This is the second in a seven-part series based on The Mozilla School of Management in which I’m applying Mozilla’s principles to wiki collaboration (part 1 of the series).
Just ask
There seems to be no limit to what volunteers are willing and able to do for an organization they believe in. But hardly anyone thinks to ask.
How this applies to wiki collaboration:
With few exceptions, all non-profits have volunteers, and many have a volunteer coordinator – one person who does all the asking. But if you’ve ever worked as a volunteer coordinator, once or a hundred times, one thing that you realize it that it sucks to have to ask, and ask, and ask people to do things.
Put a wiki into your environment, and you’ll probably only have to ask once (maybe twice). After getting the hang of it and finding that it becomes essential to their work, users become the new wiki coordinators themselves. Often they’ll do your asking for you by asking their peers to participate too. Volunteers are your champions, you just need to give them a nudge!
For more on how to effectively introduce a wiki in your organization, visit Wikipatterns.com.
