Communities of Practice Prof Elaine Ferneley & Prof. Andrew Basden

1. Communities of Practice Prof Elaine Ferneley&Prof. Andrew Basden

2. ”No one knows everything, everyone knows something, all knowledge resides in humanity.” Adapted from Lévy1997 networks. Prof Elaine Ferneley

3. It is increasingly through an organization’s informal networks that work gets done Informal network in pharmaceutical multinational Prof Elaine Ferneley 3

4. An increasingly connected world Just a click away… colleagues at other offices new friends family local networks local colleagues old friends old colleagues old classmates avatars virtual communities Prof Elaine Ferneley 4

5. The formal organization Top-down, command hierarchy Prof Elaine Ferneley 5

6. Where do individuals go for help with problems? Non-electronic documents Intranet Contacts in other offices Internet Non-electronic documents Internal electronic networks Firm boundary External electronic networks Co-located colleagues Other contacts ? ? Prof Elaine Ferneley 6

7. Communities of practice cross all boundaries Competitors Partners Customers Suppliers Company Prof Elaine Ferneley 7

8. External communities are growing in importance! Avatars Online communities Schoolmates Physical networks Previous work colleagues Organization Large portion of new ideas and formal collaboration relationships come from external contacts Prof Elaine Ferneley 8

9. Encourage an open innovation attitude Closed attitude Open attitude Not all the smart people work for us. We need to work with smart people inside and outside the company. The smart people in our field work for us. If you create the most and the best ideas in the industry, you will win. If you make the best use of internal and external ideas, you will win. Prof Elaine Ferneley 9

10. The wisdom of crowds (crowdsourcing) (Surowiecki 2004) Closed Expensive Complex Accurate Open Inexpensive Simple Close enough Prof Elaine Ferneley Hinton 2007

11. Crowdsourcing: Capturing the wisdom of crowds What is it? Customer participation in business and business development Why the interest? Experience, Engagement Loyalty Customer Driven Innovation Product development Content generation Decision making Funding Sales & marketing Distribution Prof Elaine Ferneley 11

12. Communities of practice –A driving force in crowdsourcing Participation Engagement Commitment Openness Conversation Connectedness Prof Elaine Ferneley 12

13. Two departments within the same firm Poorer degree of learning & knowledge sharing Higher degree of learning & knowledge sharing Department 1 Department 2 Prof Elaine Ferneley 14

14. What are communities of practice? Hinton 2007 Prof Elaine Ferneley

15. Examples of communities of practice Prof Elaine Ferneley

16. Definition of Communities of Practice • They exist informally and formally in all aspects of work and social life • Three basic elements • joint enterprise (shared identification and common goals) • mutual engagement (learn together, do things together) • shared repertoire (communal resources that have developed as part of their engagement) Prof Elaine Ferneley

17. It turns out that …. the community ends up being not the secondary resource for knowledge, but for the majority of participants …, it’s the *primary* resource. Community Prof Elaine Ferneley 19

18. CPs are not teams or personal networks Personal Network Community of Practice Team Purpose -Share information -Friendship -Solve problems -Share info. & ideas -Expand knowledge -Accomplish goal Members -Friends & acquaintances -No boundary -Mostly volunteers -Permeable boundary -Assigned -Not voluntary -Defined boundary Activity -One-on-one -Meetings -Informal communications -Organize tasks Value Creation -Serendipitously discovered -Actively discovered -Planned Glue - Friendship -Value -Commitment -Obligation -Job requirement Prof Elaine Ferneley 20

19. Communities of practice Top-down Command hierarchy Emergent organic network Communities of practice Prof Elaine Ferneley

20. Two extreme communities of practice Face-to-face Virtual Prof Elaine Ferneley 22

21. Role of communities of practice in organizations Create: Own & develop knowledge Develop & manage good practice Build organizational competence Organize: Develop & manage materials Develop tools, guidelines, templates Manage databases Disseminate: Connect people across boundaries Who knows what Home in changing organization & an uprooted society Embed: Share ideas & insights Share tacit, complex ideas & insights Help each other solve problems & find innovations Prof Elaine Ferneley 23

22. Organizations supporting communities Hewlett-Packard World Bank DaimlerChrysler Shell Oil McKinsey & Co. British Telecom Xerox British Petroleum Ericsson Siemens CapGemini IBM Schlumberger European Commission Prof Elaine Ferneley McDermott 2001 24

23. Communities of practice at Ericsson Prof Elaine Ferneley 25

24. Communities of practice cannot be “managed” You cannot force a plant to grow by pulling its leaves You can, however, create the conditions for it to grow Prof Elaine Ferneley 26

25. Communities are living things Design from the inside Involve community leaders in design Design for different & fluid levels of participation Not all must participate to the same degree Design for evolution Communities evolve in their own direction Maintain creative disequilibrium Avoid too much management support Prevent competency traps McDermott 2001 Prof Elaine Ferneley 27

26. Cultivating communities of practice Motivate Connect Define Connect Moderate Prof Elaine Ferneley

27. Define the community of practice Business relevance Choose a topic that is value-adding for the business Find common objectives across participants Personal passion Focus on real, current problems Find people who care about the topic Define focus and scope What is the purpose of the community? McDermott 2001 Prof Elaine Ferneley 29

28. Moderate the community of practice Build human relationships Ensure an active coordinator – This is crucial! Develop an active core group Ensure time to participate Combine virtual connections with face-to-face events Conferences, electronic conferences, discussion boards Work the public & private community space Prof Elaine Ferneley 30

29. Community membership and roles Experts High commitment Contribute more Reputation Contribute less Not committed Enjoy helping Peripheral Core Group Coordinator “Janni” Active Contribute less Challenge Enjoy helping Ask questions Don’t contribute Not committed Outsiders Prof Elaine Ferneley 31

30. Building critical mass is crucial It’s like going to the newest bar in town - the music is great, the drinks are cheap, the interior is cool…...but there’s no one there………..You gotta have critical mass to make it work! Teigland 2003 Prof Elaine Ferneley 32

31. Ensure communication technology fits with participants’ needs and abilities Use familiar technology Integrate sharing technology with everyday work Customize technology to fit the community Change functionality as community discovers what is valuable Prof Elaine Ferneley McDermott 2001 33

32. Public & private community space Events: Meetings, website, telecons Private Space Person to person ~ 30% in the public space Public Space Prof Elaine Ferneley 34

33. Build an understanding of this “new” organizational form Old = organic, value-driven New = to understand dynamics of community processes and to intentionally develop communities McDermott 2001 Prof Elaine Ferneley 35

34. Why do people participate in a Community? Tangible returns 26% Community interest 50% Intangible returns 24% • Useful information • Specific answer • Personal gain • Pro-social behavior • Reciprocity • Advancing the community • Enjoyment • Learning • Reputation Wasko & Faraj 2000 Prof Elaine Ferneley 36

35. But remember people have dueling loyalties Loyalty Loyalty Communities Organization Prof Elaine Ferneley

36. Align incentives with CPs Recognize and reward for collaborative behavior At individual, group, and organizational levels Show management commitment Status and recognition Satisfaction $$$ Monetary Challenge Prof Elaine Ferneley 38

37. Reward and broadcast results Reward Collect data & tell stories linking activities, knowledge assets, & value Broadcast results User various means to communicate stories Value is always for someone! Prof Elaine Ferneley 39

38. Critical failure factors for CPs Community leaders inactive or lousy networkers Scope too wide Focus on standardizing work processes Company leaders discourage participation Build it, wait (pray) for them to come Build more empty libraries McDermott 2001 Prof Elaine Ferneley 40

39. Summary • Communities of practice are key to effective knowledge management • Implications for organisational culture and structure • help to nurture, do not inhibit • Implications for the use of technology to support • flexible, people centred, communication Prof Elaine Ferneley

40. Challenges to knowledge databases Time consuming and difficult Takes times for writer to document experiences Takes time for reader to search through databases, information overload Often weak incentives to contribute golden nuggets Difficult to understand Difficult for writer to explain context, tacit ->explicit Difficult for reader to interpret experience and use in own situation Data becomes out-of-date very quickly Difficult to maintain, especially in fast moving industries Prof Elaine Ferneley

41. From tacit to articulate knowledge “We know more than we can tell.” Michael Polanyi, 1966 MANUAL How to play soccer High Low Codifiability Articulated Tacit Prof Elaine Ferneley 45

42. “We know more than we can tell.” Knowledge is experience, everything else is just information. -Albert Einstein Prof Elaine Ferneley 46

43. Innovations - www.innocentive.com Prof Elaine Ferneley 47

44. Decision making & funding – My football club (Ebbsfleet United) Prof Elaine Ferneley 48

45. Product development - www.ideastorm.com Prof Elaine Ferneley 49

46. Building the Dell community Prof Elaine Ferneley 50

47. A variety of virtual communities at BP Branding Technology Proj Mgrs Finance Automotive Travel Intranet Design Wireless *Virtual communities led by Competency Group responsible. *Functional reporting to HR Virtual community led by VP PM *Virtual communities led by Business Concept responsible *Functional reporting to VP BD *Virtual communities led by Industry Group responsible *Functional reporting to VP Sales VP PM Processes & Methodology HRCompetencies Knowledge Networking VP BD Business Concepts VP Sales Industry Knowledge Prof Elaine Ferneley 51