Every company has ‘that guy’ who you go to when you need information about ‘x’. But then ‘that guy’ moves on and suddenly a wealth of knowledge goes with him. Good companies have strategies and methods for capturing and retaining knowledge capital. Great companies use state-of-the-art tools to guarantee that their strategies achieve practical results. Knowledge should be pro-actively gathered, and then made searchable and accessible to all levels of your organization. Use one of the most powerful, flexible and user-friendly tools available: SharePoint 2010 Wiki!
Hawaii – land of pineapples, Pearl Harbor, surfing, beautiful beaches, and the source of the term “Wiki”. For those who aren’t aware, the Hawaiian term ‘Wiki, Wiki’ translates to ‘quick’ and has been attached to the relatively new form of information sharing known as a Wiki. Ask anyone who is engaged in post-graduate studies where they find their inspiration: I would argue that a large percentage of the time Wikipedia is involved in this process, even if JSTOR or other official article archives are their stated references.
Wikis were specifically developed for efficient and accessible information gathering and sharing. So Microsoft naturally included a Wiki library with its SharePoint product. It’s searchable, collaborative and effective, but I rarely see it implemented properly. When I do see it implemented, it’s unknown and unused. Except that guy in the basement – he loves it!
Making a Wiki successful in your organization relies on buy-in from the entire organization. If only one or two people are contributing to your Wiki, you’re not maximizing value and ‘that guy’ is going to get away before you know it! Encourage everyone in your company to share what they are best at in wiki form. It will not only become a place to search for easy information, it will be a place for you to track your employees’ knowledge, some of which you might otherwise not have even known they had.
The true value of buy in for a company wiki is that it levels the organizational playing field. Experts are found at every level of the company. When that knowledge is shared, it empowers users and retains the organization’s intellectual property.
Once your SharePoint Wiki is in place, everyone knows where to go for information. Hours of time that would have been spent trying to find ‘that guy’ are replaced with a simple SharePoint search. Increase your employee’s impact on the company as a whole, create permanent knowledge-building in a centralized, protected location and ensure organizational stability. Foster a new level of information sharing in your organization that is low-cost, easy to use, searchable, and of course ‘wiki, wiki’! Believe us, SharePoint will be your new ‘that guy’.
Your knowledge: in one place, searchable, easily digested and collaborative.