Through a mix of case studies – in turn either written exclusively for this report, drawn from the archives of Knowledge Management magazine or taken from Ark Group’s extremely successful series of events dedicated to communities of practice – and interviews with leading CoP and KM experts, Communities of Practice: Lessons from Leading Collaborative Enterprises looks to uncover what communities of practice are, why they are important, and how organisations can look to derive maximum benefit from them. Rather than a step-by-step guide to community development, this report explores the opportunities presented by communities of practice in a real-world context, through the successes and failures of organisations that have first-hand experience putting theory into practice.
Defining the concept
Communities of practice are, to use a commonly referred to definition, groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis. They are a unique form of association, consisting of three core elements: a domain, which creates a common ground and a sense of identity; a community, which fosters interaction and the development of relationships; and a practice, the specific knowledge that the community develops, shares and maintains.
To these central components, it is possible to add a number of common characteristics. Thus, communities of practice:
- Utilise productive enquiry – they exist to find solutions to problems that are situated in practice;
- Self-manage and self-govern – through a structure of governance and agreed-upon conventions, developed through consensus rather than imposed by the organisation;
- Generate knowledge in support of their practice;
- Assume accountability for supporting their members;
- Collaborate via multiple channels;
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- Receive support from the organisation, to varying degrees.
The business case
Communities of practice have the capacity to contribute right across the knowledge lifecycle – from innovation, learning and knowledge creation, to sharing and re-use, to knowledge retention and protection. Free from constraints that govern other organisational units, for instance departments or teams, their ability to deliver value to the individual and to the organisation stems from the unique role they fulfil in the modern organisation, and the centrality of knowledge and intellectual capital in the modern business environment.
To the organisation, communities of practice offer a means to reduce costs through the re-use of existing knowledge and good practice, to increase quality and consistency, to build an environment conducive to the development of expertise and innovative solutions, to become more responsive to market developments, and to prepare for participation in the networked economy. Individual community members, in turn, benefit from rapid orientation and networking, assistance in the performance of daily tasks and therefore improved results, access to experts and colleagues where this might normally be prevented, and the opportunity to participate and influence developments in the organisation as a whole.
Such returns are by no means inevitable, however. Active measurement is therefore important in allowing an organisation to gauge both the health and the success of a community in achieving its goals. It is critical, though, to use measure that mean something in the context of the organisation as a whole. These measures should also relate to the original purpose of the community – without a clear idea about what a community is meant to achieve, it is impossible to tell whether it is on course to deliver against these goals.
Having established what constitutes a healthy community and how success will be defined, it is possible to gauge performance in a number of ways. A financial ROI may be calculated based on a community’s effect on productivity, for example, or in its ability to solve potentially costly business problems. Non-financial indicators include usage statistics, number of problems posed/solved and the growth or decline in membership. Surveys and questionnaires offer a way of collating qualitative evidence of community health, while anecdotal evidence can be a powerful indicator of the value a community offers, particularly when combined with quantitative data.
The foundations for success and advanced interventions
In order to give every community the best chance of success, those charged with fostering a community’s development should look to provide certain conditions and levels of care. However, any intervention or attempt to change the status of a community of practice (for instance, to become more accountable in line with organisational goals, or to create a more formal community where only a loose association existed before) should be handled carefully. Managing without managing is key, and community-programme leaders need to focus on building consensus among community participants. A community’s right to self-govern should not be compromised.
That said, the success of a community of practice will depend on certain factors:
- A strong sense of purpose, understood and agreed upon by all stakeholders;
- Senior-management support;
- A climate of trust, reciprocity and openness;
- Behavioural guidelines and a system of governance;
- A suitably diverse membership and an openness to new ideas and challenges;
- Dedicated and passionate individuals who are willing to take on key roles, especially that of community facilitator;
- A suitable technological infrastructure.
The provision of external support structures and the use of such techniques as social-network analysis and storytelling can also make a powerful contribution to a community’s development.
