Communities of Practice

Knowledge Management is a growing discipline that treats intellectual capital as a manageable and valuable asset.

Knowledge Management (KM) - treats intellectual capital as a manageable and valuable asset (Flor, 2005) intellectual capital: intangible value a company gains from its employees' expertise, its processes, and its overall knowledge (Chen, 2021)

While Knowledge Management is commonly applied to organizations, it can also apply to large groups like a university, a scientific circle, a college, or a community of practice, also referred to as CoP. CoPs are groups of people with similar tasks and interests who understand the value of exchanging knowledge and trust. They are the social “containers” of the competencies that make up a social learning system.

Communities of Practice or CoP - groups of people with similar tasks and interests who understand the value of exchanging knowledge and trust (Wenger, 1998)

The members define competence in a given context, like what makes a skilled chef, from sharing and refining standards over time.

Competence is defined by combining three elements: Enterprise, Mutuality, and Repertoire. These three elements create a strong, evolving community where members learn from and support one another.

Defining Competence (Wenger, 1999):

Enterprise: To be competent is to grasp the enterprise well enough to contribute.

Mutuality: To be competent is to engage with the community and be trusted as a partner in these interactions.

Repertoire: To be competent is to have access to and appropriate usage of a shared repertoire of communal resources—language, routines, sensibilities, artifacts, tools, stories, styles, etc.

When designing a CoP, Events, Leadership, Connectivity, Membership, Projects, and Artifacts should be considered. These components work together to build a strong and effective CoP.

Components of a CoP (Wenger, 1999):

Events: Organize community events (meetings, problem-solving sessions, guest speakers).

Leadership: Have various leadership roles (coordinators, thought leaders, networkers, documenters, pioneers).

Connectivity: Facilitate communication across multiple media platforms.

Membership: Keep membership levels high enough for engagement but maintain community identity.

Learning projects: Take charge of a learning agenda to advance community practices.

Artifacts: Create and maintain useful artifacts (documents, tools, stories, symbols, websites).

In the context of Knowledge Management, CoPs play a vital role in several ways.

Role of a CoP in KM (Document360, 2024):

Sharing knowledge among team members

Creating new insights from diverse views

Helping members improve and learn from past mistakes