Top 5 uses of wikis for project management

Of all the Web 2.0 tools that have emerged in the last few years I have found wikis to be one of the most practical and useful for project management. Perhaps this is a result of their tendency to be embraced by project teams – a fundamental requirement of any successful project tool or process.

And the usefulness of wikis can only increase with products such as Zoho Projects and PB Works providing additional features and closer integration with other PM tools.

So, here are my top 5 uses of wikis for project management: 

1. Process definition

Great companies have processes that are continually and organically refining and improving. Wikis make an ideal platform for this information as they are highly scalable, easily reviewed and edited – and their page interlinking capabilities are ideal for easy navigation through process definitions.

I have seen them work particularly well for smaller enterprises that are yet to formally document their processes. In these cases the entire team – in a very pragmatic and rapid way – can contribute to documenting their current work practices. And in doing so, it often helps people to spot opportunities to reduce waste and remove friction points from their own jobs.

Which, of course, will feed back into the process definition in a continuous improvement cycle.

2. Knowledge management

For me, the most obvious use of wikis for project management is perhaps the most powerful.

Wikis were designed for knowledge management – and they do it very well. If a culture of sharing can be fostered within the project team then it can be amazing to see how quickly a knowledge base can grow – and how valuable that resource will become for the entire team.

3. Requirements repository

The collaborative nature of wikis together with built in version control features makes them great for requirements definition, review and revision.

But more than that, I have found that wikis  (or any other online repository) tend to make requirements more accessible and more able to sustain attention throughout the project lifecycle. Certainly more so than a monolithic Word document that’s left to gather dust somewhere on the project hard drive shortly after it has been written.

4. Collaborative review

Most of us would agree that tools that facilitate better communication and collaboration provide enormous value to project teams.

Wikis work very well for collaborative review – particularly in virtual team environments. The benefits can be amplified if the project team is prepared to conduct “live” revisions during a review session. This can reduce errors and save time compared to the more traditional use of issue lists that must be used to update the spec or design document retrospectively.

5. Risk management

I have found that for most projects a simple, practical approach to risk management yields the best return on investment. Such an approach might comprise of risk brainstorming sessions with the project team, simple risk/contingency lists and regular review and re-prioritization. Wikis provide a good lightweight, accessible container for such lists.

These are my top 5 uses of wikis for project management – but there are certainly lots more that I haven’t mentioned. In future posts I plan to evaluate some of the wiki tools that are on the market.

Tagged as: Project Management Tools, Wikis