Process 5: Communities of Practice

Step 1: Define the CoPs/Knowledge Strategy. This step involves aligning the CoP structure with the KM strategy. A knowledge strategy focused on replication will favor best practices and helping CoPs, while a focus on innovation favors innovation and know ledge-stew arding CoPs.

1.      Define the role that CoPs will play in the KM program by reference to the types of the CoPs that can be formed (i.e. best practices, innovation, helping or knowledge-stewarding communities).

2.      Define the general purposes for the formation of a CoP, including jumping learning curves for new employees, pursuing solutions for common problems, preventing rein­vention of the wheel, and increasing flow of new ideas.

3.      Identify in general terms the strategic areas that CoPs can be formed around by refer­ence to practice or problem. Practice relates to a certain business process wherein mem­bership revolves around users and owners of the process, while a problem focus may bring people from various functions in common pursuit for a solution.

Step 2: Form a CoP Council at the Central or Business Unit Level. The CoP Council will act as the process owner of CoP formation where training and guidance are provided to the organi­zation or the business unit at large on how to form and manage CoPs. In addition, the Council will provide the following support services:

•   Advise on CoP formation and technology needs

•   Assist and lobby senior management to recruit executive sponsors or CoP champions as well as procure funding

•   Formulate procedures for the starting up of CoPs, including the submission of proposals and the assessment process

•   Define the evaluation criteria to determine the continuance or dissolution of existing CoPs, taking into consideration whether the CoP has achieved its purpose and should be dissolved, or whether its purpose should be redefined

•   Formulate a policy as to trade secret protection and the sort of information that the CoP should be sensitive in disseminating

•   Define the alternative methods available to CoPs to disseminate their knowledge to the respective business units and to the organization at large, including how to create tax­onomies and create and maintain content centers

•   Keep a portfolio of CoPs that provides a snapshot of the type of CoP, leader and contact person, value proposition, purpose, success criteria and performance metrics, Web site and content centers, domain and areas of knowledge, and size

Step 3: Assess the Case for Forming a Certain CoP.    This step can be carried out by the CoP

Council or by the management of various business units, where a preliminary assessment is undertaken of the value proposition of the CoP and its fit with business needs and strategies. In addition the following should be assessed:

•   Does the CoP have a clear mission and objectives?

•   Does the CoP have the people to cover the core roles of leader, facilitator, and adminis­trator? Each of these roles is instrumental for the success of the CoP where the leader's passion motivates members, the facilitator manages communication and knowledge cre­ation process, and the administrator addresses issues of codifying and disseminating knowledge generated by the CoP as well as keeping track of results.

•   Does the CoP have the supporting tools, budget, and infrastructure it would need to attain its set goals?

•   Has CoP identified performance goals and metrics to monitor performance?

Step 4: Launching the CoP.    Following the preliminary assessment done in Step 2, the new CoP

is moved to the formation step. Depending on the financial and human resources involved, the CoP may be launched in a pilot phase, after which it may be formally launched. In general, how­ever, the following should be undertaken:

1.      Draft a plan for the CoP, which should include the roles (leader, facilitator, and admin­istrator), executive sponsorship, the focal point (practice, problem), value proposition, desired outcomes, list of members, interaction mode, and support needs.

2.      Conduct a workshop between the leader and all members of the CoP where the plan is reviewed and finalized, a shared understanding is reached, and a plan of action is forged. The plan of action should outline the knowledge needs of the members, how they will be addressed and in what order.

3.      Assign to a number of members the task of developing the taxonomy that the CoP will use for content creation and management, and align with other CoPs and IT departments that are responsible for managing content in the same area(s) of knowledge covered by the CoP.