Why to Say Goodbye to Corporate Wikis and Hello to Knowledge Sharing Platforms

Corporate wikis have been a big thing in companies for quite a while now. Wikis were considered important and were used the most. It was seldom used throughout all the departments of the companies, however, for the departments that did use it, found them convenient because it was the best solution that they had by far and helped them in finding what they needed.

However, this knowledge sharing tool is no more the best solution for knowledge sharing and management. Today’s knowledge sharing platforms have evolved into a more engaging and intuitive software that organizations can benefit by utilizing in their system.

Zero Content Curation

There are several reasons for why corporate wikis are a thing of the past. What was considered as one of the greatest strengths of corporate wiki once is also now one of its greatest challenges. While wikis are collaborative and editable, there is a very limited content oversight. Also, they may be great for starting the knowledge management process, however, content curation is a major problem. It is difficult to determine which parts of the corporate wikis are valuable and invaluable so that the unnecessary parts could be removed.

Technically, corporate wikis have multiple authors because it has open editing page authorship. It means that anybody can edit or add into the already existing information. Thereby, naturally, wikis remain prone to incorrect data and information. Ownership of the existing material is also discouraged which is unhealthy for the creation of a strong knowledge base which can help the company and its team members grow. Ownership and authorship help keep track of the experts in the team and keep their information handy even if they decide to leave at some point.

Difficult User Handling

Just as the content on corporate wikis is difficult to manage, it is also difficult to handle the wiki users. Depending on the type of wiki software being used, it is difficult to discern who has added certain content and edited it and ultimately who is in the responsibility of keeping it up-to-date. This naturally creates challenges because the content tends to age and it remains difficult to discern what is valuable and what is not.

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Lack of Proper Knowledge Sharing

Sharing of content through corporate wikis is next to impossible – one of the prime features that a proper knowledge sharing tool must have. Content can be entered into the wiki and the link can be shared around but it is very difficult to make others aware of one’s specific contribution to the web link. Also, it cannot be shared outside the wiki.

Searching – Another Issue

Searching is another main issue with corporate wikis. One cannot tag content and hence needs to depend on simple search options for finding anything. This naturally slows down customer support when the teams in the companies have to use conventional search options to look for the information they need. This is not only time consuming but also simply non-impressive as the prospects of sending irrelevant information to the clients increases drastically.

These issues make it evident that corporate wikis are most definitely the thing of the past and your company is lagging way behind if it is still incorporating this software in its daily use. Knowledge sharing platforms (KSP) are a much better and modern option than the traditional and old-fashioned corporate wikis. There are also several reasons for why knowledge sharing tools are here to stay and are better knowledge sharing options for the organizations.

Why Use Knowledge Sharing Platforms (KSP)

Knowledge sharing tools and knowledge sharing platforms (KSP) are way more engaging than corporate wikis. According to statistics, only 1% of the participants are actively developing new content in wikis, 9% of the overall participants are editing content and 90% of the community participants are simply viewing it.

This shows the lack of engagement among the community members in the knowledge sharing in wikis. On the other hand, latest knowledge sharing platforms allow for the involvement and active engagement of all employees and members in a team.

Secondly, since the content on corporate wikis is difficult to locate with reference to its authorship and ownership, it remains a difficult task to locate who the experts in the field are. Knowledge sharing tools allow for active discernment of experts on specific topics or regarding which groups can offer material and information on specific subjects. Someone who is looking to solve a problem needs to know when was particular information uploaded and when was it updated – something which is not possible in corporate wikis and only possible through KSP.

Knowledge sharing tools, in short, have both accessibility and interactivity, something which is hard to find in corporate wikis. Employees today are no more stationary and demand flexibility. Therefore, knowledge sharing platforms allow for easy access through laptops, tablets, smartphones, and workstations. Valuable content is shared actively within and outside organizations within a matter of a few minutes.

Moreover, knowledge sharing tools allow for an interactive collaboration of information, something which lacks in corporate wikis. Unlike in wikis, where it is impossible to discern who uploaded and updated the information, one can easily locate the owner and author of certain information in knowledge sharing platforms.

Now the latest knowledge sharing tools also have Q&A and chat features which make it a lot more convenient to share information across the board. There is even a comments feature on some knowledge sharing tools similar to social media pages where employees and other users can leave their comments and thoughts on the shared content.

Final Thoughts

Selection of a knowledge sharing tool which can allow team members to actively share knowledge across the company is vital to the success of businesses today. Corporate wikis were once believed to solve the issues of knowledge sharing. However, with the advent of innovative and creative knowledge sharing platforms, this is no more the case. Corporate wikis are a thing of the past for sure and KSPs are here to stay.

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