[Mediawiki-l] corporate wiki: success factors?

[MHart]

Our group got wikis started in a big way at Intuit, Inc.

>> a) How can I motivate my colleagues to at least try it out - and 
>> hopefully realize that it might actually be a great help to them?

Wikis need a champion - and that's YOU right now. Start using the wiki for 
yourself, documenting projects, figuring out article structure and 
classification. I would highly recommend getting a decent search system on 
it - if you have a Google appliance in-house, use it with one of the 
extensions documented on the Meta site.

When people ask you for info, point them to the wiki article about it. If 
there's no wiki article about it, create one and THEN point them to it. I've 
actually had people email me about something on the wiki that needs to 
change. I just email them back and tell them "It's a wiki, dude. Change it 
yourself."

>> b) What's required in terms of basic structure?

That's a tough one. Different wikis require different structure. Best to 
create a basic structure that you think works and let it evolve. Don't be 
afraid to create multiple "landing" pages and see which one works best.

We have to constantly warn people about choosing between one of Intuit's 
three "self-help" management, documentation and collaboration tools: Wikis, 
Blogs and QuickBase.

Here's a blurb from our documentation about choosing a collaboration 
platform (from a wiki, of course):
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A wiki is a great tool, but it isn't the right tool in every situation.

Do you need/want active collaboration?
    * If the answer is no, a wiki isn't for you.

Are you creating information that will be used/referred to over a span of 
time?
    * If the answer is no, you probably don't need a wiki.

Are you primarily looking to have a conversation or build an information 
repository?
    * Wikis have a built-in mechanism to support comments (the Talk page) 
but if you place more importance on the conversation than on the documents 
sparking the conversation, a wiki probably isn't the best fit for your 
project. Consider a forum or a blog.

Is process central to your project?
    * Wikis are generally process-less, which means they aren't the best way 
to manage a process. If you care about tracking status and issuing alerts, 
consider Quickbase.
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- MHart