The Enterprise 2.0 model is all about collaboration and sharing great ideas. Implemented correctly, it can significantly improve your internal signal-to-noise ratio. Without stakeholder buyin, however, any Enterprise 2.0 implementation is doomed to fail. And getting your people to commit to a new and slightly scary technology can be difficult. When we first started using wikis to share marketing materials and ideas, we ran into this very problem. Although content creators were happy to make their content available through the wiki, the internal consumers were slow to accept it as a distribution tool, let alone a collaborative platform. Using the following tips, We've come a long way towards overcoming this inertia, and so can you.
1: Provide value from day one.
There's nothing quite as discouraging as staring at a blank wiki page. Before launching, set up a structural framework and populate it with the resources you already have. If your users see the inherent value of your new wiki immediately, they'll be more likely to return.
2: Prevent barriers to adoption.
Make sure your users have the access privileges they need right away. Create accounts for them in advance, preferably using existing authentication infrastructure. SuiteTwo supports ldap integration out of the box. Your users can use their existing account information and won't lose interest while they're waiting for IT to make them an account.
3: Practice what you preach.
If you expect your users to collaborate using a wiki, you'd better not still be sending them documents by email. If your team sees their leader ignoring new collaboration methods, they'll feel no imperative to adopt them themselves. So before you ask your people to buy into an enterprise 2.0 strategy, make sure you're comfortable with the technologies yourself.
4: Be firm but gentle.
Whether it's due to fear of the new, stubbornness, or pride, you will encounter holdouts. People will continue to request and distribute documents by email and keep their collaboration off-line. As their leader in this endeavor, you'll have to guide them firmly, yet gently towards the collaborative tools you've provided. If a team member emails a document to the rest of his group, remind him to put it on the wiki. If they ask for your opinion on a new idea, tell them you'll be happy to discuss it in more detail once it has its own wiki page. Remember that just a few stragglers can derail your entire collaboration strategy.
5: Use tools that work, not tools that create work.
Choose collaborative products that are intuitive. Don't expect your people to learn wikicode or html in order to create content. Find a solution that supports "what you see is what you get" editors, intuitive file uploads, and simple customization. Socialtext is a great example of an intuitive, easy to use wiki that puts the user in control.
Armed with these tips, a healthy dose of optimism, and just a tad of determination, you'll be well on your way to creating a collaborative environment that will benefit your entire team.
