During the session, we will discuss the specific activities and processes that Jari has implemented to change how GroupSwim engineers its products. Traditional engineering tools focus on the software development process. There is a large gap in most of these tools; they do a poor job managing requirements gathering, design decisions and asking questions/providing answers. Also, engineering and highly technical teams traditionally operate in silos. By using social collaboration, Jari will illustrate how the team now more effectively engages with product management, sales and even customers. He will also explain how using a wiki and other specific tools improves the quality and speed for developing products. Jari is a highly-regarded engineering executive and earned a Phd from the Royal Institute in Sweden.

We will cover how and why social collaboration has improved the following areas during this session:
•    Organization
•    Processes
•    Tools

Jari will also review the measurable benefits associated with this change and use specific examples and a demo to illustrate.

This webinar will take place on Wednesday, February 18th at 1PM EST / 10AM PST.

Please register here to join us for this interesting and informative discussion. I hope to see you there!

[Note: I've had to remove the video unfortunately.  Appears that the software didn't record Brian's piece so it is silent after the first 10 minutes.  My apologies.]

1. Defined wikis and their use in business
2. Described how wikis can be used for project management and knowledge capture
3. Demonstrated how GroupSwim works in this use case
4. Explained how Stewart used a wiki to write his book (WikiPatterns) and the benefits associated with this method
5. Showed how GroupSwim works in this use case
6. Discussed adoption strategies and tactics for using wikis in business
7. Answered questions

Here is a recording of the webinar if you would like to watch it.  We enjoyed the experience and will do more in the future.

Update: The webinar participants asked questions during the session.  Here they are with our answers:

1. Can you import XML into GroupSwim?

• No.  You can import HTML and copy and paste from other wikis.  We will be adding XML importing features in the future

2. Is your wiki available as a virtual extension of your book to continue the conversation online?

• The best place to continue the conversation online is Grow Your Wiki. You’ll find lots of articles on wiki uses, case studies, adoption strategies, and ongoing conversation among readers. Here are a few articles you may find helpful:
  • 21 Days of Wiki Adoption
  • Does your organization have these boundaries to collaboration?
  • When to wiki? When not to? 4 Tips to Consider
  • 5 Effective Wiki Uses and How Companies Benefit From Them

3. Can you use multi-media in wikis?

• Yes.  For example, you can embed video, images, and audio files in GroupSwim wikis

4. What was the process of going from a wiki to a hard copy book?

• In some cases, I directly exported content from the wiki as XML, then inserted that XML into the publishing templates. In a few instances where more complex formatting was required, I simply copied and pasted content out of the wiki and into the publishing templates. The bottom line with a wiki is that it doesn’t store content in any proprietary file formats, so putting content in or taking it out of the wiki can simply be a matter of copying and pasting text.

5. Is WikiPatterns available as a PDF?

• Wikipatterns is currently available as a softcover book through Amazon.com and major bookstores. If you’d like to see the book become available in an electronic version, you can vote for Amazon to create an electronic version for their Kindle ebook reader.

6. How is a wiki different than an intranet?

• A wiki can be the intranet for your organization. Especially in smaller organizations that don’t have a lot of other content management and collaboration tools, a wiki is a great choice to serve as your central knowledge management and collaboration hub. In larger organizations, the intranet often serves as an organization-wide information dissemination tool, but not a knowledge and collaboration hub for individual teams. A wiki is complementary to the intranet because it gives teams and departments a virtual workspace to organize their meeting agendas & minutes, project materials, documentation, and shared knowledge.

7. Is there any interface between wikis and bberrys?

• You may be able to access wiki pages using the browser in your BlackBerry, but perhaps the better way to use a BlackBerry in connection with a wiki is to subscribe to wiki pages for updates via RSS or email. Those updates can be sent to your BlackBerry, and you can stay up-to-date as others on your team update content on the wiki.

8. Do you have any strategies for convincing wikiphobic (and/or technophobic) coworkers to make the switch?

• Some people look at Wikipedia, and become concerned about all wikis being a free-wheeling, anonymous, potentially anarchic “mess”. But wiki use inside an organization and Wikipedia are two completely separate worlds. Inside an organization, the audience is much more stable and easily identified – it usually consists of employees, business partners, and – in some cases – customers. Therefore, the need to have a wide-open, publicly accessible site to attract users isn’t necessary. The more important considerations inside an organization are: interoperability with other business tools, ability to organize content by department, team, or project, and the ability to assign read and edit permissions to the appropriate content for each person.

9. In a company of about 70 employees, how long would you estimate the adoption process would take before fully utilizing a wiki?

• It depends.  Some factors include:
  • Current tools and infrastructure
  • Management support
  • Company culture
  • Incentives
• In our experience, we have seen some customers adopt them aggressively and quickly once they see how effective wikis are.  In other circumstances, it could be a month or more.

10. Is it possible to port mediawiki content to GroupSwim?

• The best way to move is copy and paste.  We’ve had other customers use this method, and I just tried posting an article from Wikipedia into GroupSwim and it worked perfectly; we don’t currently have an automated method for doing this.

11. Is this permission/community based so that different departments can maintain their pages but keep others from editing their pages?

• GroupSwim is organized by groups within a site, so you can set the permissions to allow departments to limit who can see or edit their wikis.  The group and permission structure is extremely powerful and you can do all sorts of things to organize your site.

12. Are users added to GroupSwim or can Active Directory be used?

• You can use either method.  We can integrate with a company AD, or site membership can be managed from GroupSwim; it is up to you.

13. Is GroupSwim hosted?

• Yes.  GroupSwim is software as a service and is not available any other way.

14. What is the best way to publish content on a wiki into a document, if needed?

• GroupSwim allows you to copy and paste the content (or HTML) directly into other applications.  We are adding the ability to export wiki content as PDFs and/or Word documents in the future.

15. Can you recommend some wikis that are easy to edit?

• Yes.  GroupSwim

• Customers demanded the forum
• OpenAir (OA) uses it for marketing and education, gathering customer feedback and document storage including training materials and FAQs
• Robust search and email notifications were the top features requested by the customers surveyed
• OA selected GroupSwim based on our company culture, price, functionality and usability
• Spent 20 hours collectively preparing the site and seeding it with content before the initial roll-out
• Rolled-out to 100 users and formally launched at user conference late last year
• Initial groups in community were Knowledge Base, OpenAir Functionality, Training Documents, and Other – more followed
• Minimal effort to maintain now that they are going
• Regular activities include processing invitation requests, answering questions and adding new content
• Sales and prospects request access regularly
• Results: support volume dropping, site registrations increasing, getting new product ideas, helping with sales
• Lessons learned: Form and functionality matter, keep content fresh, marketing is key, community will be self-sustaining in time

It was a great session and we had lots of questions.  Please click here for a full recording of the session if you are interested.  Thanks again Brian and Buckley for your help.  You were both awesome!

By attending this webinar, you will gain practical knowledge how
OpenAir:

• Planned, designed and structured their community

• Selected interesting and relevant content for their customers

• Reduced customer support calls and increased customer satisfaction

• Staffs and monitors the community on an ongoing basis

• Uses the forum to communicate with their customers and provide one place for documents and information

This webinar will take place on September 10th at 1PM EST / 10AM PST.

You are welcome to join us.  Please register here to join us on September 10th for this interesting and informative discussion.  I hope to see you there!