How do wikis help businesses

For example, new customer service employees may learn best from audio recordings of past customer service calls. Or, new sales representatives may need to watch a video of an experienced sales rep giving a presentation and handling customer objections to see his or her facial expressions, hand motions, and body language.

With business wiki software , you may only be able to add pages of text — not videos or audio files — unless you invest in additional or custom functionality. Knowledge sharing platforms, on the other hand, allow you to publish multiple content types, including videos, audio files, slide decks, images, charts, and text, so you can include the most accurate information in the most effective format.

Business wiki software had its moment, and we applaud it for all it was able to accomplish during its 15 minutes of fame. Keep up with the times and your competitors by investing in a knowledge sharing solution that allows your employees to quickly and efficiently curate, organize, store, and share valuable company knowledge. Your company can't afford to let knowledge sit in silos. Fortunately, knowledge sharing technology can help. Get best practices and a checklist for evaluating knowledge sharing software, building your vendor shortlist, and making a business case to your stakeholders.

Get a Demo Sign in. Entire Company Knowledge Sharing. Sharing Content Is Nearly Impossible To get the most use out of your information storage method, your content needs to be shareable. Search Is Traditionally Terrible Tagging content in corporate wikis ranges from bang-your-head-on-your-desk difficult to impossible, so organizations are often forced to rely on folder-based search to locate the content they need.

Lack of Content Variety Some wikis require hard coding just to add basic text content, which poses an initial barrier to publication. Share on Social. Download Now. Read time: 7 mins. Collaboration Company Culture Knowledge Sharing. Read time: 5 mins. Company Culture Knowledge Sharing. Read time: 6 mins.

Don't get too hung up on organizing the content into a very structured layout. This isn't a file system it's meant to be a free flowing system. Just start creating your pages and adding links as you go. The content of the page is way more important than having it look right.

Business is all about using your resources wisely. My favorite is ScrewTurn Wiki. I actually have a lot of reasons why I like and use ScrewTurn as my wiki of choice.

But this post has already grown to be a bit bigger than I originally thought so I will explain why next time. So there you have it. My 9 reasons why I think your company needs a wiki. NET Core. If you are not familiar with what a wiki is, let me give a simple definition right here: A wiki can be defined as a web page or web site that allows a community of users to add, edit, and maintain content that usually surrounds a given topic or topics.

Knowledge is power Collecting all the pieces of of knowledge from a persons head is a tough thing to do, no matter what the topic or project is. Documentation can save your life in a pinch One of the most common uses of having a wiki is to have a single point to document a company, client, or project. Searching for information is tedious How many times have you played out this scenario.

Crowdsourcing is for real Wikipedia defines crowdsourcing as the act of outsourcing tasks to a large group of people through an open call. Linking related information is crucial Another important aspects of wikis are how you get from one wiki page to another. The following example illustrates this: To create a link that looks like this: BizStream will be architecting this project You would write in the wiki editor this: [BizStream] will be architecting this project A link, or a way to jump around from wiki page to wiki page, is as important to a reader or employee as jumping around from link to link on a Google search result page is.

Built-In document revision and revision control The commenting and revision system in most word processing tools is overly complicated in my opinion.

Managed correctly, wikis used in this manner can contribute to a healthy community around your business or organisation, and improve your products well in to the future! You can customise wikis to include calendars from services such as Google Calendar handy if your organisation uses Google Apps for Domains , too. We personally use an internal wiki at Richard Carter Consultancy to share knowledge and information not just on specific projects, but across all projects we work on, aiding us to improve our knowledge with every project we undertake.

Your team members don't need to download any special software like they do with Word programs. Everything is kept and securely stored online, making it available at any time. We love all the many features wiki software can offer. But wikis are not just tools that solve the immediate problem of document storage and access, they also affect your team communication and culture long-term.

Here's how. One of the beautiful things about public wikis like Wikipedia is the communities they create among enthusiastic individuals eager to share their passion and expertise. This also translates to professional environments. When colleagues get into the habit of collaborating and sharing knowledge in the form of a professional wiki, it creates a positive work environment that revolves around learning.

This spirit extends into all areas of the workplace. Starting a new job is an overwhelming experience. It always feels like there's too much to learn, not enough time, and few resources to boot.

Not to mention, HR professionals quickly get overwhelmed when they have to create bespoke programming materials for every new hire that comes in the door. Wikis make onboarding a seamless experience by storing documents in a single location, where new hires can access them at any time and read at their own pace.

This way, all the documentation basics are covered, so that HR professionals can focus on what really matters: making new team members feel at home. Wikis foster accountability by making processes and action steps more transparent. With an encyclopedia of knowledge and content at your fingertips, you can take charge of your own workflow, without having to worry about knowledge barriers.

This chapter may make your team wiki seem like a big project. But if you invite everyone to contribute one doc, you'll already have an information-rich knowledge base. So remember take it one doc at a time, and continue to revise, contribute, and improve information over time.

You'll be amazed at how fast knowledge grows. Melanie Broder is on the Marketing team at Slite, where she works on all things content. She helps Slite users gain new skills through guides, templates, and videos. You can now start discussions and reach decisions in Slite.