http://libraryclips.blogsome.com/2010/01/19/my-experience-facilitating-cops-so-far-presentation/

1. Harnessing the benefits of online communities of practice (CoPs) My experience in an engineering consultancy firm John Tropea – Hatch Associates Ark group Oct 2009 Perth KM for the Energy, Engineering and Resources Sector connected forums and workshops

5. All starts with visibility… … dispersed group … no central body … communities…adding value … never met or heard of Alex … solutions…others…already solved … reduce overhead

6. …and participation "I was recently faced with a Materials Handling questions and found the Materials Handling CoP a very powerful resource. When I posted my question in their CoP over 100 community members received an email informing them that someone needed help. Within minutes I had responses from community members pointing me in the right direction and using their personal networks to answer my question. This shows the power of a CoP in leveraging off internal resources." - Justin O’Neill

7. …and cascades SHARING requires TRUST, which is built via CONVERSATION Key – create conditions for conversation

20. Just-in-time vs Just-in-case Will I search a database? Will I ask people (CoPs)? PEOPLE (Community of Practice) Quick, Referrals, Re-frame to your context, Peripheral information MACHINE (database) Not quick, Assumes shared context, May not exist, May be outdated Into procedures, as common practice, or complementary wiki pages (workarounds, informal practices) Formal answer in database Answer is new information Subscribers learn as it happens Facilitator to feedback integral new information Answer exists in CoP First ask people in the Community of Practice (CoP) Person may point: to an existing answer or a useful bit in the database, or within the CoP itself where the raw contextual information lives An answer to the question may create new information If worth capturing as a new common practice, then put that information into the database (with links back to the raw CoP content eg forum post, and vice versa) If it’s new insight into existing information, forum thread is resurrected, and then update common practice New information can even be fed back into procedures Perhaps procedures need a complementary wiki to list workarounds for different contexts SENSE-MAKING MODEL

21. Just-in-time vs Just-in-case Member to share information, lessons, experience, tips Will I share it in the CoP, as it happens? Eg Blog, wiki Asked to codify what I know into a database! MACHINE (database) Conscripted (resisted), What’s in it for me, Hoarding knowledge is power, Will it be seen or used, Time intensive, Expensive exercise, Lose context/content, Need triggers for context, Outdates quickly PEOPLE (Community of Practice) On my own terms (engaged), Recognised, Intrinsic motivation, Sharing is power, Comment feedback (may generate new information), Subscribers learn as it happens, Have impact, Feel ownership and connected, As it happens agility, Adapt to uncertainty, Get to know people, Easy-to-use tools, Audience Capturing knowledge that matters (and creating new knowledge) as it happens; rather than stock piling knowledge just in case Facilitator to feedback integral new information Into procedures, as common practice, or complementary wiki pages (workarounds, informal practices) Promotes collaborative (engaged), rather than competitive workforce SENSE-MAKING MODEL

24. Components SOURCE Etienne Wenger Domain Community Practice Participation Sponsorship Support Nurture People (Members) – Relationship, Learning Body of knowledge - Technical, Role, Issue based CoPs Stories, toolkit, Good practices

25. Types of CoPs Improvement - Improve a process or strategy Helping - Troubleshoot, Support, Problem solve Innovation - Diversity, new ideas and approaches Common topics - Cross-functional common knowledge

27. CoPs vs Teams The online tools don’t define how the group operates (many teams are using CoPs) Encourage participation Trust Required participation High interdependency Participation Facilitator Manager Manage Informal roles Defined roles Members Learning/Sharing Ad-hoc Emergence Tasks Processes Outcomes Purpose Community of Practice Team/Task

28. Organisational groups SOURCE Etienne Wenger Develop knowledge Learning together Community Form relationships Connected to Networks Execute tasks Working on Team Shape organisation Report to BU

31. The value of working together SOURCE Etienne Wenger Strategic capabilities Keeping abreast Innovation Retention of talents New strategies Problem Solving Time saving Knowledge sharing Synergies across business units Reuse of business resources ORGANISATION Personal development Reputation Professional identity Network Marketability Help with challenges Access to expertise Confidence Fun with colleagues Meaningful work MEMBERS LONG-TERM VALUE SHORT-TERM VALUE

38. The low down on participation Design (intuitive / stickiness) Frequency of content Email interaction / bookmarklet Peer to peer influence Champions / Role models Viral approach Post, and send link Attract comments Re-purposing email Hand-holding Raids / Barnraising In-the-flow Feedback (Reputation/Recognition) Group building Confidence/Comfort/Safe Trust Relationships (Give and Take) Personal relevancy

39. Activities you can try are… Offline to online Member Intros Lounge forum Blog carnival Polls Guest posts Coffee Corner/Fill in the gap Member of the month Weekly roundup Personal stories People travelling Blog columns Engaging media (video) Email signature Newsletter CoP link love Events Portal

40. Seed, feed, and weed SOURCE http://bit.ly/193dxQ Garden Design Communicate Welcome Assist Support Prompt Correct Guides Promote Re-purpose Suggestions Feedback Congratulate Barnraise Monitor Listen Personal needs Subscribe Specialise

41. Subscribe, Listen, Facilitate It's of utmost importance that a Community Manager is subscribed to every blog and forum in every community. “ ...next time you should blog this, and then send people the link Reason being is you are sending a signal to the people in this email to use email rather than the CoP when sharing links...this becomes amplified since we are role-models” “ When sharing links, if you have time, it's a good idea to review the article and add your opinion. People will react to your review, especially if you have an opinion...this could lead to a comments discussion” “ This sounds more like a blog post (announcement) rather than a forum topic (question/discussion)…” “ A quick tip - spoil your subscribers by including a link to what you are talking about”

43. Global Village… sharing, serendipity A forum request was made in the Machine Design CoP for examples of designs done by Hatch to show a supplier It’s great to see what others are doing What 3D printer was used for the image in the wikipage, we want to purchase one Great timing, a supplier created that print-out for free and is visiting tomorrow How many people have clients who would want these 3D print outs to help justify a ROI in buying one It turns out that a CoP administrator came across this forum topic and emailed about an open source product rather than spending $60,000 Hey, lets use a wiki

48. Stuff to think about 90% relevant to a random member Your own place and identity (rather than buried) Visible in the directory Local vs Global Community indicators The community leader must approach us “ I am a…” test Broad communities as a fertile ground Crowdsource a community

50. What’s our orientation?

52. Living and breathing SOURCE http://bit.ly/4ypMEo

53. Time for a health check

54. Homepage

55. Information Desk

56. Facilitators Community