Template-driven Best Practice Documentation

Knowledge Management has become a key instrument for identifying, creating and sharing organisational knowledge assets. An attractive means for sharing knowledge is Best Practices (BPs). However, the implementation of BPs raises several challenges, one of which is that the low quality of BP documentation can impede the use of BPs. One way to address this challenge is by supporting designers in structuring BP documents. This support can take the form of a BP Document (BPD) Template that prescribes the structure of BP documents by defining relevant attributes for describing BPs. The design of this template is an example of design science research including requirements elicitation, artefact development, demonstration, and evaluation. This paper proposes a comprehensive and practical BPD template for supporting the creation, use and evaluation of BP documents. It thereby offers an effective tool for BP designers, managers, and users that can support them in the design, evaluation and application of BPs.