Prsentation PowerPoint

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Communities of Practice Social Structures for
the Development of Knowledge France Henri, Ph.
D. LICEF Research Center Télé-université
Université du Québec à Montréal
PALETTES Kick off Meeting Lausanne, March 13-15
2006
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Presentation Outline

• Concept of Virtual Community
• 4 Types of Communities
• Importance of CoPs within Organizations
• CoP Model (Wenger, Mc Dermott Snyder, 2002)
• Design and Life Cycle of a CoP

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Virtual Community

• An Emerging Concept
• a virtual group that communicates via Internet
• a structured social network driven by common
  goals that shares a cyberspace
• a cyberspace with common areas where community
  life and interactions occur
• a cyberspace settlement involving community
  activities, artefacts, individual creations,
  common realizations, etc.

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Virtual Community

• Grasping its Activity
• Three Basic Proposals from Wengers Social
  Learning Theory (1998)
• Community activities are described in terms of
  participation, socialisation and development of
  identity
• Learning and Doing form a unique concept
  members participation triggers learning and
  understanding
• Learning is the process of participating,
  negotiating meaning and constructing ones
  identity

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Types of Virtual Communities

• Communities carry out distinct activities and
  select various modes of participation which
  result in different types of learning
• Virtual communities are defined according to
• their goal (initial intention)
• their level of unity (strength of the social
  link)
• the evolution of goals and modes of association
  over time

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Types of Virtual Communities

Group
Community of Practice
Community of Learners
Strenght of the Social Link
Intelligent Community of Interest
Community of Interest
Gathering
Intentionality and Goal
Various Types of Virtual Communities According to
their Emerging Context
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Types of Virtual Communities

• Although all virtual communities target a certain
  type of learning, they cannot be amalgamated
• The activities, the modes of participation, the
  types of production and consequently, the
  learning itself, differ from one virtual
  communities to another

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Importance of CoPs within Organizations

• CoPs are an essential ingredient for success in
  the knowledge economy
• They can help deal with rapid changes
• They can be responsible for knowledge development
  and sharing and managing the knowledge produced
  by workers
• Known to produce knowledge, they are part of the
  strategy to gain productivity
• They are a source of motivation for the workforce
  by making them responsible for developing
  practical and instantly applicable knowledge

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Importance of CoPs within Organizations

• CoPs are an essential ingredient for success in
  the knowledge economy
• They could be considered as an economical
  solution that banks on cooperation and
  collaboration
• costs reduction for support and immersion of new
  employees
• promote self-learning through participation
• Traditional training seems obsolete it is no
  longer considered a means to produce context
  adapted knowledge

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CoP Model a Social Structure for Knowledge

• Three basic components
• a domain
• a community
• a shared practice

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CoP Model a Social Structure for Knowledge

• The Domain of Knowledge
• The CoP domain differs from the field/profession
• It addresses a series of issues, challenges and
  problems encountered in the field by a community
  who decides to tackle such elements
• It is the focus and raison dêtre of the
  community it defines its identity
• The domain evolves over the life span of the
  community in response to new, emerging challenges
  and issues

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CoP Model a Social Structure for Knowledge

• The Community
• Group of people who care about their domain and
  fell concerned by issues they face
• Participation is voluntary and takes various
  forms depending on members level of interest a
  desire...
• for the domain to develop and to contribute
• to interact with peers to share what they feel is
  important about it
• to make a significant contribution knowing that
  it will be appreciated
• to simply expand their knowledge by learning
  about the practice

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CoP Model a Social Structure for Knowledge

• The Community
• Is bounded by relationships based on reciprocity,
  confidence and flexibility
• Its members can manage conflicts and turn them
  into productive events
• It could be of various size

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CoP Model a Social Structure for Knowledge
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CoP Model a Social Structure for Knowledge

• A Shared Practice
• is developed by the members of the community in
  order to increase day-to-day efficiency
• includes
• the history of the community the knowledge it
  has developed
• a set of socially selected methods and common
  approaches to carry out the activities of a
  specific domain
• common standards to direct actions,
  communication, problem-solving, performance and
  responsibilities

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CoP Model a Social Structure for Knowledge

• A shared practice includes
• a corpus of various types of empirical,
  theoretical and procedural knowledge, both
  explicit and tacit
• a framework of references, models, principles
• acquired knowledge, best practices, heuristics
• Tools, documents and other artefacts that reflect
  knowledge
• Not all practices are shared and produce a CoP
• Communities and practice are linked to a specific
  type of social structure which is driven by
  specific goals and purposes

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Types of CoPs

• Strategic vs Spontaneous Communities
• Strategic types according to purposes
• help and assistance communities
• communities of best practices
• communities dedicated to knowledge management and
  knowledge-stewarding
• communities of innovation

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CoP Design

• Design
• to spark interest not to create a rigid
  structure
• to allow the community to express its
  personality, energy and main purpose
• The Community Design Paradox
• design is used to anticipate, plan and organize
• design fails to anticipate and plan natural,
  spontaneous or self-directed components
• Rather than focus on planning every single
  detail, design must strive to stimulate active
  participation

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Life Cycle of a CoP

• Life Cycle of a CoP a Five-Step Process
• Potential
• Coalescing
• Collective maturing
• Stewardship
• Transformation or death

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Life Cycle of a CoP

• Step 1 Community Potential
• Initial design align important issues in terms
  of who? what? value? roles? output?
• Determine the scope of the domain
• Identify common needs of knowledge
• Determine the purpose of the CoP help, exemplary
  practices, intendancy, knowledge management,
  innovation
• Select coordinator and leaders
• Interview potential members

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Life Cycle of a CoP

• Step 2 Coalescing
• Establish the value of sharing knowledge about
  the domain
• Identify practice knowledge to be shared and how
  it will be done
• Develop confidence and strengthen relationships
  between members
• Create links among core members at this point,
  this is more important than developing peripheral
  participation

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Life Cycle of a CoP

• Step 3 Collective Maturing
• The community defines its role in the
  organization and its relationships with other
  domains
• It is no longer simply a network of professional
  friends
• It must manage its growth and ensure that it is
  not distracted from its purpose
• Must remain up-to-date and address real issues
  (bureaucratization hazard)

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Life Cycle of a CoP

• Step 3 Collective Maturing
• Measure and manage creation of value
• Manage the knowledge system
• collect anecdotes document, share and broadcast
  knowledge
• Develop and provide community support
• allocate time to participate actively, ex. trips
  to meet members and attend events
• develop financial model funding for projects and
  infrastructure

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Life Cycle of a CoP

• Step 4 Stewardship
• Respond to the challenge of survival
• Overcome a lack of energy
• Avoid closing and stagnation in a well
  established field
• Monitor resourcing
• Recruit new members, a new core
• Develop new leadership

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Life Cycle of a CoP

• Step 5 Transformation or Death
• Risks
• loss of energy
• community becomes a social club
• members migrate to other communities
• institutionalization of the community
• Redefine, update, transform, keep up
• or die!

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Summary

• Emerging Conditions
• A core
• Leading, coordinating
• Consult members to determine CoP purpose
• Legitimate, relevant, creation of value
• awareness of CoP input and output
• A community design that fits its size
• Programmed activities and events
• Provide support time and means