Difference between revisions of "Communities of Practice"

Difference between revisions of "Communities of Practice"

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{{Term|COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (CoPs)|A process of social learning where a group of people who share an interest, a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, collaborate to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations without necessarily being in a formal work meeting. CoP members are bounded one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and embodying a store of [[Knowledge|knowledge]], by shared practices and common beliefs. Community of practice generally cut across organizational boundaries and helps create and share knowledge. It is the best way to : <ref>[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia] (16 April 2008), [http://www.km4dev.org www.km4dev.org ](16 April 2008), [http://www.kstoolkit.org www.kstoolkit.org] (24 September 2008) </ref>  
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{{Term|COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (CoPs)|A process of social learning where a group of people who share an interest, a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, collaborate to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations without necessarily being in a formal work meeting. CoP members are bounded one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and embodying a store of [[Knowledge|knowledge]], by shared practices and common beliefs. Communities of practice generally cut across organizational boundaries and help create and share knowledge. It is the best way to : <ref>[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia] (16 April 2008), [http://www.km4dev.org www.km4dev.org ](16 April 2008), [http://www.kstoolkit.org www.kstoolkit.org] (24 September 2008) </ref>  
 
   
 
   
 
* Learn while doing.
 
* Learn while doing.
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== ''' Main Components'''==
 
== ''' Main Components'''==
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#'''Community''' : active members interested to share their knowledge and have sufficient time to devote to the community.  
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#'''Community''' : active members interested to share their knowledge and who commit time to devote to the community.  
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#'''Domain''' : it must be a a compelling topic that will be of interest to many people in the organization, will be relevant to their work and will build on the core values of the organization.  The potential members must be passionate about the subject for collaboration and the domain can itself invite involvement.
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#'''Domain''' : it must be a compelling topic; one of interest to many people and of relevance to their work.  The potential members must be passionate about the subject for collaboration.
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#'''Practice''' :  to compare his own practice (work)  to those the others is one of the foundations of the community.  
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#'''Practice''' :  the ability to compare one own work practices to those of others is one of the foundations of the CoP.  
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#'''Motivation/engagement''' : the existence of the community bases only on the motivation of its members.
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#'''Motivation/engagement''' : the existence of the community is based only on the motivation of its members.
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#'''Mission''' : it could be a means by which the management of the company demonstrates its interest and its involvement in the community.
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#'''Structure''' : it is important to find a balance between formal and informal structure. Most  communities have a concentric structure at triple level (core group, closer circle, outside circle). <ref>[http://www.deza.ch www.deza.ch] (29 Septemberl 2008)</ref>
 
#'''Structure''' : it is important to find a balance between formal and informal structure. Most  communities have a concentric structure at triple level (core group, closer circle, outside circle). <ref>[http://www.deza.ch www.deza.ch] (29 Septemberl 2008)</ref>
  

Revision as of 16:01, 1 October 2008

Term2.png COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (CoPs)
A process of social learning where a group of people who share an interest, a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, collaborate to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations without necessarily being in a formal work meeting. CoP members are bounded one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and embodying a store of knowledge, by shared practices and common beliefs. Communities of practice generally cut across organizational boundaries and help create and share knowledge. It is the best way to : [1]
  • Learn while doing.
  • Ensure effective creating and sharing of knowledge and experience.
  • Co-learn about related practices across projects.


Toolkit.png Implementing a CoP


Main Components

  1. Community : active members interested to share their knowledge and who commit time to devote to the community.
  2. Domain : it must be a compelling topic; one of interest to many people and of relevance to their work. The potential members must be passionate about the subject for collaboration.
  3. Practice : the ability to compare one own work practices to those of others is one of the foundations of the CoP.
  4. Motivation/engagement : the existence of the community is based only on the motivation of its members.
  5. Structure : it is important to find a balance between formal and informal structure. Most communities have a concentric structure at triple level (core group, closer circle, outside circle). [2]

Step by Step

  1. Creating:
    • Decide what topic you wish to address in a community in order to identify the domain.
    • To encourage people to participate, start a discussion on a domain or a smal problem and raise ideas for resolving this problem.
    • Find a committed leader or coordinator for the community. Volunteer to be the community leader, or identify someone else with the right attributes and well-respected. The community leader should know the subject, have energy for stimulating collaboration, and then regularly spend time increasing membership, lining up speakers, hosting calls and meetings, asking and answering questions, and posting information which is useful to the members.
    • Identify thought leaders to legimate the community and potential members to leverage knowledge. The community will need a critical mass of members. You usually need at least 50 members, with 100 being a better target. Try to take advantage of existing networks.
    • Decide on a initial technology platform and create one or more tools for the community to use (threaded discussion forum, collaborative team space, web site or portal, Wiki, Blog or newsletter).
  2. Starting-up:
    • Once your community is established, publicize its existence to help recruit new members (sepcial event, articles, incentive to join).
    • Watch the production of intermediate results, summaries and conclusions of the discussions.
    • Gather a core group (leader, exoerts, stakeholders) and maintain 1 closer circle (involved members) and 1 outside circle (interested members, contributors, readers).
    • Keep the community active : regular conference, periodic events, weekly meetings and collect examples of value.
  3. Developing and sustaining
    • Maintain interest and commitment by organizing work-shops and face-to-face meetings on major topics
    • Introduce new and challenging perspectives.
    • Maintain the energy by recruiting new members.
    • Rotate roles and responsibilities between members over time.
    • Manage knowledge by creating knowledge map, processing knowledge sharing , organising resources, identifying knowledge gaps.
  4. Closing:
    • Ending the CoP when the domain is less relevant or the purpose ended.
    • Celebrate its life and achievements by organizing a special event.
    • Create a new CoP on a different topic. [3]

Job Aid


References

  1. ↑ Wikipedia (16 April 2008), www.km4dev.org (16 April 2008), www.kstoolkit.org (24 September 2008)
  2. ↑ www.deza.ch (29 Septemberl 2008)
  3. ↑ www.kstoolkit.org (24 September 2008), www.kunnskapsnettverk.no (25September 2008), www.communities.hp.com (29 September 2008), Ramalingam, B., Tools for Knowledge and Learning, odi, 2006
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