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I have been talking about how everybody is talking about Wikis, and how are Businesses using Wikis for Collaboration and Enhancing their Organizational Knowledge?

After reading some very interesting findings done in a survey by McKinsey done with almost 2900 executives worldwide on their adoption, satisfaction and thoughts about this Web 2.0 technology: 1/3 of them are using Wikis to communicate with customers, achieve tighter integration with partners and facilitate collaboration and manage knowledge inside of the company.

A particularly interesting point is the fact that despite the widespread adoption of Wikis many companies aren’t using this tool effectively. One of the reasons for this may be the lack of proper implementation. I view this blog to give my readers a complete sense of this valuable web 2.0 tool and match the competition.

So if you are considering trying to implement a Wiki within your organization these tips are for you!

Goal Planning
The use of Web 2.0 tools requires some initial structure. As your organization enters a mutual and collaborative environment, people look for cues for interaction. It is always suggested to institute apt goals early that set for communications to follow. Lack of proper vision can delegate social interactions, conflicts that results in little valuable knowledge.

Blend your Wiki with Internal arrangement
Allow your users to create their own dashboards and mashups for daily activities by integrating the wiki with AMS and CMSs.

Use appropriate tools & keep it uncomplicated
Try and confine the information in wiki pages and send URLs by email instead of trying to collaborate with email. A rigid structure makes it difficult and intimidating to add new content, so make it simple. Provide tools for users to subscribe to the RSS feed of the wiki. Nothing encourages participation like visible activity.

Encourage ownership and personalization
Maintain dynamic content and let the users experiment with features and gain familiarity with the wiki, encourage users to personalize their own pages with widgets, badges, photos and feeds.

Give Credit for Contribution & Channel Peer Power
This Web 2.0 tools helps identify some extremely valuable skill and knowledge held by the “mass”. When different members contribute some valuable insight and information they should be acknowledged well. Make members evaluate each other’s contributions, as at times colleagues are in the best stance to evaluate a contribution and the work that went into it.

Keep security your priority
For enterprise wikis it is certain to retain security with the ability to specify permissions- even at the page level.

Some Wiki sites to help you get started

There are several software packages running in the market today with almost with similar features. It is always sensible to decide on the kind of feature you want your wiki to have and then look out for different options and choose the most appropriate.

For instance, Mediawiki is the software that Wikipedia currently uses. If you would like the feature set that Wikipedia has, you would probably choose this one. Choose how you want to host your wiki. In most cases, you will want your wiki to be accessible from the Internet, so you will have to either find a hosting package that offers a wiki or meets the requirements for building your own wiki. Keep in mind the following:

Other sites about how to set up a Wiki:
http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Wiki
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/03/how_to_set_up_your_own_persona.html
http://www.http.com//blogs.atlassian.com/news/2006/10/where_do_i_star.html

Establishing a user base is a big challenge and finding dedicated users who are inspired by your ideas in the early phases can be quite difficult.

Most importantly, have fun with your wiki and enjoy the information that is being communicated between people! The Internet was built in order to facilitate communication and the wiki is currently one of the most effective environments for collecting and sharing information.

Obviously this list is not all-inclusive. What did I miss? Write to me have you learned from your own Wiki implementation that others can benefit from?