Why wikis work in organisations
I'm popping together some marketing material for our wiki consulting 'suite', and came across some notes. In my new role as re-poster of stuff I've written elsewhere I thought I'd post:
Open Environment
- It’s powerful and effective to let people shape their own software ‘experience’
- Wiki content creates accountability and visibility on project deliverables
- People can see and learn from other people’s content
Dealing with Initial Resistance
- Broadly speaking, managers are more resistant to change than team members
- Wiki content creates accountability and visibility on project deliverables
- Some people instinctively didn’t want open info (e.g. on project deadlines)
- People are addicted to email (cc lists, ‘paper trail’. ‘I told you in email’)
Stick with it
- Initial resistance dies down; some of key advocates were initially very sceptical
- Organic growth is unpredictable; usage has occurred in unexpected places
- Multiplier effect; as people use the wiki in their own areas, more people get exposed to the wiki
A culture of prototyping
- Everything’s fast, low hassle, low cost and open; e.g. asking people to vote for new features
- Iterate content; more comfort with ‘early and often’ iterations (and easier to build content as a team)
Why have wikis worked (and other tools failed?)
- Open ‘adult’ system; unlike KM systems where control/mistrust built in
- Contributors able to shape and manage their environment to fit needs * no templates/required fields
- Organic, completely optional use. Wiki was ‘sold’, but didn’t impose a top-down mentality
- Primary focus was a social/people project and not an IT project
