Best Practice Recommendations for a Corporate Wiki in the Research & Development Department of Software Company

Abstract

Alexandria is the departmental wiki knowledge management system of the Software Company’s Research and Development department. According to a survey crafted for this project and completed by 84% of the department, Alexandria could be made more effective in three primary ways: increased contribution by all users, increased updating of existing topics, and increased education of its user base. The survey also revealed two groups of users, a smaller group of “Power Users” and a larger group of “Learners,” who have different interactions with the wiki and different levels of comfort with it. Recommended improvements for addressing these three issues include beginning a program of quarterly Lunch and Learn seminars, encouraging new employees to customize their wiki user pages, and creating and using a mechanism for capturing user feedback on wiki topics.