Wikis+at+work

=Wikis at Work=

Oftentimes when the implementation of wikis are mentioned in the workplace, the idea gets shot down. Maybe the supervisor had a bad personal experience using wikis himself. Wikis have often been negatively associated with "insecurity", "inaccuracy", and have been regarded as "difficult to use".

Many people have adopted these negative perceptions of wikis because, they based their idea of what a wiki is and should do Wikipedia. Most people haven't actually seen wikis being used in a professional context. People find it difficult to adapt to wikis because, they often view Wikipedia as a faulty source of information, thereby diminishing its credibility; making it something they can't take seriously.

Whatever the case may be, there is no doubt that wikis can be a phenomenal tool to use in the workplace. There are three major reasons wikis are great for workplace collaboration.

__**1. Community**__ - Wikis foster a sense of community, in that they encourage the input of virtually anyone who views them. What is put into a wiki is able to be accessed by virtually anyone apart of the community, making it a place to receive feedback and easily collaborate.

__**2. Accuracy -**__ People tend to view wikis as having a high chance of containing false information. Because of the nature of wikis being community based, wikis actually tend to be more accurate than other online encyclopedias like Britannica. Because anyone can edit the content on any page, wikis usually remain accurate ( this only applies when there are enough people who care about the content of a given page.)


 * HOW WIKIS SHOULD BE INTRODUCED**

__**1. Word of mouth**__ - Forcing people in an organization to use wikis can be the worst thing you could do to implement wikis at your workplace. Simply encouraging its use via word of mouth is usually the best way. If people keep hearing positive stories about how different people are effectively using wikis, they will eventually jump on the bandwagon.

__**2. In low risk situations**__ - Wikis can also be best implemented through use in a non-work related situation. It can be a smart idea to plan something like a Christmas party for your job using a wiki that would contain information about its location, who is bringing what, etc. Getting people used to using a wiki this way can provide a smooth transition into the implementation of wiki usage at the workplace.

SOURCE:

Porter, Alan J. //[|Wikis in the Workplace: A Practical Introduction]//. Ars Technica, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.