Why do we ask Confluence Questions?

Let’s start with a quick poll
Sending multiple emails back and forth to ask questions on a daily basis – no prizes for guessing it’s something nearly all of us do too much of.

So we share our knowledge, getting or giving an answer every day. Great! But what happens to that shared knowledge?

It’s more than likely that it will get trapped in that one conversation, never to illuminate anyone else or see the light of day again.

Many of the same questions are asked over and over again – hence our old friends, the Frequently Asked Questions. Think of Confluence Questions as an interactive, improved and ever-growing FAQ section.

Confluence Questions helps experts:

No need to answer the same question twice
Fewer work interruptions
Knowledge gets documented for the future
Confluence Questions helps everyone:

Get better answers
Get answers faster
Self-service Q&A
The important question: how?
Take the example of a new employee. They’re very likely to have more questions than they know what to do with, and not very likely to know exactly who to ask. And while we know there’s no such thing as a stupid question, we’d still all rather not appear daft by asking something we think ought to be obvious.

How do I book a conference room?
How do I file an expenses claim?
How does the coffee machine work?
Some questions may not even have a definitive answer. People are always bound to have varying opinions, so how do you know which one to choose?

This is where voting comes in – the most popular answers will bubble to the top.

Other suggestions remain visible, and questions and answers appear in Confluence search suggestions and results – so if it’s been asked before, you should be able to find it, whether the answer links to a blog post or the knowledge is in the answer itself.

Not only that, but Questions features the same rich editor Confluence does. Using images, links, mentions and hot-keys should all feel familiar.

Of course, while the examples here are true to life, they’re also trivial. That’s not always the case, and your questions (as well as the newbie ones) will no doubt cover very specific areas within your organisation – IT, Legal, HR to name just a few tricky ones – and so having a record of questions and answers will help the whole business.

Your answers will grow the knowledge base and efficiency of your organisation, whether small or global.

To summarise:
Questions will prompt experts to create or point to content.
Content helps people find the answers and experts for a topic.