Communities of practice chapter3

How can communities become"alive"?This question has led to an interesting response;the authors came up with seven principles that,they consider,will bring some "life" into a community.The seven principles are:1.design for evolution;2.open a dialogue between inside and outside perspectives;3.invite different levels of participation;4.develop both public and private community spaces;5.focus on value;6.combine familiarity and excitement;7.create a rhythm for the community.

1.Design for evolution
Design elements should be catalysts for a community's natural evolution.The gate to a healthy growth lies within the community's dynamic nature.The goal of the design is not to impose a structure but to help the community develop.

2.Open a dialogue between inside and outside perspectives
A good community design asks for an insider's point of view which can lead to the discovery of what the community is about.Only he can judge the community's potential,its knowledge and its perspectives.

3.Invite different levels of participation
There are three main levels of participation:-core group;-active;-peripheral;each bringing an important contribution to the community.The core participates actively in disscusions and debates.Outside the core we find the active part and finally we reach the peripheral,who obeserves intereactions between the core and the active members.

4.Develop both public and private community spaces
Communities have connections both in the public and in the private space.Public space such as:meetings and websites and private space like the one-on-one networking of community members.

5.Focus on value
Communities flourish because they deliver value to the staff and also to the entire company.The everyday interactions are considered the most valuable community activities.

6.Combine familiarity and exicitement
Communities are "neutral places".What they offer to their members is interaction,they permit them to think in an open way and they also allow them to separate from work pressure.

7.Create a rhythm for the communities
"The rhythm of the community is the strongest indicator of its aliveness."We can distinguish many rhythms in a community:the syncopation of familiar and exciting events,the frequency of private interactions,the flow of people etc.

Communities of practice chapter2

Communities of practice embrace many forms.They can be big or small,long or short-lived,collocated or distributed;a big part of them can even cross the boundries between companies.
Although they take various forms,they all share a basic structure,that is composed of three fundamental elements:a domain of knowledge,a community of people and a share practice.Their importance is given by the fact that all three of them represent the "basis" of the communities.For example,the domain creates common ground and a sense of common identity;the community of people helps ideas to run"freely" between the members and it also creates a bond between them;finally,the practice is the knowledge the community maintains,shares and develops.
Their primary purpose is to help the staff work better,to give them the opportunity to exchange knowledge in a loose and friendly way.They are based on collegiality.
Moreover the three elements represent various aspects that determine the people to enter into a community.Most important is that they provide a practical prototype to guide the community development.A good model is important because it assures that the staff maintain an equilibrium between the elements.
To sum up,it is benefical for communities members to understand how the three key elements "work",because they help the community "function"at a high standard.

Communities of practice chapter1

"Time is money".This saying fitted best the Chrysler Corporation back in 1988.
  The company was wasting too much time for developing a new product,thus they wasted money also.Something had to be done.By going against the grain and coming up with an innovative idea, the company  had both to win but also to lose.Communication between the employees was required,thus some members of the staff came up with a revolutionary concept:creating Tech Clubs,nowadays also known as communities of practice.The idea was an instant success and shortly after, companies from all over the world adopted this new "trend".
  But what exactly are the communities of practice?-they are groups of people from a certain company that share the same concerns,passions or set of problems.
  The communities are important because they enable people to interact,to learn and to experience different situations,thus creating an invisible network of information and ideas.
The "engine" of these communities is represented by knowledge.Knowledge empowers communities and helps them grow and develop in an harmonious way.Hence communities of practice can cover many fields and can be efficient and productive for the company.They offer both short and long term value,as well as tangible and intangible "benefits".
Communities of practice provide value through their ability to develop new strategies and through their contribution to the formulation of new techniques.They also provide different approaches towards the same goals.
Nevertheless the most important thing they offer is interaction between people with innovative ideas and precious knowledge;they deliver value to their members as well as to the organization.