We’ve all had the experience of starting with a new team and being submerged in a vast pool of puzzling acronyms and jargon. It can be overwhelming!

Now imagine if there was a place to go to decode that jargon. Imagine if you could quickly translate a term without leaving the apps your team is already using. This is where Wonderus can help.

How do I get started?

Once you’ve created an account and set-up a new team on Wonderus, it’s time to get started. To get started, select some team-specific knowledge that isn’t readily interpretable to someone new. We would advise thinking about the most esoteric jargon you’ve got. A.A.R.M.? B.O.B.O.D.D.Y.? Yeah, these are terms that could use defining on Wonderus.

If you need help thinking of these terms, we suggest asking fellow team members. People who recently joined your team or who are involved in training new hires will be your experts here!

You could send a message to your team like this to get the ball rolling:

“We are using Wonderus to create a knowledge base of team-specific information. Before we share this widely, I’d like to get your help generating a list of concepts. You can help by answering this one question: what were the acronyms and jargon that you were most confused by when you joined this team?”

Imagine if your first day with a new team, you were given access to a knowledge base with definitions for all of the team lingo you could possibly want. We know this would allow you to quickly feel immersed in the company culture, and would make you instantly more efficient and effective at, you know, your actual job. No more feeling like everyone is speaking a different language. It’s like getting a head start.

By using Wonderus, trainers and managers will get fewer queries about your team’s unique lingo. Your team will have more time to learn the ropes and excel at the tasks they were hired to do.

Using Wonderus as an acronym decoder is just the start – it can also be used to keep track of any knowledge important to your team.

How do I structure knowledge?

Knowledge is stored in your Wonderus Glossary using Knowledge Cards. Cards can be organized with “Tags,” larger themes or groups in your hierarchy of knowledge. A knowledge card can be part of multiple tags – because we know that real life isn’t always that simple.

Cards can be labeled with shorthand – i.e., any acronyms, lingo, or codes used to refer to the card. Include a nickname for this term – don’t be shy! Team members can search shorthand in your Wonderus knowledge base to decode it. Think of it like your team’s personal babelfish.

Inviting your team

Once you have a few knowledge cards added to Wonderus, go ahead and invite your whole team! Don’t worry if you don’t feel like things are complete – we know that your knowledge base is constantly evolving. An easy to give everyone on your team access to Wonderus is to install the Wonderus Slack app. This gives your entire Slack workspace the ability to search your Wonderus team and ask questions with the /wonder command.

If you don’t use Slack or if you’d like your team to be able to contribute to the knowledge base, you can also send email invites to viewers or contributors. Once they log in, they will be shown the knowledge cards that have already been created.

Encourage each person to add their own knowledge and ask questions.

How do I get my team to use Wonderus?

  1. When using acronyms on Slack yourself, consider quickly using the Wonderus Slack app to define that acronym, as a way to model using the Slack app.
  2. Make Wonderus the first stop for defining language on your team. Consider responding to requests with “why don’t you ask on Wonderus so the whole team can help?”
  3. When new members join your team, add them to your Wonderus team and send them this message: “Our team uses Wonderus to keep track of our unique jargon and language. I can send you an invitation to create your account on Wonderus. Have a term you want to be defined? Look for it first on Wonderus! If there’s no existing knowledge card for that term, use the Request Info feature to ask for help from your team.”

Wonderus is here to help your team work smarter. A smarter team means better results, greater retention, and happier customers.

If you need more help, we are always here for you and your team. Please reach out at hello@wonderus.app.