Friday, March 4, 2011

Wiki by Saher Kawas



With the everyday changes in technologies and the everyday trials to keep and to have a collaborative work, wikis have created a two way communication through a click of a button. A wiki can be defined as a web page that anybody can create or edit therefore it's a popular source of knowledge sharing and information gathering.
In the world of business, wiki with its collaboration and teamwork nature can offer a great help to commerce and the workplace. According to Daniel Nations "Wikis can also play a role in enhancing meetings, and in some cases, replace them altogether. A wiki can be a great place to store meeting minutes and provide the opportunity for employees to offer additional input outside of the meeting." And "Taking the wiki meeting one step further, a wiki can be used to centralize the information and organization of an entire project. Not only could it store meeting notes and provide brainstorming synergy, it can organize the project into an open environment with two-way communication.
Think on the drawbacks of the conventional meeting. With too many people, a meeting becomes an information-dump rather than an idea-gathering mission. But, with too few people, you run the risk of excluding someone whose ideas could be vital to the success of the project.
With wiki organization, all participants in the project can get the same information and are able to share ideas seamlessly. It provides a way to empower the employee and let them take ownership of the project, driving it with their own ideas and, in the end, providing better solutions."
(Ezra Goodnoe 2005) "Wikis can centralize all types of corporate data, such as spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint slides, PDFs — anything that can be displayed in a browser. They can also embed standard communications media such as e-mail and IM. Heavy-duty PHP-based wikis can directly interface with company databases to bring in audio and picture files. A wiki's functionality is limited only by the programming skills of the person who implements it." She added that a wiki can be used to create a company intranet quickly and economically without sacrificing functionality, security, or durability. Also, a wiki can help in publishing a variety of corporate documents in one universally accessible location and let employees manage those documents with a minimum of effort, time. In addition, a person can manage and organize meeting notes, team agendas, and company calendars. Moreover, a wiki can be used as a project management tool which is cheap and most of the times is free and accessible through any Web browser. She also added that wiki can act as a file archive where shared documents can be viewed and revised by a large team.
In conclusion, and after much analysis of wiki and how a wiki works, I hope that with the help of wikis communication in businesses between Palestine and other countries can be established through wiki meeting vie the internet. By using this way of communication, online discussions can be made and better solutions and suggestions for improving our workplace and industry could come up.

References

Daniel Nations, The Business Wiki, Wiki in the Workplace. Available from: . [February 17, 2011].

Ezra Goodnoe, How To Use Wikis For Business. Available from: . [August 8, 2005].




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