Why Knowledge Management?

Working the Wiki

I wanted to catch up on what has been happening in the world of Wikis, and I stumbled upon Stewart Mader's Grow Your Wiki blog through an article he had written for Website Magazine entitled 5 Effective Wiki Uses. Mr. Mader is a huge proponent of wikis and has an excellent series of short videos as a part of a series called 21 days of wiki adoption.

First, I am a lover of wikis as a tool. I use one that has enhanced efficiency and it has proven very useful for certain collaboration projects. So after having watched the twenty-one, 2 - 5 minute videos, I must say that Website Magazine did Stewart a huge disservice by either requesting, or allowing a condensed version of Mr. Mader's work.

The article names the 5 effective uses as,

1. Project Management
2. Customer/Client Collaboration
3. Documentation
4. Online Community
5. Policy, FAQ, Guidelines, and Best Practices

Standalone, with only a small paragraph to describe each of these in the article, I was left with a number of gaps, questions, and even disagreements with using a wiki for a few of the purposes mentioned. However, having watched the 21 videos, there was enough content and scenarios to where I can now see the way in which Stewart is envisioning the use of a wiki in these areas of business. I still think that in some cases, another tool could be better, but I can definitely see a wiki working.

For someone new to wikis, skip the magazine article and go straight to the blog and the videos that cover subjects such as, Wiki vs. Email, Run a Pilot, Don't Rush It, Better Meetings, Project Management, and Wiki vs Content Management System.

For a consultant, or someone knowledgeable in wikis, the videos provide guidance that will help get a wiki implemented and accepted within an organization or portion of a business. Mader's web site provides some testimonials, guides, and case studies to help.

There's more study to be done to get current on wikis, and Grow Your Wiki is a good launching point.

Wiki Update

A wiki is a powerful tool.

I started to research and dig into wikis in business in May 2005, and occasionally circle back to capture some of my thoughts on this technology.

A blog posting and an article are my inspiration for today's thoughts. Christee Gabour Atwood, who blogs on Succession Planning Basics - an important HR discipline - supplied some thoughts on using a wiki for HR purposes in her KM Tip of the Week.

IndustryWeek published an article this past Friday, Seven Strategies for Implementing a Successful Corporate Wiki, that has suggested that by 2009, 50% of organizations will use a wiki as an important collaboration tool. The IW article goes on to suggest 7 important strategies for using a wiki.

And circling back to Wikipedia......back in 2005, when I first researched the somewhat open doors of Wikipedia, there were 500,000 articles in English. As I write this today, there are 2,192,000+ English articles - over four times the number of articles in less than 3 years.

Wikis help serve two fundamental needs. The first is the desire of each of us to help our fellow man by sharing our knowledge (made very easy by a wiki), and second, we all crave knowledge to help us in business, in our personal lives, or just to satisfy our curiosities.

The IW article identifies some of the requirements and strategies for the creation of a successful wiki, but an important piece that is often missing (having observed some successes and some failures in wiki implementations in the past) is need...there has to be a reason....some pain-point that is best served by a wiki. A whim does not a successful wiki make.  In the absence of this strong need, very little advice about using wikis will help in creating a lasting, living, growing body of knowledge.

Back to the Wiki

Thanks again to Google Alerts for bringing to me each day a small list of articles and posts that are wide in range but regularly have some gems.

I'm a bit behind, as the original post was from Nov 8, but Neil McIntyre, a Toronto accountant, posted some great thoughts at his site in his post, Using wikis or blogs to manage knowledge in firms.

Neil was taking WebCPA to task for espousing that accounting firms need to take on 'formal' knowledge management programs.

Rightfully, McIntyre points out that wikis and blogs (which are not very 'formal') are excellent tools for sharing knowledge and can be an excellent starting point that may develop into a more formal program based upon the users and its use. 

I would add to his argument that both wikis and blogs have a low cost of entry, and particularly in the case of blogs, are very easy to use.

Wikis and blogs can be setup rapidly, and with minimal training can be optimized for search.

The last argument (for today) that I would make about wikis and blogs is that while they may not be the best tools for capturing, categorizing and disseminating knowledge, they are a great place to start - and offer a lot of freedom - that will help define the needs and requirements for your knowledge management process.  You may opt to maintain the blog(s) or wiki(s), or then select another solution.

Wikis and KM

Wikis were back on the front page again this past week. There was an article in KMWorld magazine by Cindy Gordon, called Wikis - a disruptive innovation.

Not surprisingly, innovation is ranked as a top priority by CEOs. It is Ms. Gordon's contention (and probably an observable fact) that most companies focus on practices that sustain innovation rather than seek disruptive innovation (a concept written about in depth by Clayton Christensen that deals with the somewhat natural law that new markets can be created at the low end of existing markets, but which can disrupt and compete favorably with longstanding market leaders - hmmmm - have to work on the elevator speech on this).

Wikis, which allow all users to contribute to the content of their pages make for an excellent collaboration tool.  I've long thought they belonged in business and have opined a few times in this blog. According to the article, wikis are catching on in some larger corporations. Yahoo and Google use wikis, as well as Bank of America and others. Microsoft plans to include wiki capabilities as a part of Sharepoint 2007, and Gartner had predicted in 2004 that "a third of mainstream collaboration software products will support wiki-style interaction by 2006."

While I like wikis and what they can accomplish, we're nearly mid-way through 2006, and I'm not sure that last prediction will play out. However, use is on the rise.

A very agreeable comment made  was that "organizations continue to spend millions of dollars on content management infrastructure solutions, rather than putting more power in the hands of their users to collaborate effectively together."

Are wikis the solution?  Time will tell. I think there is room for both content management and wikis in an effort to break down silos and enhance collaboration within an organization. There are likely other tools that will all be a part successful collaboration, including (perhaps) corporate blogs.

Meanwhile, it looks as if wikis continue to increase in use, and are moving more and more into business.

Huh?

Confluence, the Enterprise Wiki, Releases Free Personal License for Individuals

Is it just me, or does this seem a bit contradictory?

Confluence, the enterprise wiki, is from down-undah...but this is really upside down. "Atlassian Software Systems today announced the introduction of free personal licenses for their highly successful knowledge management product, Confluence, the enterprise wiki."  Why couldn't they say they have free personal licenses of their wiki, "Confluence?"....why is it "Confluence, the enterprise wiki?"

Like "Star Trek, the Next Generation" and "Casper, the friendly Ghost" - it's descriptive!

Pardon my rant, I am a fan of the wiki...so here's the scoop on Confluence, the enterprise wiki. "Confluence builds on the original wiki concept to deliver a knowledge management solution that retains the ease and simplicity of a traditional wiki whilst introducing enterprise features. Fine grained security, detailed content versioning, email integration, blogging, brilliant searching (including searching within attachments) and professional technical support are just some examples. Confluence is also in fact an 'über-wiki', allowing users to create unlimited 'spaces', where each space forms an independently managed wiki."

Also note the upcoming Content Management conference that features a keynote on wikis.

Wiki Thoughts

The Wikipedia took some heat today.  Slashdot (at 4:40 am) reported that BoingBoing reported that viral marketers from the BBC had entered information concerning a new online reality game. I picked up the story from two other sources, Kairosnews and the Search Engine Journal.

It is really deplorable that the BBC would stoop to these lows, but with as wide open as the Wikipedia is, it is not surprising that this doesn't happen more often. The Wikipedia band of editors does a pretty good job of keeping track of most types of vandalism.  A viral marketing campaign for an actual reality game would be pretty hard for the editors to pick up.

On a much brighter note, Sequenza21/ reported that the WikiMedia Foundation, who bring you the Wikipedia, may be creating an "online repository of classical music performed by student orchestras." Sounds like a very worthwhile project to me, and another nice project for a wiki.

It's Official...Wiki's for Business

Wikis are back in the blogosphere this week and in a big way. I was scanning through Technorati for Knowledge Management articles and a very high percentage of posts were concerning WIkis.

A bit of the hubbub was over the article, How to Use Wikis for Business (August 8, 2005) by Ezra Goodnoe. I was linked to it by Ian's Messy Desk , Jeremy Smith's Blog, and The Thicket.

So how do you use a Wiki in business?

Central to the argument is this thought: "Wikis are designed to facilitate the exchange of information within and between teams. Content in a wiki can be updated without any real lag, without any real administrative effort, and without the need for distribution — users/contributors (with wikis, they're one and the same) simply visit and update a common Web site."

Also important for businesses are some of the following facts, "wikis are cheap, extensible, and easy to implement, and they don't require a massive software rollout;" "wikis are Web-based and thus present little or no learning curve in the adoption cycle, and they allow the user to determine the relevancy of content rather than being dependent upon a central distribution center or a linear distribution chain;" and wikis "organize themselves organically. In other words, users can create their own site structure, or ontology rather than have it imposed on them by the developers of content management software."

But, there are also issues with wiki's (like any application). The article is filled with information about Wikis, what they are, their history, and other practical advice. There is also a nice sidebar on when to consider a Wiki, and when a Wiki might not be right for your business.

Survey Results

It looks like the results are still continuing to come in...but...

The Gilbane Report has been taking a survey on the use of blogs and wikis as Knowledge Management (KM) enablers in corporations. Gilbane originally ran with about 40+ responses for a presentation, but to date has 71 responses in the survey. I will note that I had trouble with the link and was not able to participate (yet).

Basic stats: "Does your organization use blogs or wiki technology?" Nearly 50 respondents said 'yes,' and another 12 or so said they plan to. The "blog or wiki is used for..." 35 or so said information dissemination, 32 said Knowledge Management....

This is just a tease...you have to go to the link to find out more. 

So I wasn't out of my mind pushing wiki technology.

Late-Night Thoughts

While I had visions of visitors hitting this blog and providing some comments and feedback (which hasn't happened), I am finding that this exercise has provided me with an excellent journal of research steps, "best-known practices," and "lessons learned" concerning Wikis.

In retrospect, I probably should have done a Wiki instead of a Blog. Oh well.

Note to self: an excellent Wiki primer, comparison chart, and suggested usage for Wikis exists at: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue42/tonkin/

The linked article is written by Emma Tonkin, Interoperability Focus Officer, UKOLN (UK Office for Library Networking). It is well written, references nicely cited, and informative.

Wiki Lessons Continue

Another set of suggestions to add to the Wiki Journal.

The Mayhem & Chaos blog was the latest to weigh in on the recent LAT Wiki debacle ( http://mayhem-chaos.net/blog/archives/000869.html ).

[As an editorial comment, this blog notes a New York Times column laying some blame on Slashdot ( http://slashdot.org/ ) and its members for spamming the LAT Wiki.]

Mayhem offers the following advice for the establishment of any community, particularly a Wiki:

1. A wiki is an online community: A wiki without users is useless.
2. To build a functioning wiki, you need to carefully and slowly build up a community of users who contribute to the wiki.
3. You can't build a community overnight -- online or in real life.
4. Communities can be resistant to attack, if properly prepared.

Sage advice.