How to Start an 'Activity-Centric' Wiki

Still having a tough time visualizing what a wiki might look like for your group or project? Can't get past the mindset of 'Let's just stick all our documents out there' ?

Here's a trick I use that works every time. Don't start from scratch - recreate a process that has already started. You've already got all the information and research you need - it's in your email.

1. Pick a project or activity you are involved with or leading - ideally, one that is current and has several emails going back and forth amongst the team members (and others, if appropriate).
2. Collect all the relevant emails you can get your hands on including the document attachments.
3. Based on the emails, the project objectives, etc, draft an outline of the project as if you had to give a presentation to someone as to the project purpose, history, status, next steps, current activities, issues, ....
4. That outline is your wiki HomePage (or FrontPage or MainPage or whatever depending on the wiki engine you're using). Copy it into your workspace Page. (Optionally, take a key phrase from each line of the outline and make it a page link.)
5. Now - copy the content of each email somewhere into that outline OR Pages you are linking to from the HomePage.
6. Don't start editing yet. You want it to look familiar to your audience. If anything, you may want to preface some of the email content with the person's name who sent it ('Jane wants to know >', Carl commented >', 'Here's my suggestion >', .....)
7. Before you invite the audience in, take a step back and ask yourself "If I was looking at this for the first time and someone was expecting me to understand it or contribute something, would I get it?" Probably not, so start tweaking it a little and add some introductory comments on the HomePage.
8. Depending on the wiki engine you are using, you'll either be creating user IDs/Passwords for notification OR you'll just be sending an email to the team with the site Password (if you are creating a private site you better have at least a password!) Make sure you give a little up-front explanation to the audience as to what you are sending, why, what they can expect to see, and WHAT YOUR HOPE IS REGARDING THEIR INVOLVEMENT.
9. From this point forward, its all about continually reinforcing usage of the wiki, keeping it fresh and current, making it fun, and slowly changing habits. The toughest habit to break? Email.
10. Your team will continue to use email with questions, comments, confirmations, etc just as they did before the wiki. Your habit needs to be this - copy the email (or 'Forward' it as some wikis allow) into the wiki and reply to the email with "Hey, _____ - great comment/question/idea. I copied the email into the wiki and I have an answer/suggestion/resolution there as well" Keep doing that.

Think about it - Isn't your email the first place you'd go to find out what may have happened in an activity you have been part of? But what if you or others weren't on the receiving end of some emails?

Activity-centric wikis typically include the creation of at least some kind of deliverable, but you want to avoid becoming too 'documenty'. It's about the PROCESS and process is conversational. Try to maintain some middle ground between overly conversational discussion-threads and pure boring 'documentation'. Keep it fun. Use pictures. Throw in a joke once in a while.

If you do it right, several things should happen:

• Emails will decrease
• The project or activity will go faster
• The quality will be better
• Somebody will have ideas of where else to do it

And while everyone will not contribute equally, everyone will agree it's a more interesting, productive process.

Comments

[Dave Gray]

Great post!

[Dave Gray]

Can you recommend any resources for how to organize a wiki in the first place? Wikipedie feels so well-organized and searchable, yet most corporate wikis (including our own) feel chaotic.