From Theory To Practice - The Role Of Communities Of Practice In Knowledge Building | Managing for Knowledge: HRs Strategic Role

From Theory To Practice – The Role Of Communities Of Practice In Knowledge Building

One of the ways in which organisations are enhancing their learning capabilities is by encouraging communities of practice (COPS). These are self-forming groups who have a shared interest in developing their knowledge and expertise about a particular topic area. The topic areas are wide-ranging, encompassing anything from new technologies to developing expertise in particular business processes and even HR processes.

An important feature of these learning communities is that they cut across organisational boundaries, allowing groups of individuals from different parts of an organisation to come together to work on common areas of interest and resolve common problems. Entry to these communities is limited solely by an individual’s willingness and commitment to participate.

In many organisations, particularly technology-based or technology-related organisations, it is not a question of do you support COPS but how many are there. A review of the knowledge management literature indicates that in some organisations there are hundreds of COPS operating at any one time. So what is their value? In an article in Harvard Business Review, Wenger and Snyder summarise the value that COPs can bring to organisations as:

Driving an organisation’s knowledge management strategy forward.
Generating new lines of business.
Solving problems faster – community members know who to ask for relevant information and they also know the right questions to ask.
Transferring best practice – these forums are not just problemsolving groups. They are invaluable in spreading best practice across organisations.
Assisting in the development of professional skills – the least experienced can learn from those who have more experience.
Helping with the recruitment and retention of talent – the opportunity to become a member of a prestigious community of practice can provide a useful retention strategy.
Self-perpetuating – new knowledge leads to new questions, which leads to further opportunities for knowledge creation.

When the conditions are right some of the benefits which COPS can bring in terms of organisational learning include faster problem-solving, opportunities for sharing best practice and development of professional skills (those with less experience can learn from those with more experience). In addition, they enable a self-perpetuating learning cycle to form – new knowledge leads to new questions, which leads to further experimentation and hence opportunities for new learning and new knowledge creation.

The use of COPs, however, as a vehicle for learning and change is not new. It was a technique used by hunter-gatherer cultures, and among craftsmen, as a way of passing on knowledge to the next generation. The learning that took place in these earlier forms of communities occurred through storytelling. Ralph Stacy (1993) argues that communities are essential learning mediums in situations where there is high ambiguity and uncertainty; situations where traditional procedures, rules and regulations are not appropriate. Through the community, however, individuals can engage in double-loop learning, where individuals challenge existing ways of doing things.

Conditions within which communities thrive:

Focus on problems that map directly onto individuals’ work – in this way community members can get an immediate payback for the time they invest. So instead of struggling with problems on their own, individuals can tap into the community’s knowledge base to solve day-to-day operational problems.
Voluntary participation – while Wenger and Snyder point out the importance of ensuring that participation in communities of practice should be voluntary, some of the examples they draw on are from organisations where individuals are either invited, or have been specially selected to become a member of a particular community group. These are often groups that have particular strategic importance. Within IBM Global Services, for example, admission to community groups is ‘. . . limited to those who can be trusted.’
Getting the scope of the group’s work right – this is a key task when groups first come together. However as time passes, groups may find that the scope is too narrowly defined, or that it doesn’t match their interests. When this happens sub-groups or new communities should be formed.
Support from senior management – although self-forming, COPs need support from senior managers. This support can take many forms. First, ensuring that individuals know that what they are doing is a legitimate use of time, recognising the value of talk. Second, providing high-level direction, not about the content or format of discussions, but sufficient for individuals to ensure that what they focus on is aligned to the organisation’s knowledge management strategy. Third, providing access to funding for equipment, materials, or even to spend on bringing in experts from outside the organisation to help build the communities’ knowledge base. Fourth, making time to listen to members’ stories about what they have achieved, as well as what new areas they are exploring.
Time – this is again where management support is essential, ensuring that all of the ‘slack time’ isn’t squeezed out as a result of successive business re-engineering.
Clear ground rules regarding entry, exit and acceptable behaviours – these are the norms within which individuals in the community operate. A high degree of trust is essential. Communities rely on the underpinning values of trust, honesty and reciprocity. Community members need to be aware of the consequences of betraying the trust of others within the community.
Ease of access to information – this could be both internal and external information necessary to help inform, or direct, the work of communities.
Technologies to connect communities who are geographically dispersed – where it is not practical for communities to meet face-to-face then appropriate ICT technologies can help virtual communities operate just as effectively.
Addressing multiple WIFMs – Organisation, line manager and individuals.

Factors that can lead to communities failing include:

Lack of trust among members.
Needs of members ignored.
Too much control, i.e. they are over-engineered. Communities seem to be different in terms of size and structure, leadership, frequency of meetings, as well as the format of meetings. What seems crucial, however, is that participation should be voluntary. It is not something which management should force individuals to participate in. However, in some organisations participation in a community of practice is one indicator used to monitor an individual’s willingness to share his/her knowledge. Having monitored individuals’ involvement in COPs, this is then linked to the organisation’s reward system.
Lack of focus and/or disconnect with real business needs.
Lack of resources and/or support.
Lack of recognition from senior management for the work that communities do.

Practitioner Tips For Introducing, Facilitating And Supporting Communities Of Practice

For communities to work successfully it is important to give some consideration to the following areas:

Getting started

Assess and prepare the ground
- Identify what types, and how many communities already exist in the organisation.
- What sort of knowledge-building activities are they engaged in?
- How do the communities operate? What works well? What do they struggle with? How might you, HR, help?
Establish ‘buy in’ from senior management
- Be aware of the politics relating to the work of communities.
- Gain commitment for team members to spend time on community activities.
- Pre-empt some of the questions that senior managers (and indeed individuals) will ask, e.g. How much time should individuals allocate/be allowed to allocate to this knowledgebuilding activity? Should participation in COPs be recognised in an individual’s role description? How will the organisation know if the community is working? How will the organisation know if this way of working and learning is bringing real business benefits? How will the learning that emerges from the work of communities be disseminated? How much money should an organisation invest in learning communities? Should it be assumed that communities will run themselves and hence not require any additional resources?
Clarify roles and responsibilities
- Make sure that there is a senior level sponsor, someone who recognises how COPs can benefit the business. This needs to be a senior person with a vision of what can be achieved in communities and who can use their influence to secure the necessary resources. This person needs to have strong influencing skills, and be willing to invest time in promoting the work of communities to other senior managers. They need to be strong enough to manage the blocks and the blockers.
- There also needs to be someone in the organisation who is keeping a watching brief on how many COPs exist within the organisation and that these are all serving a useful purpose. It is all too easy for COPs to mushroom and get out of control without some overall sense of direction and focus. A balance needs to be struck between encouraging COPs, because of the benefits that his can bring in terms of breaking down organisational barriers, and as a vehicle for building the organisation’s knowledge.
- Gap Gemini Ernst and Young suggest the need for a Innovation Council, the role of the Innovation Council being to sift out ideas being proposed by COPs and provide guidance on whether or not these are consistent with the strategic goals of the business. The Innovation Council, together with the senior level sponsor, can thus help to ensure that communities work on areas that are helping to develop the business.
- Community facilitator/leader/advocate. Each community will need a facilitator who has a vision of the possibilities and outcomes for the community. They need to be passionate about the work of the community, as well as being able to put the work of the community into a broader context. The facilitator also needs to work at keeping the momentum for the community going, so has to deal with the issue of sustainability.
- Coordinator/administrator. These people can help the community be more productive by dealing with all of the administrative aspects associated with the smooth running of the community, e.g. booking meetings and meeting rooms, organising travel, arranging speakers, as well as carrying out other administrative tasks linked to the community.
- Community members. These are the people who make the community what it is. They define the common areas of learning, as well as sharing out the learning tasks. As participation is voluntary the level of involvement is understandably going to vary too. One of the messages that needs to be got across is that it is OK to lurk, rather than be an active participant. However, it needs to be common practice that whenever people use material developed by the community, or stored on the community site, this is properly acknowledged.
- Community associates. These individuals are not actual members of the community, but instead are people who have expressed an interest in the work being carried out by the community. They can be an extremely important resource none the less in that they are very often active supporters and useful ‘knowledge connectors’. It is important then that community members keep these people in the communications loop.
- Facilitators to help get the community off the ground, as well as help them keep focused. This could be a role that HR is well equipped to take on.
Establish budget and secure necessary resources Some of the costs that need budgeting for include: time for meetings, travel expenses for meetings, payment of external speakers to come and talk about topics related to the work of the community, as well as the cost of the coordinator/administrator. There may also be technological resources needed too, for example, a new intranet for communities, or at least a separate area on an existing intranet. Other technologies might include Lotus Notes, Video Conferencing facilities, as well as software to facilitate online discussion groups. A question here though is whether these resources should be centrally, or locally, resourced.