Want True Collaboration? Wikify!
The most common question I get about web 2.0 tools is when should we use a wiki? I find this question most interesting. Even though Twitter has been around a lot less time than wikis, it seems like companies have figured out Twitter's place in their tool box but wikis are still a head-scratcher.
We are so document-centric that it is difficult to understand how wikis could or should fit into the content management - collaboration puzzle. With most wiki software, you can attach files to a page within a wiki but I would not recommend using a wiki as a primary document storage vehicle. Instead, wikis are the ultimate collaboration tool, in my opinion.
When we think of the word "collaboration", we think of working together, co-creation, teams and even innovation. Wikis are the perfect tool to enable the process of collaboration but require TRUST. To change others' content, the users of a wiki need to trust each other that if something he or she wrote is deleted or edited, that the person making the change knows better. We also need to have thick skin to accept those changes. Most of us have come a long way from getting deflated at the sight of intimidating red ink our school papers, but one needs to foster a culture that can handle true co-creation just in case!
There can be no ego when using a wiki. Titles are checked at the door when you log in and every person's opinion counts. If your culture does not accept this then wikis will be difficult to implement but not impossible. Sometimes, it takes new tools like this to prove efficiency and creativity to actually change a culture from being overly hierarchical to more collaborative.
The process requires commitment; the satisfaction is realized in the end result of a great piece of work co-created by many qualified minds. Below are some great applications for wikis:
Company Policies: collaboration on a small team (usually Legal and/or HR)
Training Guide: collaboration among a specific discipline or management level
Lessons Learned Repository: collaboration among one or more project teams
Best-Practice Language: collaboration among a project team (document assembly on the cheap)
Knowledge Capture/Transfer: collaboration among retiring / exiting population and future population
Institutional Knowledge Base: collaboration across the enterprise (great for acronyms, definitions and resource sharing)