Over the last few weeks, I have been reading a lot, discussing the subject and watching practitioners of Communities of practice. But what was interesting was a series of discussions that I had with a colleague of mine. While we debated ( she wouldn’t necessarily agree that it was a debate…it was a one way down load), we realized that creating a CoP is going to be really tough.
So as the conversation grew, we realized that inorder to make a successful CoP it needs to mirror existing communities. Here are a few ideas that came out
1. A singular purpose need to be established
2. Clear Roles and Responsibilities’ need to be defined
3. A sense of belonging needs to be created
4. Each role may have conflicting ways of doing things but the goal should remain the same
5. The community must have a strong leaders
6. The “WIIFM” needs to defined
7. Demonstrate use of knowledge and its benefits
So as the conversation grew, we realized that inorder to make a successful CoP it needs to mirror existing communities. Here are a few ideas that came out
1. A singular purpose need to be established
2. Clear Roles and Responsibilities’ need to be defined
3. A sense of belonging needs to be created
4. Each role may have conflicting ways of doing things but the goal should remain the same
5. The community must have a strong leaders
6. The “WIIFM” needs to defined
7. Demonstrate use of knowledge and its benefits
What she has effectively done is try and copy existing community practices into one that can be replicated in a corporate environment. That’s not going to be easy. Some of the key questions therefore for my colleague will be
1. How do I get people for all of these roles?
2. How are we going to create roles and get people to agree?
3. How do we get people to talk?
4. How do document the knowledge?
5. Can we have a formal engagement model?
6. How can we make sure that there are clashes of interest?
7. How can we get technology to help?
8. Whats the role that my colleague as the facilitator needs to play?
As we get our grey cells to work over time, I realize, that the biggest issue here is to get people to believe in the power of collective wisdom. Will keep you all posted. Pl do help me create a CoP
1. How do I get people for all of these roles?
2. How are we going to create roles and get people to agree?
3. How do we get people to talk?
4. How do document the knowledge?
5. Can we have a formal engagement model?
6. How can we make sure that there are clashes of interest?
7. How can we get technology to help?
8. Whats the role that my colleague as the facilitator needs to play?
As we get our grey cells to work over time, I realize, that the biggest issue here is to get people to believe in the power of collective wisdom. Will keep you all posted. Pl do help me create a CoP
2 comments:
We can replicate institutions known for implementing CoPs...eg : ASTD..which shares knowledge and there are people contributing to different chapters..What makes this forum interesting? Along with information sharing, people have an oppurtunity to network with professionals from similar industry
(this differently doesnt guarantee you a job, but provides an oppurtunity for people to explore the business world)..We should have a powerful vision and Goals which are S.M.A.R.T.
Ultimately for consistent performance of any CoP is to answer this question "Whats in it for ME",which should go beyond reward and recognition..
I understand that Community of Practice is associated with knowledge management and it is a very interesting concept as it helps in sharing tacit knowledge, but is it easy to get people to collaborate? Is it possible to have a community of practise for Hardware and Software users?
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