When speaking with current and potential clients, we often hear questions such as: "How should I set up my wiki?" or "What is the most effective way to enter my content into a wiki?" Usually these types of questions are framed within the context of being able to effectively and efficiently use the BrainKeeper Wiki Software. However, clients often overlook the need to maximize adoption and ultimately ensure a successful implementation of a wiki.
Unfortunately, there is no standard, cookie cutter, vanilla template setup for starting to use a wiki. However, if you keep in mind that the best adoption rate will come through ensuring that the use of a wiki fits well into the current processes of your company, you will have a great head start. Here are three good tips to getting your wiki setup:
1) Use Existing Structures
If your company is split up into departments and generally work along those lines, create workspaces based on departments to group related content together. If you company is more project centric (consulting, small team implementation) then create workspaces for each large project. Certainly there will be some overlap, but thinking about how team members currently work together will make it easier to find information and collaborate within your wiki.
2) Define Clear, Consistent Direction
Hopefully, a wiki will change the way you work- for the better. But with any change, it is important to make sure everyone understands the new expectations. As a part of your wiki setup process, define what will go into the wiki and what will not. If you have existing processes for communication and collaboration, you should review those policies to see where the wiki makes sense to be included.
3) Get Input From Others
When the decision is made to purchase and use a wiki, make sure you get input from the people who will be using it. If you are in Product Management and you want Marketing to use your wiki, make sure they help you with the first two items: developing the structure and outlining the directions. You will get buy-in from everyone you need to make a successful implementation.
One last note is that all three of the above should not be done and forgotten. As adoption increases and your organization changes, it is important to continue to refine the structure of your wiki, update the directions and expectations, and work with others to ensure that your wiki remains a valuable tool for your organization.
