NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs How do communities of practice use wikis? Wikis, such as MediaWiki used by Wikipedia and Wikispaces which is popular for Educators, are used by communities of practice to create and publish collective, co-authored documents, including web pages. They […]
Wikis for communities? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs Do we need to change our organizational culture first? Organizational culture can work against communities of practice, if it is individualistic, competitive, and focused on the short term. Changing organizational culture is very difficult. Change initiatives to address
Organizational culture? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs If knowledge is power, why would anyone want to share it? Knowledge is indeed a source of power; but hoarding knowledge is not necessarily the best way to benefit from its power, especially in the context of communities
Knowledge is power? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs What about power? Wouldn’t communities become a threat to the organizational hierarchy? Existing across an organization’s formal structures, communities of practice rarely derive much power directly from positions in formal hierarchies. But communities do not usually seek positional
Power in organizations? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs Should communities of practice attempt to assess or measure the value they create? The issue of measurement and assessment is a controversial one when it comes to communities. Some see measurements as community killers and some see them
Assessing value creation? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs What about tasks and expectations for communities of practice? Communities of practice that have high expectations about what they can achieve tend to be energized. And yet misplaced tasks and expectations can also make the community feel like
Task and expectations? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs Should organizations institutionalize communities of practice? Because of this tension between vertical and horizontal processes, integrating communities of practice in an organization is an exercise in paradox. Organizations tend to pay attention to structures or issues by institutionalizing
Institutionalizing communities of practice? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs What should an organization put in place to cultivate communities of practice systematically? If organizations are going to cultivate communities, in their midst or across their boundaries, they have a responsibility to create a context in which these
Organizational context? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs What are three key success factors for communities of practice? Communities of practice are complex social structures, whose voluntary and self-governing nature makes them quite sensitive to subtle dynamics. As a result a host of factors potentially contribute
Key success factors? Read More »
NOTICE: There is an updated version of all these FAQs on our new website: See new FAQs Should participation be voluntary or compulsory? In general, it is much better to let participation be voluntary. This way, communities of practice live on because they create value for members, not because of an edict or a box
Voluntary participation? Read More »
