Wikis for Corporate Websites

There is an assignment at hand. You require some basic research material to build a synopsis for yourself to get started off. You have no clue about the subject. And you are running out of time. Of course you would go "Googling" or better still for a more refined, and time saving option you would go "Wikipeding".

Wiki the origins of this "911" online resource has grown to become a useful tool for collaboration and information sharing in the workplace and with customers. Their decentralized nature allows them, to circulate needed information more rapidly and more cheaply than a centrally controlled knowledge repository. An enterprise wiki or corporate wiki is used in a corporate context, especially to enhance knowledge sharing both within the company and with its stakeholders.

The concept of a wiki, named for the Hawaiian term "wiki-wiki," meaning quick, has been around since the mid-1990s. Ward Cunningham (the originator of the wiki way back in 1994) originally described them as "the simplest online database that could possibly work". In its purest form, it's a cleverly designed software application that enhances collaboration. Wikis function in two complementary states. Firstly a read state, where they play the role of a normal Web site and can be read by any user; and secondly an edit state which consists of a means to be freely and easily written or edited by anybody (allowing for collaborative knowledge sharing).

So what makes a Wiki click on corporate sites inspite of the fondly used blogs. Simply because rather than the one-to-one communication offered by corporate blogs, enterprise wikis facilitate conversations between multiple people within -- and sometimes outside of -- an organization. Enterprise wikis can be used as an efficient way to organize collaboration and centralize knowledge resources pertaining to the business.

The success of Wiki can be achieved by intertwining it with the community surrounding the business. They are the driving force behind the sustainability of wiki thus one needs to encourage group cohesion and expand community's involvement. Building a community takes time. Thus, it is imperative to make sure that people are aware as to why it makes sense to share, as well as provide them an environment which would justify the promised objective. This brings us to the flexibility of use of Wiki.

While community is a significant contributor, a wiki also needs flexibility to fulfil its promise. A wiki needs to be dynamic and reactive, changing appropriately to fit users' needs. It may well take an implementation (or two) to get it right but you need to be patient. At this relatively early stage in the game for wikis it probably makes sense for us to avoid 'pigeon-holing' the wikis that are emerging ("it's for collaboration", "it's to get people involved") and just allowing them to develop organically.

Given the current level of development and innovation in this area, it would be fair to conclude that a flexible and pragmatic approach is most likely to create a thriving wiki. This flexibility must also understand the uses to which its intended community puts it to, which might take some time to identify.