Communities of Practice

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Communities of Practice

Knowledge can’t be separated from its community and managed like inventory from a distance. It is part of the shared practice of communities that need it, create it, use it, debate it, distribute it, adapt it and transform it. Knowledge as a property of community is not static; it involves interactions, conversations, actions, and invention. For example, what constitutes scientific knowledge is the prerogative of the scientific community (theories, procedures, methods) and results in a body of knowledge.

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CoP Definition

“… a group of professionals informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge” - Manville and Foote 1996

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Defining Communities of Practice

• Communities of practice (CoP) are living repositories of knowledge.

• Members of a community are informally bound by what they do together.

• The community and the degree of participation are inseparable from the practice.

• Shared practices serve as a living curriculum for the apprentice

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• What it is about • A joint enterprise as understood and continually renegotiated by its

members.• Shared identification fueled by personal investment in a topic of

interest• You know what your community cares about and what questions to

ask; you understand the value of lessons learned

• How it functions• Mutual engagement that bind members together into a social entity.• Learn from one another, interact, dynamic negotiation; trust develops

• What capability it has produced • the shared repertoire of communal resources (routines, sensibilities,

artifacts, vocabulary, styles, etc.) that members have developed over time.

• You can’t be a real engineer unless you’re familiar with its repertoire of community: language, laws, cases, rules of thumb; doctor/boundary

Dimensions of CoPs

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Snapshot ComparisonIn perspective with other organizational groupings.

Who belongs Purpose Cohesiveness Duration

Formal organization

Hierarchical reporting

To deliver a product or service

Organizational goals

Until next reorganization

Project Team

Management assigned

To accomplish a specific task

Project goals Until project is complete

Community of Practice

Voluntary, invited or self-selected

Build & exchange knowledge

Passion, identity, commitment

As long as interest remains

Informal network

Friends and acquaintances

Collect & pass on information

Mutual needs, friendship

As long as reason to connect exists

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Why Support CoPs?

• Formal knowledge management is not enough.

• There is greater potential for information flow when CoPs are supported.

• Innovative solutions can arise at boundaries between CoPs.

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Where are they found?• Within businesses:

• Occurs as people address recurring sets of problems. Ex. Claims processors, nurses in a ward, etc

• Across business units• Cross functional. Ex. Chemical company’s safety

managers in each business unit who gain from interacting regularly, solving problems, developing common guidelines. Develop a strategic perspective that transcends the fragmentation of organizational lines.

• Across company boundaries.• Computer engineers working for competitors form

community to deal with technological changes• Oil companies (direct competitors)

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What CoPs are Not• A community of practice is different from a business

or functional unit.• Purpose is to develop knowledge not allocate resources• Power doesn’t derive from reporting relationships but

rather from ability to contribute knowledge• Focused on own tasks so learning can remain local

• A community of practice is different from a team.• Defined by knowledge not task.• Teams dissolve when project is complete.• Temporary therefore learning can be lost

• A community of practice is different from a network.• About “something” not just relationships

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People belong to CoP and other Structures

• In their business units, workers shape the organization and deliver products and services.

• In their teams, they take care of projects and find solutions.

• In their networks, they form relationships and spread information.

• And in the And in the CoP,CoP, they develop the knowledge that they develop the knowledge that lets them do these other taskslets them do these other tasks. (best practices, lessons learned, feedback, “fill the white spaces in the org chart!”)

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Types of CoPs

• Unrecognized.

• Bootlegged.

• Legitimized.

• Strategic.

• Transformative.

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Unrecognized CoP

• Definition:• Invisible to the organization and sometimes even

to members themselves.

• Typical Challenges:• Lack of reflexivity, awareness of value and of

limitation.

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Bootlegged CoP

• Definition:• Only visible informally to a circle of people in the

know.

• Typical Challenges:• Getting resources, having an impact, keeping

hidden.

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Legitimized CoP

• Definition:• Officially sanctioned as a valuable entity.

• Typical challenge:• Scrutiny, over-management, new demands.

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Strategic CoP

• Definition:• Widely recognized as central to the organization's

success.

• Typical Challenge:• Short-term pressures, blindness of success,

smugness, elitism, exclusion.

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Transformative CoP

• Definition:• Capable of redefining its environment and the

direction of the organization.

• Challenge:• Relating to the rest of the organization,

acceptance, managing boundaries.

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Importance of CoPs to Organizations

• An effective organization is comprised of a constellation of interconnected CoPs.

• Each deals with a specific aspect of the company's competency.

• It is by these communities that knowledge is “owned” in practice.

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Movement of Information

• They are nodes for the exchange and interpretation of information.

• Members know what is relevant to communicate and how to present information in useful ways.

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Preservation of Knowledge

• They can retain knowledge in “living” ways.

• Communities of practice preserve the tacit aspects of knowledge that formal systems cannot capture.

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Employee Identity

• They provide homes for identities.

• Identities manifest themselves in the jargon people use, the clothes they wear, and the remarks they make.

• Supporting communities helps people develop

their identities.

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CoP Boundaries

• Radically new insights often arise at the boundary between communities.

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Leadership of CoPs

• CoPs often have more than one leader.

• Leaders are chosen internally.

• Leadership often doesn’t coincide with authority.

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Types of CoP Leadership

• Inspirational (thought leaders and experts)

• Day-to-day (organizers of activities)

• Classificatory (organizers of information)

• Interpersonal (social leaders)

• Boundary (connect to other communities)

• Institutional (the official hierarchy)

• Cutting-edge (initiators)

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Fostering CoPs

• Communities of practice exist whether or not the organization recognizes them.

• Many are best left alone.

• A good number will benefit from some attention.

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Legitimizing participation

• Recognize the work of sustaining the CoP.

• Acknowledge the value of the CoP.

• Give members the time to participate in activities.

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Negotiating

• People work in teams for projects but belong to communities of practice.

• The long-term benefits of CoPs are difficult to appreciate.

• Pay attention to the opinion of CoPs on long term strategic decisions.

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Leveraging Potential

• The knowledge that companies need is usually already present in some form.

• Fostering CoPs spreads knowledge to the people who need it.

• Strong CoPs create their own solutions internally or externally.

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Fine Tune the Organization

• Management interest, reward systems, work processes, corporate culture, and company policies can suppress CoPs.

• Do not micro-manage the community.

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CoP Support Teams

• A company wide team or committee can support CoPs.

• This sends the message that the organization values the work and initiative of communities of practice.

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Distributed CoPs

• Literature has shown no reason why a CoP could not exist in a distributed environment.

• Difficulties arise in the sharing of soft knowledge among distributed members.

• Building trust, confidence and identity are problematic.

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Distributed CoPs

• Most relationships are made in a face to face meeting.

• Face to face meetings are important even in distributed environments.

• This sustains future communications but needs re-charging at periodic intervals.

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Tools Enabling Dist CoPs

• Interpersonal tools such as e-mail, instant messaging, video and voice conferencing.

• Group communication tools such as newsgroups, forums

• FAQs, forums can also maintain knowledge.

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•"IS managers must find ways to facilitate the key activities of communities--problem solving and innovation. This will mean providing new application architectures that allow members to represent problems, build prototypes, and create solutions. These tools--for modeling, scenario development, and analysis--must be open, flexible, and easy to use by any member of the community."  (Harvesting Your Workers' Knowledge,  by Brook Manville & Nathaniel Foote, McKinsey & Co

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Negative Aspects of CoPs

• Communities can become liabilities if their own expertise becomes insular.

• CoPs can be difficult to define and identify, and are therefore hard to support.

• CoPs can interfere with corporate organization.

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Success stories

• Shell E&P realizes annual benefits of $200+ million through its CoP knowledge sharing

• American Management Systems (AMS) estimates that their communities save the company between $2-5 million per year and increase revenue by over $13 million

• An international company formed communities to supplement their management development program

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• Nynex cut service set-up time by 80% through the increased communication that communities bring

• Andersen Consulting Education division• over half of eligible employees participating• sample groups: motivation, culture and learning,

demographics, virtual classroom, Web technology, problem-based learning

More success stories

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Possible communities• sales (virtual meetings?)• e-business • accounting issues• workflow processes• diversity (racial, gender,

age, mental models)• retirement• community building• technology utilization• PC tech support• business strategy

• marketing strategy• data mining & analysis• core competencies

Based on needsdetermination

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Where to start?

Why focus on communities of practice?

• help with challenges• access to expertise• confidence• fun with colleagues• meaningful work

• strategic capabilities• keeping abreast • innovation• retention of talents• new strategies

• personal development• reputation• professional identity• network• marketability

• problem solving• time saving• knowledge sharing• synergies across units• reuse of resources

short-term value long-term value

mem

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What are some critical success factors?

• Domain that energizes a core group

• Skillful and reputable coordinator

• Involvement of experts

• Address details of practice

• Right rhythm and mix of activities

• Strategic relevance of domain

• Visible management sponsorship, but without micro-management

• Dance of formal and informal structures

• Adequate resources

• Consistent attitude

community organization

What are communities of practice?

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a passion for something that they know how to do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better.

What elements to develop?

the definition of the area of shared inquiry and of the key issues

the relationships among members and the sense of belonging

the body of knowledge, methods, stories, cases, tools, documents

Domain:

Community:

Practice:

Cultivating communities of practicea quick start-up guide

by Etienne Wenger

Cultivating communities of practicea quick start-up guide

by Etienne Wenger

Communities of practice are a familiar experience, but people need to understand how they fit in their work.

• Conduct workshops to educate management and potential members about the approach

• Help people appreciate how communities of practice are inherently self-defined and self-managed

• Establish a language to legitimize communities and establish their place in the organization

A strategic context lets communities find a legitimate place in the organization

Communities of practice can use some light-handedguidance and technology infrastructure.

Practitioners usually see the value of working as a community but may feel the organization is not aligned with their understanding.

The formal organization must have processes and structure to include these communities while honoring their root in personal passion and engagement.

Starting to cultivate communities of practice as early as possible creates early examples that allow people to learn by doing.

• Provide some process support, coaching, and logistic assistance

• Identify needs and define adequate infrastructure without undue emphasis on fancy technology

• Have a few pilot communities going as soon as possible

• Find communities to start with by identifying areas where there is potential and readiness

• Interview some prospective members to understand issues, start discussing a community, and identify potential leaders

• Gather a core group to prepare and initiate a launch process

• Help members organize an initial series of value-adding activities

• Encourage them to take increasing responsibility for stewarding their knowledge

• Find sponsors to encourage participation

• Value the work of communities

• Publicize successes

• Integrate communities in the way the organization works

• Identify and remove obvious barriers

• Align key structural and cultural elements

• Articulate a strategic value proposition• Identify critical business problems • Articulate need to leverage knowledge

educate

encouragesupport

get going

set strategic context

integrate

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ReferencesWagner, Etienne. “Communities of Practice, Learning as a Social System”,

Systems Thinker, 1998. http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml

Neus, Andreas. “Managing Information Quality in Virtual Communities of Practice”, International Conference on Information Quality at MIT, 2001.http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/neus.pdf

Kimble, Chris, Hildreth, Paul, Peter, Wright, Peter. “Communities of Practice: Going Virtual”, 2001.http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~kimble/research/13kimble.pdf

Faraj, Samer, Wasko, Molly McLure. “The Web of Knowledge: An Investigation of Knowledge Exchange in Networks of Practice”, Academy of Management Journal, 2001.http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/Farajwasko.pdf

Elliot, Margaret S, “Computing in a Virtual Organizational Culture: OpenSoftware Communities as Occupational Subcultures”, University of California, Irvine, 2002.http://www.ics.uci.edu/~melliott/occup-subcul.pdf