Case study presenting experiences from launching an wiki on the company intranet.
It provides points to consider before initiating such an initiative and what to consider for the implementation.
Implementing an Internal Wiki to Improve Knowledge Sharing
1. Wiki from Theory to Practice
Niklas Sinander
Enterprise Content Manager
EUMETSAT
www.eumetsat.int
niklas.sinander@eumetsat.int
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2. Wiki from Theory to Practice
Mission
... to deliver operational satellite
data and products that satisfy
the meteorological and climate
data requirements of its
Member States – 24 hours a day,
365 days a year
Darmstadt, Germany
550 employees
30+ nationalities
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3. Wiki from Theory to Practice
Our problem
Employee fluctuation
Long time to settle in
Settling in information
out of date
Large number of emails
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4. Wiki from Theory to Practice
Our solution: Internal wiki
Open to all and easy to use
Content created by employees
Always up to date
Self governing
Less non business related emails
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5. Wiki from Theory to Practice
Experiences from the field
Launch activities
Stumbling blocks
First Impressions
Tweaks
Did it meet the need?
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6. Wiki from Theory to Practice
Some hard facts
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Page views
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Apr
May
Updates
Jun
Jul
New articles
Aug
Sep
10. Wiki from Theory to Practice
Some things to consider before you start …
Real need or just a new toy
Wiki or Do Nothing
Company culture
Management attitude
Critical mass of people
Critical mass of content
Geographical spread
Organisation wide or unit/project
Grass Root or Top Down
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11. Wiki from Theory to Practice
and when you have got the green light to implement…
In house or outsourced
Consider usability – simple/advanced
Establish measurement baseline
Start with a clear use case
Dedicated user groups
Define a Governance Model
Define Usage guidelines
Develop Wiki Editing Guidelines
Offer training
Be patient!
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12. Wiki from Theory to Practice
Wiki Editing Guidelines – adopted from wikipedia
1. Be bold! in editing pages. Go ahead, it's a wiki!
2. Encourage others to edit articles, including those who disagree with
you, likewise to Be bold!
3. Be civil to other users at all times.
4. When in doubt, take it to the article’s Discussion page. Mutual respect
is the guiding behavioural principle of the wiki and it is easier to
accept changes if the reasons for them are understood.
5. Assume good faith; in other words, try to consider the person on the
other end of the discussion to be a thinking, rational being who is
trying to positively contribute to the wiki.
6. Be gracious: Try to accommodate other people's quirks the best you
can, and try to be as polite, solid and straightforward as possible
yourself.
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13. Wiki from Theory to Practice
We tried to change company culture to be more open
and to share information with the use of technology,
and had difficulties.
What other approaches would have worked?
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