What are Communities of Practice?

Communities of practice are group of people who share a passion for something that they know how to do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better.

What elements to develop?
Domain: the definition of the area of shared inquiry and of the key issues
Community: the relationships among members and the sense of belonging
People: Roles and Responsibilities of the Members. i.e: user, holder, external expert, owner.

Other related elements:
Practice: the body of knowledge, methods, stories, cases, tools, documents and etc.

What are the 'Critical Success Factor for CoP?
- domain that energize a core group
- skillful and reputable coordinator
- involvement of experts
- address details of practice
- right rhythm and mix of activities

what focus on communities of practice?
1.members with short-term value
- help with challenges
- access to expertise
- confidence
- fun with collegues
- meaningful work

2.members with logn-term value
- personal development
- reputation
- professional identity
- network
- marketability

3. organization with short-term value
- problem solving
- time saving
- knowledge sharing
- synergies across units
- reuse of resources

4. organization with long-term value
- strategic capabilities
- keeping abreast
- innovation
- retention of talents
- new strategies