With workloads evolving into a mostly digital space, the modern workforce is faced with the task of re-orienting their workflow to be in sync with the evolving enterprise demands. 

Crucial to this continued synchronization of workloads and the workforce is the existence of robust knowledge elements/portals that often provide an unacknowledged support system.  

What are knowledge portals or knowledge elements? 

Knowledge portals is a catch-all term for, well, the knowledge that an employee requires to execute their workflow flawlessly and efficiently. This can take the form of online forums related to a niche tech like Stack Exchange for AI or offline conferences like PyCon. 

However, the explosion of digital workloads has left a mish-mash of knowledge elements scattered both online & offline.  In this article, we cover some key knowledge elements/portals that every worker in the digital workforce should be aware of and should be able to leverage as and when they need to. 

Stay on top of the documentation

In any given tech stack, the products and libraries are being constantly updated. As any experienced developer can attest to, what was working all these days suddenly stops working because there’s been a change in the library or the dependencies have been deprecated.

What works today might not work tomorrow. So, it’s important for engineers, product managers, and even sales teams, to a small extent, to be aware of the latest changes/updates to a product or a library.

In some cases, entire applications are forced to go offline because some minute dependency that powers a small but significant part of the application is no longer compatible with the latest infrastructure. Unfortunately, such nightmare scenarios are all too common in the tech world.

To avoid this, stakeholders must subscribe to and read updates related to any product or library critical for their workload.

Managers routinely remark that their best engineer knows the latest libraries and tools’ names off the top of their head.

Understand technology use cases

Being a part of the digital workforce is all about using the latest in cutting-edge tech to solve real-world problems. This means that one should have a deep understanding of the use cases or pain points relevant to an industry.

From data analysts to engineers, employees are expected to have a surface-level knowledge of the field for which they are developing digital solutions.

For example, a front-end engineer creating a mockup for a shipping company would find it helpful to know the latest developments in the field to deliver an up-to-date design touch for the website.

Or a data analyst working for a bioinformatics company; they would need a much deeper understanding of biological terms in order to perform their job with due diligence.

Often, the level of familiarity required about relevant use cases falls somewhere between the two extreme examples quoted above.

Leverage discussion forums

Whether online forums or offline meetups, discussion forums and even mailing lists have played a key role in the development of the digital world.

The Linux Kernel Mailing List functions as the central place where Linux developers around the world share patches, argue about implementation details, and discuss other issues. In the early days, this mailing list was critical to the development and maintenance of the linux kernel.

Good engineers ask questions. Great engineers know which forums to ask and what to ask. Needless to say, a key skill set required for the digital workforce is the ability to ask questions and find answers for extremely niche problems. And discussion forums are the best places to do so.

If you’re not a part of the discord group/ slack channel /subreddit/ newsletter list for your tech stack, you’re missing out on enormous learning opportunities.

Attend time-tested knowledge transfer podiums

Events & conferences related to your product/technology are still the time-tested platforms for the exchange of updated information and the latest developments.

Thanks to COVID, even these have now shifted online. In the age of digital, in-person events might seem anachronistic; however, while some will continue to stay online, most will revert back to live, in-person events once the pandemic abates globally.

Apart from listening to talks by industry experts and viewing live demos of cutting-edge tech, events & conferences are also great for getting in touch with peers. Hackathons & seminars are great places to meet like-minded individuals who share your passion for a particular technology.

Track funding flows to identify emerging trends

Venture Capitalists have an uncanny ability to spot the next emerging trend. Having access to an army of consultants and AI-powered sales and talent intelligence platforms enables them to spot and capitalize on technologies before going mainstream.

So the next time you read a TechCrunch article on a VC investing in some new digital platform/solution related to your technology, that’s your cue to do your own research.

Following the money is not just important for decision-makers keen to get a head start on the next big digital solution but also for employees keen to re/upskill in emerging technologies.

Reskill to stay relevant in the digital workforce

While the above discussed knowledge portals/elements will help you identify emerging trends and be aware of updated information, they do not help you enhance your skillsets to meet the demands of the new-age digital workforce.

For that, research has proven that reskilling/upskilling is the only way to stay relevant.

Draup for Talent provides you with a step-by-step guided tool to help you reskill your talent optimally. Powered by our proprietary, AI-powered Reskilling Navigator, you can explore the next ideal job role, identify the missing skill sets, fill-in the gaps & successfully transition to the new role in the quickest possible time.