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Slide 1: Communities of Practice: turning conversations into collaboration January 2009 Steve Dale Director Semantix (UK) Ltd Collabor8now Ltd www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 2: What I will cover      What is a ‘Community of Practice’ (CoP)? Five steps to a successful CoP CoP Facilitation – the magic ingredient Case Study - IDeA CoP Project Case Study from the private sector www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 3: What is a Community of Practice? What is a ? www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 4: Communities of Practice communities of practice – an environment connecting people and encouraging the sharing of ideas and experiences www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 5: A community www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 6: A domain of interest Gosport Allotment Holders & Gardeners Association www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 7: A place to meet www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 8: Someone to facilitate www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 9: A community of practice www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 10: A Community of Practice is a network of individuals with common problems or interests who get together to explore ways of working, identify common solutions, and share good practice and ideas.      Communities of Practice puts you in touch with like-minded colleagues and peers allows you to share your experiences and learn from others allows you to collaborate and achieve common outcomes accelerates your learning validates and builds on existing knowledge and good practice provides the opportunity to innovate and create new ideas  www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 11: Why have a Community of Practice? CoPs are not about bringing knowledge into the organisation but about helping to grow the knowledge that we need internally within our organisations. www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 12: Developing Successful Communities of Practice Step 1: Establish or identify What is a ? a purpose www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 13: www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 14: Degrees of Transparency and Trust Join our list Join our forum Join our community Increasing collaboration and transparency of process www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 15: Is the answer already out there? www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 16: Dynamics of Different Network Types Community of Practice Purpose Learning Sharing Creating Knowledge Knowledge domain Project Teams Informal networks Accomplish specific task Communication flows Boundary Assigned project charter Extent of relationships Connections Common application Commitment to goal Interpersonal of a skill acquaintances Semi - permanent Constant for a fixed period Fixed ends when project deliverables have been accomplished Links made based on needs of the individual Long – term, no preengineered end www.semantix.co.uk Membership Time scale www.collabor8now.com As long as it adds value to the business and its members
Slide 17: Step 2: Identify your Community What is a ? www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 18: Know your audience www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 19: This is our audience www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 20: Members of an active community transactional lurkers peripheral experts occasional active beginners leaders core group outsiders facilitator www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 21: Community Type     Helping Communities provide a forum for community members to help each other with everyday work needs. Best Practice Communities develop and disseminate best practices, guidelines, and procedures for their members use. Knowledge Stewarding Communities organise, manage, and steward a body of knowledge from which community members can draw. Innovation Communities create breakthrough ideas, new knowledge, and new practices. www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 22: Understanding your Community Helping Communities Best Practice Communities Lower cost through standardisation Consistency of project Improves outcomes  Knowledge Stewarding Communities Professional development  Innovation Communities Tracks shifting marketing trends Regulation and legislation  Drivers Lower cost through reuse Social responsibility  Activities Connecting members Knowledge who’s who  Collecting, Vetting Publishing  Enlisting leading experts Manage content  Decipher trends Share insights Development of Policy  Structure and roles Reward for participation Knowledge www.collabor8now.com Problem solving Sub committees  Index and store Best practice Publishing   Task force Domain experts Sub-committees  Sense of belonging Assistance to daily work  Desire for improvement  Passion for the topic Professional development  Job responsibility to detect emerging trends   Tacit - high socialisation  Low tacit Explicit to explore  Tacit to explicit Tacit to tacit  www.semantix.co.uk Explicit to tacit.
Slide 23: Step 3: Understand the Culture and Behaviours www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 24: Addressing the culture www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 25: Why does a person engage with a Community of Practice?   Attractive purpose grabs and retains attention Perceived benefits:   Socialisation Co-learning, knowledge sharing and co-production Volition Joining in – and leaving!  Each person chooses to be a member   www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 26: Levels of engagement Become an expert Become a mentor Level of engagement Write a blog Ask a question (with attribution) Comment (with attribution) t res e Int Register g nin Comment Wa d (Anonymously) an g xin Browse, search, learn Wa (Anonymously) Type of engagement www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 27: Patterns of contribution Ref: Jacob Nielson http://www.useit.com/alertbox/participation_inequality.html Number of contributions 1% active contributors 9% occasional contributors The 1-9-90 rule 90% readers (aka ‘lurkers’) Number of participants www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 28: The “1% Rule”     For every 100 people online only 1 person will create content and 10 will “interact” with it. The other 89 will just view it. Each day at YouTube there are 100 million downloads and 65,000 uploads 50% of all Wikipedia articleis: look after your The important message edits are done by 0.7% of users, and more than 70% of all articles have been content creators! written by just 1.8% of all users In Yahoo Groups, 1% of the user population might start a group; 10% of the user population might participate actively. 100% of the user population benefits from the activities of the above groups Source: The Guardian www.semantix.co.uk www.collabor8now.com
Slide 29: It’s more about the people than the technology www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 30: Community Archetypes Duelsists In a perpetual personal duel. Generally don’t menace anyone except each other. http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/duelists.htm www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 31: Community Archetypes Ego For Ego, the discussion forum is all about him, and he regards discussions that stray from that topic as trivial dalliances. Ego is one the fiercest of all the Warriors and will fight to the death when attacked http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/ego.htm www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 32: Community Archetypes Fillibuster Attempts to influence the forum simply by holding the floor. His monotonous hectoring and prodigious output of verbiage rapidly clears the field of other users http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/filibuster.htm www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 33: Community Archetypes Big Dog and MeToo Big Dog is a bully who doesn't hesitate to use his superior strength to intimidate other combatants. Me-Too will join the attack. Me-Too is far too weak and insecure to engage in single combat. http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/bigdogmetoo.htm www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 34: Community Roles and Responsibilities On a more serious note…         www.collabor8now.com Champion/Sponsor is able to envision the services of a CoP over time, and should have a sense of how the CoP can interact across the organisation Facilitator/Coordinator consulting, connecting, facilitating, helping, guiding. Leader serves an integral role in the community's success by energising the sharing process and providing continuous nourishment for the community Librarian organises information/data (may be part of Facilitator/ Coordinator role). Technical Steward understands business needs and ensure the appropriate tools are available to meet these needs. Core Group is a working group that initially performs start-up activities and continues to provide ongoing organisational support. Experts are the subject matter specialist Members/Participants without these there is no community; the essence of a community is its members. www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 35: Step 4: Develop the ‘Practice’ www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 36: Attributes of a successful CoP Social Networking Critical Success Seekers factors I need someone Awareness Competence Benevolence Contributors I am someone How do I know who is out How can I become more there? known? Is this person competent? How do I advertise my skills? Will this person help me? How do I develop my reputation as a trusted member? Why will I cooperate with this person? Do I want to be approached? Collaboration Culture Tools Motivation Do I want to work with this person? How do I approach this person? Access Skills Mechanism Does the CoP have the tools to collaborate effectively? Do we have a method to collaborate? www.semantix.co.uk www.collabor8now.com Based on a slide by IBM
Slide 37: Your community’s life-cycle Level of energy and visibility Grow Sustain/Rene w Start-up Plan Discover/ imagine Incubate/ deliver value Focus/ expand Ownership/ openness Close Let go/ remember Time From: Cultivating Communities of Practice by Wenger, McDermot and Snyder www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 38: Building an environment to support collaborative working Find and connect with experts Find and connect with your peers Threaded discussion forums, wikis, blogs, document repository News feeds Event calendar News and Newsletters www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 39: What makes a successful community? www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 40: Facilitation – the magic ingredient Facilitating or Coordinating a community www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 41: Facilitators’ (Coordinators, Moderators) responsibilities Facilitation and Coordination of a CoP includes:   monitoring activity encouraging participation (facilitation techniques) producing an action plan reporting CoP activity – metrics, evaluations monitoring success criteria and impact managing CoP events www.semantix.co.uk     www.collabor8now.com
Slide 42: What can you accomplish in one week? Start a discussion Upload a Upload aa Upload aa Upload a Upload Upload document document document document document document Read a forum Read aaforum Read aaforum Read aforum Read forum Read forum post post post post post post post Add an event Add an event Add an event Add an event Add Add an event Comment on Comment on Comment on Comment on Comment on a blog aablog aablog blog blog Write a blog Write a blog Respond to a forum posting Read a wiki Read a wiki Read aawiki Read wiki Read a blog Read a blog Read a blog Read a Read a Read a document document document Contribute to Contribute to a wiki a wiki Be a community member Facilitate a community www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 43: ACTIVITY: WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD CO-ORDINATOR? www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 44: A Good Facilitator/Coordinator? www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 45: A Facilitator/Coordinator cultivates the community www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 46: Step 5: Monitor and Measure Everything! www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 47: Metrics www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 48: IDeA CoP Membership and communities        Over 26,000 registered members Over 600 communities Average membership of a community is 50 Highest membership of a community is over 1400 Over 2700 members are contributing. Average of over 16,000 visits per month. Average of over 1000 contributions per month. www.semantix.co.uk www.collabor8now.com
Slide 49: Metrics – CoP Activity Total registered CoP members 20000 18000 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Total comments Responses per thread Participants Threads with Percentage of CoP members responses who are contributors Total Topics 0 1000 Wikis 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 Forums 17.00% 16.00% Blogs 15.00% Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul- Aug- Sep- community Dec- Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- JunOct- Nov07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 08 08 08 08 08 08 Total posts 14.00% Total edits Total blogs Articles per Jul- Aug- Sep- Oct08 08 08 08 13.00% 0 12.00% 500 1000 1500 2000 Total articles 2500 3000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 11.00% Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 50: Metrics   Don’t rely on metrics to claim your community is successful. Use metrics to understand your community better. www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 51: What makes a successful CoP?        clear purpose – what will it be used to do? creating a safe and trusted environment committed core group of active participants being motivated knowing the needs of participants having a clear action plan with activities to meet needs blending face-to-face and online activities This can all be achieved by good, active facilitation www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 52: Case Study: IDeA CoP Platform www.communities.idea.gov.uk www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 53: About Local Government    Local government in England and Wales employs a workforce of 2.1 million people across 410 local authorities. Each authority is working to deliver the same 700 services to their residents. Has an annual operating budget of over £106 billion for delivering services. www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 54: About the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA)    Receives funding from the Revenue Support Grant Sister organisation of (owned by the Local Government Association) Works in partnership with councils and regional organisations to provide    Leadership (helping councillors become better leaders) Enables and supports councils in sharing good practice Incubator for new ideas for improving service and value across the local government sector. www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 55: Over 700 local government services www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 56: Project Timeline Sept 05 Business Case Apr 06 Planning Sept 06 Pilot Dec 07 Launch Nov 08 People Various iterations business case to get management backing for KM strategy, including CoPs Intensive work with stakeholders Produced spec for the KM team structure www.collabor8now.com Management team approval Developed and run training for facilitators Developed technology spec for online platform First pilot built on Drupal failed Assisted in running focus groups with potential members of the Pilot communities Introduces a technology platform to support collaboration Official launch December 2007 Ongoing support to selected communities at the IDeA through a coaching and mentoring scheme Completion of application form to set up a community Over 26,000 people registered Over 600 Communities 140 have IDeA involvement www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 57: www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 58: CoPs in local government www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 59: Lessons Learnt: What went well and not so well www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 60: Lessons Learnt     WENT WELL Evidence of greater collaboration across councils Evidence of more joinedup thinking and new ways of working Greater knowledge (and use) of social media tools Continued and growing enthusiasm for collaboration NOT GONE WELL •‘Tribal’ working practices. •Poor/little use of tagging. •Most self-organising networks do not attend Facilitator training. •Getting middlemanagement involved. •Traditional hierarchies can inhibit development of CoPs www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 61: Summary – Conversations to Collaboration      Step 1: Establish/identify a purpose Step 2: Identify a Community Step 3: Understand the culture and behaviours Step 4: Develop/support the ‘Practice’ Step 5: Monitor and measure everything! www.semantix.co.uk www.collabor8now.com
Slide 62: The future      www.collabor8now.com Platform expanding to include central government and third sector Breaking down silos through the use of a shared community space Better metrics available for the communities Blended off-line/on-line training for facilitators Support for mobile working www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 63: A Quote I'm now convinced that sharing knowledge, information and experience through CoPs is the future of success in local government, and that social media tools such as those employed within the IDeA CoP platform are the glue that can stick cross-sector collaboration projects together Local Authority CoP facilitator www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 64: Successful CoPs – Measuring Outcomes  Mapping Services Agreement (535 members) – joint procurement strategy on target for achieving savings of over £100m over 4 years.  NI14 Avoidable Contact (631 members) – highly active online conferences  Policy and Performance (1785 members) – Producing joint policy briefings  Projects and Programme Management (356 members)– Consistent contract templates developed for all local authorities. www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 65: A CoP Story from the private sector Asia Pacific Bohai: Knowledge about defective gas turbine rotors prevented certain engine failure. Potential cost saving of over $83 million www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk
Slide 66: Recommended Reading    Cluetrain Manifesto – David Weinberger Cultivating Communities of Practice – Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermot, William Snyder.    Community, Economic Creativity and Organization – Ash Amin, Joanne Roberts Here Comes Everybody – Clay Shirky Groundswell – Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Tribes – Seth Godin www.semantix.co.uk www.collabor8now.com
Slide 67: Thank you! Stephen Dale www.semantix.co.uk www.collabor8now.com Email: steve.dale@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/stephendale www.collabor8now.com www.semantix.co.uk