"The Band-Aid solution is an inexpensive, convenient and remarkably versatile solution to an astonishing array of problems" writes Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference'. "In their history, Band-Aids have probably allowed millions of people to keep working or playing tennis or cooking or walking when they would otherwise have had to stop."This post explores the idea that a Wiki can provide the Band-Aid solution for creative, collaborative business projects. As organisations increasingly rely on geographically dispersed workforces and clients, there is an emerging need to collaborate on projects that span distributed teams and different time zones. Wiki provides a powerful medium for creative collaboration in such situations.
What is a Wiki?
The Wikipedia definition..."A Wiki is computer software that allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites, power community websites, and increasingly being installed by business to provide affordable and effective Intranets or for use in Knowledge Management".
How Can a Wiki help?
With reference to "Wikis for Dummies" by Dan Woods and Peter Thoeny;
- Wikis are flexible which means the organisation of the information on each page can be changed as needed and not just by an expert or an administrator. Anyone can edit pages.
- The Wiki is located in one place to make it easy to share. Pages are stored in a central, shared repository.
- The Wiki is simple, making getting started easy. Wikis are easy to master, which allows other people to join in and create pages. Editing is easy and accessible.
Who uses the Wiki?
To make Wikis successful, you need to understand the conditions under which Wikis thrive and the sorts of people who use them. Wikis are about sharing knowledge; to do so, you have to have enough passion to actually sit down and communicate your ideas. Who does this sort of thing? In the 'The Tipping Point', Malcolm Gladwell describes the concept "The Law of the Few". These people are exceptional, who find out about a trend and through social connections and energy and enthusiasm and personality spread the word. Gladwell describes these people as; Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. Connectors are social glue, they connect people. Mavens are teachers; they share and trade what they know. Salesmen are persuaders; for a successful Wiki to start, some people are actually going to have to be persuaded to do something!
The first things to ask yourself when you set out to introduce a Wiki into an environment are: Who will join me in sharing knowledge on the Wiki? Who has the passion? Do we have enough Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen to make this work?
Conclusion
With the right people, a Wiki is an enabling tool for collaborative business projects. It can be the Band-Aid for quickly establishing a creative, collaborative environment. "The Band-Aid solution is actually the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with the minimum amount of effort and time and cost.
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