Rob Castaneda, Founder of CustomWare Asia Pacific, wrote Working the “Wiki” Way for the March 2008 issue of Octane, quarterly magazine of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO).

In the article, he discusses how CustomWare uses a wiki internally to improve information flow between teams working on client projects:

The Pain Point

The biggest snag we experienced was transferring knowledge and context from the sales team to the delivery team. This muddled flow of information threatened our client projects.

Rob and his company decided they needed to improve communication, and decided to use a wiki as their collaboration platform.

Using the Wiki to Manage Client Projects

Rob describes how CustomWare keeps materials and information for each project in a distinct space that staff and clients can access. Using separate spaces is good for keeping information organized, and setting permissions so that each client sees only the information relevant to their project:

With our wiki in place, we decided to partition the system into the relevant “spaces,” each designed for a separate project where staff members and clients could readily contribute information. Whenever new documents or information needed to be distributed, we placed them in the secure wiki website. Instead of emailing large attachments – which could be annoying to deliver – we simply emailed clients links to the documents online.

Reducing email is another excellent change in practice that frees peoples’ time so they can better focus on projects, and better captures information in a central place where all involved can see and use it.

How has it helped?

Thanks to our wiki system, our knowledge transfer between client engagements is pretty tight and in shape. And most of the information is captured and communicated efficiently. The wiki has been a great tool for operational, day-to-day use, and it’s become far better than servers or e-mail when it comes to storing important information and documents.

The full article is an excellent read, and Rob also discusses several other ways the company is using its wiki. He ends with an important piece of advice:

Using a wiki helps, because it is a great way to provide a blank canvas with which the team can work. However, like any technology, it is a tool, not a complete solution.

He’s right – a successful wiki depends on the active participation of as many people as possible. That’s a matter of changing existing practices and habits by showing people how the wiki improves the way they work, and giving them reasons to use it.