Knowledge Sharing & Communities of Practice (CoP)

Once knowledge has been captured and codified, knowledge needs to be shared and disseminated throughout the organization.

•The IDC study estimates that an organization with 1000 knowledge workers loses a minimum of $6 million/year in time spent just searching for information.

•The cost of reworking information because it has not been found costs that organization a further $12 million a year. 

•Technology offers a new medium through which employees who share similar professional interests, problems, and responsibilities can share knowledge.

•This is typically through e-mail groups, discussion groups, and other interactions in some sort of virtual shared workspace that is typically hosted  by organization’s intranet and they are often referred to as CoPs. 

•A community of practice refers to “a group of people having common  identity, professional interests and that undertake to share, participate and establish a fellowship” (American Heritage Dictionary, 1996).

•It can also be defined as a group of people, along with their shared resources and dynamic relationships, who assemble to make use of shared knowledge, in order to enhance learning and create a shared value for the group.

•The term community suggests that these groups are not constrained by typical geographic , business unit, or functional boundaries, but rather by common tasks, contexts and interests.

•Practice implies knowledge  in action – how individuals actually perform their jobs on day-to-day basis as opposed to more formal policies and procedures that reflect how work should be performed.

Sociograms and Social Network Analysis

•The process of SNA typically involves the use off questionnaires and/or interviews to gather information about the relationships among a defined group or network of people.

•The response gathered are then mapped using a software tools specifically designed for the purpose.

Key stages of the process will typically include:

1.Identifying the network of people to be analyzed

2.Clarifying objectives and formulating hypotheses and questions.

3.Developing the survey methodology and designing the questionnaire.

4.Surveying the individuals in the networking to identify the relationships and knowledge flows between them

5.Use a software mapping tool to visually map out the network

6.Analyzing the map and the problems and opportunities highlighted using interviews and/or workshop

7.Mapping the network again after a suitable period of time

Types of Communities

 Types of Communities

Roles and Responsibilities in CoPs

–Kim (2000) lists the key roles as

1.Visitors

2.Novices

3.Regulars

4.Leaders

5.Elders

Roles & Responsibilities in CoPs

1. Visitors may visit once or twice and may or may not join. At this point, they are merely curious and seeking to find out what the community is all about.

2. Novices are new members who typically stay on the periphery until they have learned enough about the community and the other members.

3.At this point, they become regulars, members who provide regular contributions and who interact with other members on a sustained basis.

4.Leaders are members who have the time and energy to take on more official roles such as helping with the operation of the community.

5.Elders are akin to subject matter experts: they are familiar with the professional theme and the community and have become respected sources of both subject matter knowledge and cultural knowledge. Elders maintain the community history and agree to be consulted from time to time by other community members. 

Knowledge Sharing in Virtual CoPs

•The establishment of a community identity depends heavily on knowledge-sharing.

•Different knowledge-sharing technologies or channel should always be seen as complementary and as mutually exclusive.

•One important type of knowledge sharing that occurs in community involves the evolution of best practice (an improved way of doing things) or lesson learned (learning from both successful and unsuccessful events). 

•Virtual CoPs must rely on technology-mediated knowledge sharing channels to a great extend.

•Two major characteristics are often used to characterize the channels used for sharing:

–Social Presence : face-to-face exchange where knowledge sharers can easily hear the tone of voice and see facial expressions.

–Media richness : the capacity for immediate feedback, ability to support natural language and social presence. 

Organizational Learning and Social Capital

•Human capital refers to a person’s education, skills and background necessary to be productive in an organization or profession.

•The term social capital has been coined to refer to the institutions, relationships and norms that shape the quality and quantity of an organization’s social interaction.

•Social capital is not just the sum of the individuals that comprise and organization; it is the glue that holds them together.

•Measuring the Value of Social Capital

–Organization have begun to implement a large number of communities of practice in

hopes of achieving such benefits as :

1.Building loyalty and commitment among stakeholders.

2.Promoting innovation through better sharing of best practice.

3.Improving efficiency of processes.

4.Generating greater revenue and revenue growth.

5.Decreasing employee turnover and attrition. 

There are many types of COPs and they are typically defined as a function of some common focal points such as :

–A profession such as engineering, law and medicine.

–A work-related function or process such as production, distribution, marketing, sales and customer service.

–A recurring, nagging problem situated in a process or function.

–A topic such as technology, knowledge retention, or innovation.

–An industry such as automotive, banking or health care.