Did you know that Robbie Williams eats domestic pets in pubs for money? Or that Miley Cyrus died in September 2008? These hoaxes appeared on the respectable Wikipedia, the information guru we all like to open when in doubt. While the free encyclopedia has an unquestionable value, you might want to check other resources if you need to be sure on the info you’re getting to do your job right.
Wikipedia is renowned for offering free information to the masses on various topics, from rocket science to cooking or comic books. It has nearly 5 million articles and 500 million unique visitors each month. The encyclopedia is free because volunteers mainly write it, and although it has a rigorous feedback mechanism, errors are quite common.
Up to three in five articles on Wikipedia contain inaccuracies, a research conducted by the scholarly Public Relations Journal found. Researches quizzed 1,284 members about their clients’ Wikipedia entries. Another study found that nine out of ten health entries contain errors, so you better call you doctor if your head hurts.
Turn to your internal knowledge resources instead
But Wikipedia is just an example about how something you trust can prove to be misleading. Instead of relying on Google or on external information sources, you should try to build your own database of questions and solutions.
How about having your personal Wikipedia that contains entries valuable to your team? By using an internal Q&A, anyone can ask a question and will receive a quick answer from a peer working nearby or abroad. At Quandora, we try to help you improve your business by connecting your team members more efficiently. If someone working in L.A. has a question, a colleague from Amsterdam or Paris might be able to answer. Or even someone in your own office, that you just didn’t know you can turn to for that specific knowledge.
Additional benefits
Moreover, a Q&A collaboration software allows you to use that stored information if a critical employee leaves the company. Employees’ retention is becoming a top concern within HR departments nowadays and talent management strategies are getting more and more popular. Organizational culture plays a big part as studies show that money is not a major motivator for employees’ engagement.
Interestingly, camaraderie and peer motivation came first, so it makes sense for businesses to support collaborative actions inside their organizations and improve internal communications. And we’re not talking about “Pizza Friday” events and other solely social activities, but the type of collaboration that helps people grow and expand their know-how, that help them become better at what they do.
So brainswarming, or knowledge sharing, has a lot of potential when it comes to protecting the knowledge inside your company, with benefits for both individuals as for the company as a whole. Just like Wikipedia, your group will provide quick solutions and updates, to help you keep up with the rapidly changing world we live in. And the information will come from experts within your company rather than anonymously sources on the internet.
Happy Knowledge Sharing!
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