Wiki Patterns

Once people are comfortable using the wiki, you can help them explore how to apply it to their work. Discuss projects, tasks, knowledge for critical processes, etc. that could make use of the wiki. Find out what's most important for the group to do their jobs well, and if possible where they feel information flow, collaboration, etc. is weak. This gives you specific instances to demonstrate how the wiki can meet their most important needs.

For example, a department might start by putting meeting agendas on the wiki before each staff meeting. Anyone in the department can add a new item, add additional information about an existing item, or delete something that's no longer relevant to the meeting.

During the meeting, people can take notes as items are discussed, effectively taking meeting minutes right on the wiki. From here, items that turn into projects or initiatives can be given their own space on the wiki for project management and collaboration, and the wiki becomes a Magnet for all manner of collaborative work.

For example,

• In a corporate marketing department this space might be used for drafting whitepapers, product marketing materials, and press releases.
• In a software engineering group, the space might be used to organize meetings, collaboratively write documentation, and allow developers working in several locations to keep track of work on all parts of the project.
• At a grant making foundation, the wiki might be used to keep track of grant proposals, and give reviewers a space to make comments as they review the proposals.

As you set up new pages, create a Scaffold, or template to guide people on what to put on the page. The scaffold can be as simple as a set of section headings, or it can be brief guidelines so people can see what types of information to include.

When someone asks for information that you know is on the wiki, email a link to the appropriate wiki page. This helps people get in the habit of looking at the wiki, and increases the value of the wiki to each person because they can collaborate with more people via the wiki than email.

⇒ Next: Spread adoption