Wikis are a great way to quickly build and share knowledge within an organization. The ability to conform to a rapidly changing work environment by providing a secured medium for sharing information is what makes wikis a “Web 2.0” application and what advances them beyond traditional mediums for informal learning and knowledge sharing.

10 Ways to Make Effective Use of a Wiki:

1. Disseminate information quickly; roll out a new process, update documentation, change a current procedure.
2. Create a Resource Center for on-boarding new employees; reduce and support on-boarding efforts.
3. Help experts make better use of there time and knowledge by helping them avoid answering the same question over and over. Capture that valuable intellectual capital within the wiki and allow your employees to work on more valuable activities.
4. Deliver a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Center; create and publish FAQs in minutes to assist with training and as support to formal training.
5. Search for information and find your answer immediately.
6. Provide a Self-service channel for employees, partners, constituents, or even customers; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
7. Gather valuable feedback in line with the content; allows for versioning of a document, instead of passing back and forth in email, etc.
8. Roll-out a new product to your entire team and sales team immediately; including marketing pieces, sales guides, procedures and more.
9. Enhance your customer service by answering the calls consistently and quickly; deliver up to date information to the desktop of your service group immediately.
10. Create a corporate knowledge repository that’s as easy to use as email.

The additional benefit is that it does not require the need for IT resources to get started, simply assign a business project manager and get started using a wiki today.