What Works at Work

Comment

Comment by Dave Ferguson on October 27, 2008 at 11:56am

Hi, Ourania:

We're not hearing much about people using wikis at work -- I suspect our group here is skewed toward educational use (though I haven't taken a census). In addition, I'm getting the impression that a lot of workplace wikis exist behind firewalls -- and in some cases, under the radar.

I do know of two hospital-related examples: one's used to monitor the hospital's compliance with Joint Committee accreditation. The other's a surgery-related application. As surgeries are scheduled, a surgical nurse posts a template for set-up (as I understand it, the supplies, instruments, etc., required for a given procedure). The surgeon can then access the page and make any alterations based on preference, knowledge of the patient's situation, etc.

The result is that there's less wait time (when something's needed but not available) and less waste (of items that can't be re-used or that have to be sterilized again).

As always, I think it's better to proceed from the problem/opportunity than from the software. People in a hospital don't want to "use a wiki;" they want help in grappling with some challenge.

Comment by Ourania Nikolaidis on October 27, 2008 at 11:15am

Hi All, Does anyone uses Wikis at work? Does it work?

Comment by Dave Ferguson on October 2, 2008 at 10:59am

Anna, just wondering: why LinkedIn specifically? I'm thinking of it as kind of a connection point for networking (finding contacts, learning about some organization), but I'm not seeing how you'd use it to further contact for the group as a whole.

Not a criticism, just a question -- can you elaborate?

Comment by Anne Canale Stalnecker on October 1, 2008 at 1:44pm

Hi Dave,
I want to moderate a LinkedIn site for for MPA program alum---this is for my "day job." You'll find me in the Graduate Group because I am also a in UAlbany's MS CDIT program -- I am graduating in May 2009 :)

One of our alum requested a LinkedIn site, so I thought I would investigate....
Anne

Comment by Dave Ferguson on October 1, 2008 at 12:17pm

I can see that "add rss" and "detail" is rarely a good idea here...

Comment by Dave Ferguson on September 30, 2008 at 4:38pm

Hi, Anne:

There are so many channels on this Ning site, it's easy for me to miss a sign that there's something new... Or, maybe you didn't mean to post to this group? (only kidding)

What's the goal that you have in mind for your alumni group? And what is it they're alumni of?

Comment by Anne Canale Stalnecker on September 30, 2008 at 3:46pm

Hi all,
I am trying to start a LinkedIn group for alumni (that I would manage for my department). Any advice .. tips... suggestions?

Comment by Dave Ferguson on September 24, 2008 at 6:10pm

So, I'm thinking it'd be good to have real-life examples of problems/opportunities in the work place that people have tried to address with the kinds of tools being discussed here. What was the problem? What tools did you consider (and why)? What was the result (favorable, or otherwise)?

I'm going to ask a colleague to describe the application (blog? wiki? I can't recall) she set up for procurement folks at a petrochemical company -- to me, that's a compelling and practical story.

Got any you'd like to share?

Comment by Dave Ferguson on September 24, 2008 at 6:06pm

So, I tend to think that more people move easily from the specific to the general than from the general to the specific. Which means I'm interested in learning what kinds of real-life problems/opportunities people have faced, what they've tried (in terms of various software tools) and the reasons they tried them, and the results (favorable and otherwise) that followed. Anybody else interested?