There are plenty of good reasons to introduce a company wiki: It makes business processes more agile, keeps your management system content up to date, and fosters better team collaboration. At the same time, documentation costs drop significantly because employees continuously contribute their knowledge and experience.
But when many people contribute, there’s one thing you must not overlook: structure and order. That’s where the wiki gardener comes in — someone who systematically keeps your wiki tidy and useful for everyone.
First of all, the theory: What is a wiki gardener?
In short: A wiki gardener pulls the weeds so that everything else can flourish. In the context of your management system, that means regularly fixing formatting issues, cleaning up outdated entries, and ensuring everything stays easy to navigate. This way, the rest of your team can focus on what really matters: contributing valuable content.
And the best part? Any employee can take on this role!
Weeding in the company wiki — how does that work?
A wiki gardener brings structure, clarity, and consistency to your management system — not once, but continuously.Here are the 7 key tasks every good wiki gardener should take care of:
1. Find and repair dead links
Internal links and connections to external systems make everyday work easier. The gardener ensures that all links are functioning properly and removes or updates broken (“dead”) links.
Pro tip: In Q.wiki, the “Wiki Integrity” tool helps you find all pages with broken links.
2. Link content and structure processes
The gardener doesn’t just fix links — they actively create new ones where needed. That includes linking related content and clearly assigning upstream and downstream processes to each workflow. The result? A clean, hierarchical process structure that makes navigation effortless.
3. Check approval workflow and resubmission
Where has approval been pending too long? Where have resubmissions been missed? Is outdated content still lurking in the system? The wiki gardener tracks down these issues and nudges responsible parties to review or update their content.
4. Remove duplicate content and attachmentsIn any organically growing wiki, it’s common for duplicate content or file uploads to accumulate.
The gardener’s job is to identify, review, and either merge or delete redundant material — keeping the system lean and organized.
Pro tip: Q.wiki offers an overview of all attachments, making duplicates easy to spot.
5. Design wiki pages uniformly
Together with a project team, the gardener helps define formatting templates for different types of content — like process descriptions or instructions — and checks that pages follow the agreed structure. Consistency is key to readability and user trust.
6. Maintain glossary and role entries
Tagging content with glossary terms improves searchability. The wiki gardener regularly reviews and expands the glossary where needed. They also ensure that all role descriptions in the system are current and assigned to the right people.
7. Correct spelling, typing, and grammar errors
Last but not least: The gardener checks spelling, grammar, and phrasing throughout the wiki. They clean up unclear wording and make sure everything reads smoothly — helping users find and understand the information they need faster.
Why gardening pays off
Many companies hesitate to allocate internal resources for a wiki gardener. But the truth is: it’s worth it. A dedicated gardener ensures that your management system stays structured, consistent, and meaningful — and that makes daily work easier for your entire team. If you want your wiki to be more than a content dump — if you want it to be a living, useful system — give it the care it deserves. Start gardening.
How do I structure processes clearly?
How to use Q.wiki effectively in everyday work
What are typical requirements?
In the following testimonials, you will learn about how we empower organizations to build effective, sustainable management systems. Get inspired — and find out how Modell Aachen can help your company succeed too.
“Q.wiki was a key success factor in rolling out our new SAP business platform.”
“With Q.wiki, we’ve left behind outdated QM documentation and established a living, interactive management system that people actually use.”
“Great company presence, excellent product, competent staff — and very pleasant and insightful training sessions.”
“Regulatory processes used to be a necessary evil. Today, they create real value for our workforce.”
“With Q.wiki, we’ve made a U-turn — from a rigid data repository to an interactive orientation platform.”
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