Summary
Small firms lose value when insights and decisions sit inside slides and one-off deliverables. This note proposes a three-layer memory system — capture (structured templates), curate (taxonomies and tags), and reuse (playbooks + shortcuts) — to prevent knowledge decay and accelerate delivery.
Core design principles
- Minimal friction: templates that take under 10 minutes to complete after a meeting.
- Search-first taxonomy: consistent tags and naming conventions (project-id, topic, decision-date).
- Reuse over rework: convert outcomes into short playbooks that can be dropped into proposals or onboarding packs.
3-step implementation
- Capture templates: meeting note + decision sheet + deliverable summary (three small forms).
- Curate: a lightweight taxonomy and weekly curation slot where senior staff mark what’s reusable.
- Expose: searchable library and two “starter playbooks” for common project types (data pipeline, procurement, stakeholder mapping).
Quick adoption checklist
- Define 6 tags to use across projects (project, client, topic, decision, owner, maturity).
- Create a 2-column knowledge register updated weekly.
- Run a 30-minute training for all staff on the capture templates.
Downloads & templates
Use the Due Diligence checklist and our short capture templates as a starting point.