ENHANCING COLLABORATION AT ING GROUP

Knowledge Management Review, May/Jun 2007

2. More guidance and support: Despite the presence of the QuickStart and Golden Rules, a majority of those accessing the site (both as readers and editors) felt even more guidance was needed on how, where and when to use it. "It's still a fairly new technology, so I think there are a lot of people out there still who are not really sure if they can use it, or are just a bit afraid to." says Nouwens. "So we're going to work on that to improve it. It's a valuable piece of advice for us all: You can never break it down too much, if you want everyone to use it."

Don't underestimate "accidental growth**

The wild has not yet been marketed internally to any real degree, other than through placed news articles. (The principal concession to advertising its presence was a click-through banner on the intranet.) Nevertheless, user numbers have consistently grown, and not just through word of mouth.

The survey revealed that large numbers of ING Wiki's readers found out about it "by accident", through the intranet search facility or via articles on ING NewsWeb. "In general, I think the banner promotion worked," says Nouwens. "But the real impact obviously comes in less direct ways and that shouldn't be underestimated - it's part of the 'social' element of social media."

Users are biggest advocates

Some of the other results of the survey make compelling statements about the ways in which wikis are used and viewed on corporate intranets, and provide valuable lessons to those starting their own wild environment:

* Users recognize the value: Even in it's pilot/beta phase, twice as many readers and registrants feel they have directly benefited from using the wild as don't. When asked if ING should continue hosting the wild, the answer was a resounding "yes" (91 percent among contributors, 96 percent among readers).

* Time is a barrier to contributing: When asked what it would take for them to contribute to the wild, by far the largest response (50-55 percent) came from employees citing the need for more time to do so. This also points back, perhaps, to the perceived shortfall in managerial recognition and to the need for more guidance on usage to improve their speed of editing.

* Knowledge sharing is a winner: Asked where the ING Wild's value was most relevant, nearly two-thirds of respondents cited it as a great "way to share knowledge" - a big lead over the next biggest benefits, as a repository of corporate knowledge (40 percent) and as a glossary of ING terms and concepts (40 percent).

* Those who find it, often find it useful for search: When asked for qualitative feedback on its usefulness, a good number of respondents referred to the fact that it allows one to "cut through the clutter" of intranet search:

- "It saved me a lot of time finding information, which I would probably never have found browsing the jungle of intranet pages."

- "We have found other colleagues over the world working on the same concept."

- "Searching for information on an ING Division - in the end it linked directly to the site where I found all the info I wanted. So it helped me to navigate through the intranet."