Intranet Wikis - the employee is in control

Wikis and other social media are rapidly changing the world of internal communications. The employee is in control and the co-worker has become the expert. Early adaptors like AEP, National Geographic, Microsoft, IBM or ING provide good examples. However, the majority has just started. Some facts & figures and tips.

The facts

Wikis on the intranet are increasingly being used as a collaboration and project management instrument. According to Melcrum by 2008 almost 60% of organisations (out of a 2,100 respondents survey) are likely to have some sort of social media programme. 38% of the communicators acknowledges the relevance of Wikis. Although communications professionals highly value the relevance of social media, the percentage of actual implemented features falls behind. Research shows that the use of corporate Wikis lies between 14% to 18% (Melcrum; Intranet Monitor).

How to manage a Wiki?

Adopting social media requires a totally different communications approach. The employee is in control. ‘Side-to-side communication’ has complemented the traditional top-down and bottom-up approach. That’s an interesting, but maybe alarming idea for organisations. There is no formal approval process - How do you manage quality then?

Organisations cope differently with the degree of freedom of their employees: ING established for instance its 7 Golden Rules, with amongst others a rule concerning confidentiality and security. A co-editor reviews the contributions. IBM’s new media manager on the other hand gets updates by mail and can instantly decide whether to keep postings or not. The organisation never experienced major problems with inaccuracies or inappropriate comments (Melcrum).

Tips for organising effective Wikis

In fact, a Wiki is a website in itself. It’s effectiveness depends on different aspects. You can look at effectiveness from four perspectives:

organisational
website
visitor
financial

The degree of effectiveness depends on the strategy and the relation between the different perspectives.

See How to monitor your intranet performance

Here some tips merely from an organisational point of view:

1. Start developing in a small team (organisation)

Start with a small enthusiastic team that is capable to make the wiki a business instruments that supports employees in their daily job. Involve some influencers and experts with profound knowledge of the business.

2. Set clear rules but provide a degree of freedom (organisation)

Nothing is more killing to a social media initiative than an overkill of rules. Obviously you need governance principles (like ING’s Golden Rules) and it would be advisable to monitor contributions by your communications team. Don’t try to be rigid and apply formal approval procedures.

3. Communicate the status of the information (organisation)

Explain how the wiki can be used and how the information in it can be used. Let information be confirmed if it will be used for external publication or business use. Distinguish different categories of information visually, to help the user find his way.

4. Make the wiki business critical (organisation & website)

A wiki will only serve a business purpose if it supports employees doing their job. This means that the content should be relevant and up to date.

Consider different wikis if you have teams with totally different business needs
Let employees themselves decide themselves how to use the wiki
Check regulary if the content is topical and stimulate employees to keep it up to date

The wiki from ING Group is just one company’s wikis. Its main page offers various sorts of related information.

5. Leave the promotion to the employees (organisation)

Successes will be automatically communicated by employees. Don’t impose a wiki. Make your employees willing to communicate your message – the best way to do it is to make the wiki business critical. The advice of a colleagues is perceived more reliable than an employer’s.

6. Set up a business case and define KPIs (strategy, all perspectives)

Set up clear goals in advance and define success factors – when is your initiative successful? Think in terms of reach, use and efficiency (e.g. drop in email). Don’t limit yourself too much, give yourself time to experiment.