Wiki case study from The British Council

posted 11:22AM Jun 27, 2006 with tags business collaboration study wiki by Lars Trieloff

Wikis are an important and popular tool for collaboration in many open source projects. In the article Using Wikis on the Intranet: The British Council Case Study Maish Nichany shows how the Wiki concept can be applied to other knowledge worker teams outside the open source or software development cultures. The most important points are that
  • Wikis need the right culture. A culture that fosters communication, talking and negotiating. A wiki is a tool for better communication. If there is not already a culture of communication in an organization, Wikis will not establish it.
  • Wikis need concrete Wiki applications, or "A practical, compelling reason to collaborate, to share". Again, a Wiki is a tool for a cause. Without this cause, e.g. a collaborative effort that needs to be optimized, a Wiki is without use.
  • A champion who can show the way. Someone will introduce the Wiki and this someone must be the one to encourage and invite her teammembers to collaborate.

As a side-note: Wikis are just one means of improving communication in teams of information workers.