage of labels and templates
• Dictionaries that define key terms and acronyms used within the organization and industry
• Pages whose information is current and accurate
• Archival of pages and spaces that are no longer needed
• Standard use of macros
• Metrics that lead to continuous improvement
• Training that helps everyone get the most out of Confluence
• Well-considered adoption of AI tools to improve the quality of information

This week, I will post a short article each day with suggestions for how you can reach your goal for a high-value Confluence site. Follow me this week for tips and tricks that will let you achieve Confluence nirvana.