Enterprise Wikis Grow Up and Get To Work

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By: Gina Smith (10/7/2010)

So, you're thinking about putting up an enterprise wiki. By now, you probably know how wikis work. Intended for content and knowledge sharing, this decentralized technology lets your company's users easily and openly create content and structure (or restructure) existing information. Think of it as an enterprise-friendly version of Wikipedia; anyone can share, contribute and edit information, but your company gets to decide exactly who 'everybody' is in a particular situation. Corporate wiki solutions abound — both off-the-shelf solutions and build your own designs are readily available. But are you sure you and your enterprise are ready for a wiki? Here are five tips for making sure this new breed of open, highly collaborative tools actually deliver value for your business: Take comfort in the fact that you're in good company. Many of the largest enterprises in the world are already employing wikis for a variety of uses — including corporate policy management and, especially, managing projects with multiple users. Companies such as Amazon, Intel and Microsoft now routinely use wiki technology, and even the United States Intelligence Community uses a wiki called 'Intellipedia' to share information. Keep in mind, however, that wikis aren't the best match for every corporate culture or situation. Decentralized discussions can take on lives of their own — including some that management might prefer to eschew. Be realistic about how a wiki will fit into your business. Wikis are the ultimate equalizer. They allow everyone to edit information — quickly, easily and in view of other users. This kind of many-to-many collaboration is often useful, but it's not always the best way to communicate. If your company needs to communicate information to users in a top-down or one-to-many fashion, forget the wiki. Put up a Web site or just send email instead. On the other hand, if you have users who already are creating rogue communications for themselves on projects, you might consider going beyond the wiki and implementing more comprehensive software packages that combine wikis, blogs and instant messaging — Jive Software and Teligent® are two products to consider. Jive recently announced it hoped to become the "Facebook® of the enterprise," just as Yammer™ is trying to be the corporate Twitter. See how far your users are ready to go, and implement a system that fits their needs. Get involved. In order for wikis to grow and go viral in a big organization, you'll need to appoint a wiki manager to guide and nurture the project. Lack of involvement on your part sends the message that the collaboration platform doesn't matter to anyone. But don't get too involved. Pushing the wiki concept too hard will make users suspicious and possibly make them feel coerced into contributing. This undermines the whole idea. Find a balance. Don't sacrifice individual responsibility. Some enterprise wikis might allow anonymous contributions, but most take a more structured approach. Employees who edit a wiki, add comments or post other content should be identified and take responsibility for their actions. Cyberbullying may not seem like a business problem, but it can happen. Shining a light on what people are doing will help to keep discussions civil and on topic. Don't fight the future. Clearly, if employees find technology useful they will find a way to bring it into the workplace. That's already happening with enterprise 2.0 tools like wikis, blogs, RSS feeds and social networking sites; companies that ignore the underlying needs, these tools serve will fight a losing battle for control. Instead, IT organizations need to work in tandem with these technologies. As with PCs, smartphones and tablets, they're coming to the enterprise whether you like it or not — but they will be far more productive (and more secure) when IT gets out in front of the trend and leads the way. There's no shortage of wiki and other collaborative tools to choose from, both open-source and proprietary. With a little research, implementing the right platform for your company will lead to improved communication and collaboration across the board.

So, you're thinking about putting up an enterprise wiki.

By now, you probably know how wikis work. Intended for content and knowledge sharing, this decentralized technology lets your company's users easily and openly create content and structure (or restructure) existing information. Think of it as an enterprise-friendly version of Wikipedia; anyone can share, contribute and edit information, but your company gets to decide exactly who 'everybody' is in a particular situation.

Corporate wiki solutions abound — both off-the-shelf solutions and build your own designs are readily available. But are you sure you and your enterprise are ready for a wiki?

Here are five tips for making sure this new breed of open, highly collaborative tools actually deliver value for your business:

Take comfort in the fact that you're in good company. Many of the largest enterprises in the world are already employing wikis for a variety of uses — including corporate policy management and, especially, managing projects with multiple users. Companies such as Amazon, Intel and Microsoft now routinely use wiki technology, and even the United States Intelligence Community uses a wiki called 'Intellipedia' to share information.

Keep in mind, however, that wikis aren't the best match for every corporate culture or situation. Decentralized discussions can take on lives of their own — including some that management might prefer to eschew. Be realistic about how a wiki will fit into your business.
Wikis are the ultimate equalizer. They allow everyone to edit information — quickly, easily and in view of other users. This kind of many-to-many collaboration is often useful, but it's not always the best way to communicate. If your company needs to communicate information to users in a top-down or one-to-many fashion, forget the wiki. Put up a Web site or just send email instead.

On the other hand, if you have users who already are creating rogue communications for themselves on projects, you might consider going beyond the wiki and implementing more comprehensive software packages that combine wikis, blogs and instant messaging — Jive Software and Teligent® are two products to consider. Jive recently announced it hoped to become the "Facebook® of the enterprise," just as Yammer™ is trying to be the corporate Twitter. See how far your users are ready to go, and implement a system that fits their needs.
Get involved. In order for wikis to grow and go viral in a big organization, you'll need to appoint a wiki manager to guide and nurture the project. Lack of involvement on your part sends the message that the collaboration platform doesn't matter to anyone. But don't get too involved. Pushing the wiki concept too hard will make users suspicious and possibly make them feel coerced into contributing. This undermines the whole idea. Find a balance.
Don't sacrifice individual responsibility. Some enterprise wikis might allow anonymous contributions, but most take a more structured approach. Employees who edit a wiki, add comments or post other content should be identified and take responsibility for their actions. Cyberbullying may not seem like a business problem, but it can happen. Shining a light on what people are doing will help to keep discussions civil and on topic.
Don't fight the future. Clearly, if employees find technology useful they will find a way to bring it into the workplace. That's already happening with enterprise 2.0 tools like wikis, blogs, RSS feeds and social networking sites; companies that ignore the underlying needs, these tools serve will fight a losing battle for control.

Instead, IT organizations need to work in tandem with these technologies. As with PCs, smartphones and tablets, they're coming to the enterprise whether you like it or not — but they will be far more productive (and more secure) when IT gets out in front of the trend and leads the way.

There's no shortage of wiki and other collaborative tools to choose from, both open-source and proprietary. With a little research, implementing the right platform for your company will lead to improved communication and collaboration across the board.