Avoiding knowledge silos

It's common for one person to become the go-to for anything to do with the website. They know how it's built, how to update it, and why certain things are done a particular way. Often all that knowledge lives only in their head, and you don't realise that's a problem until they leave.

This is called a knowledge silo: when important information and expertise are confined to an individual or a single team. We've also heard this described as "implicit knowledge".

When you have a knowledge silo problem, a new person stepping into the role faces a steep learning curve. Without proper handover, they're likely to make decisions that don't align with established standards and they may not understand the reasoning behind past decisions so they change things unnecessarily. Time is often wasted recreating things that already exist, simply because they aren't aware they're already there.

The best way to prevent this is with clear, accessible documentation. Where it lives is less important than making sure everyone knows where to find it.

Document the essentials first: where the site is hosted, who to contact in an emergency, and how the site is structured. Explain the purpose of each section of your website, who it serves, and why it exists. Include instructions for updating content, along with resources like your tone of voice guide.

Keep your documentation alive. Review and update it during annual or quarterly website check-ins, and whenever new features are added.

Add helpful guidance and instructions to fields within your CMS. A label like "Enable global alert" is vague; a sentence explaining exactly how to use it removes guesswork.

If possible, train more than one person on key website tasks. Short, regular training sessions ensure knowledge is shared and no single person becomes a bottleneck. The more people who understand how your site works, the more resilient and future-proof it becomes.