What uses might a collaborative wiki or blog have in your chosen work environment? How would they support learning and/or performance? What would be the design and implementation challenges if management tried to do this? What would be the design and implementation challenges of a user-initiated effort?
In my work environment (insurance claim adjusters) a blog would be really helpful for discussing the handling of certain claim situations...particularly state-specific laws/ordinances as we handle claims for all 50 states and Canada. Because of the size of our department, along with the area we service, inconsistencies can be an issue. A blog would be a resource claim adjusters could use as they handle claims from state to state.
If management tried to implement this, their challenge would be how to keep the blog best organized. Who would be the contributors? Who would monitor the blog to make sure it was consistent and that the posts were quality? Also, because of the nature of our work, a blog such as this would be subject to subpoena should any of our claims go to court.
If users inititated this effort, they would have all of the issues management would have, but it would be even more complicated due to the number of users. Someone would have to take ownership of the blog to address consistency issues, etc. It would most likely be impossible to allow all claim adjusters to contribute to the blog for the reasons noted above, however, their information is what would be valuable.
I'm working at GE right now and they have blogs for everything you can imagine. Searching through them for something specific is basically a nightmare because most of the blogs are dormant.
ReplyDeleteWhen I do find an active blog, it is still frustrating because blogs tend to keep track of everything chronologically. When was the last time you looked for something chronologically?
I think a discussion forum (much like our course discussion board) is the best solution for most business purposes. And for manuals and book type information, wikis work well.
By the way, your choice of background just makes me happy for some reason. I like it. :)
I find it interesting that GE has so many blogs. For some reason, I picture them being used in smaller companies, although I am not sure why. I can imagine how having so many blogs, along with the fact they they are arranged chronologically, could be a nightmare!
ReplyDeleteI think your question was rhetorical, but the last time I searched for something chronologically was in my Outlook sent folder. It took me half an hour to find one e-mail. I can't imagine using the same process to search for a specific blog. Ugh!
A discussion forum, complete with clearly labeled discussions, is an excellent idea. Being able to quickly scan to search a specific topic is much more efficient. The chronological piece is great in this situation because it is easy to find the most current information.
As for my background..thanks! It makes me happy too - reminds me of summer!