How did a leading chip manufacturer drive Wiki adoption?

Simple: Delete all emails and attachments from the server after 45 days.

Everyone flocked to the wiki for fear of loosing access to valuable discussions and attachments in the future. That’s what a friend who works there told me over 4th of July BBQ.

Sounds a bit brute force-ish no? It does but its an easy way to get a lot of people to really immerse themselves in a better approach to collaboration. And should anarchy ensue for some reason, it’s a policy that’s easily reversible.

Is it a strategy? No. Can it be a tactic that’s part of a larger revenue generating or cost saving plan? Totally.

Low risk approach with lots and lots of potential gain and cost savings if it sticks.

Oh..and in the case of this un-named company, it worked like a charm for all of its 4000+ employees.

Written on: 07-06-09 · Written by: Sameer Patel · 12 Comments »

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http://www.itsinsider.com itsinsider

What's truly terrifying about this post is you were discussing wiki adoption at a 4rth of July BBQ.
http://www.sharingatwork.com Daniel J. Pritchett

I love this story and I'll be sharing it at work. Any chance you could provide a source?
http://www.pretzellogic.org Sameer

yeah – always starts off with – so what are you doing these days.. My wife loves it (NOT!)
http://www.pretzellogic.org Sameer

Since it was mentioned over watermelon martinis, I think Ill keep it in-house. If it helps any, its a chip that's either in a device you own right now, or would kill to own

That said, Ill do a quick Google search and see if its already in the public domain.
http://www.socialenterprise.it/ Emanuele Quintarelli

Hi Sameer,
thanks for sharing. Have you got any other detail about this initiative in terms of cultivation process, business goals, adoption, etc?

That's a fantastic story anyway,
Emanuele
http://www.pretzellogic.org Sameer

Hey, thanks.
Im trying to get some of those details. Stay tuned.
http://traction.tractionsoftware.com/traction/permalink/Public421 Jordan Frank

Most of our customers have an email retention policy that deletes mail automatically depending on age, number of messages or number of gigabytes in a mailbox. They may also limit on file size you can send or receive.

All these factors point to a wiki and blog solution that can serve both as a better format for business relevant communication, and a convenient, journaled archive.

A key point here for IT Managers and Execs alike is that social software is a storage management solution as well as a strategic solution to a wide swath of communication and project management problems.
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http://twitter.com/MarkTamis Mark Tamis

Hi Sameer,

I like the cold-shower approach, but how does this fit in with regulatory obligations wrt tracability? Are the emails just 'not accessible' after 45 days, or are they actually deleted?

Mark

Pretzel Logic – Social and Collaborative Business