Sep 22, 04:37 pm: Wiki as a management tool

I use wikis for collaboration. I’m a big fan of writeboards and use them as a standalone way to quickly share ideas with others. I also use them as a piece of project management within basecamp.

We have an internal wiki set-up using MediaWiki and play around on various and sundry wiki and wiki-like spaces on the web.

I’ve discovered, particularly internally, wiki’s are great management tools.

A few days ago, I wrote about providing opoprtunities for initiative. One of those opportunities, if you are a medium to large organization is an internal wiki.

Put one up, get some documents on it. Use it for all the good collaborative reasons that you should be using a wiki as a knowledge management tool.*

And then click on the history tab. Look at the users who have made changes to pages. Particularly uses that didn’t have to. Find those people and cultivate them. Let them know you see their contribution to the organization.

As a manager, I find that I often spend far to much time with the staff members that are having a hard time and not nearly enough with the staff that are really working hard to contribute and doing so successfully and, sometimes, beyond the direct scope of their job.

Why? Because it’s hard to see those people. Using social tools and then looking at their adoption can be one way to find them.

*I know, I know. Assumption alert. More on why I think it’s a good idea after I’ve had a chance to dig into research.

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Marnie Webb  |