Facilitating Communities of Practice in the Network Era

Facilitating Communities

of Practicein the

Network EraNancy WhiteFull Circle Associates

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/33556189/in/set-72157594373420115/

Note to Slide Viewers:This set of slides contains both the slides we used at our May

17th, 2010 workshop, along with some other slides you may find useful. But we sure didn't talk

about them! Nancy

Let’s build some “mud maps” (from Shawn Callahan – Anecdote.com))

A Community of Practice Perspective

#1 People Forms(me, we, network)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/2918198742/in/set-72157603453505459/

Go Solo?

Pairs, triads and very small groups –

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/2167756791/

Fly with the flock?

Research teams...http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/2167756791/

South Africa's community nest spider

http://www.south-african-game-reserves.com/arachnidpics/comnestspid.htm

Roam the network?

Networked Individualism Barry Wellman

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualPersonal identity,

interest & trajectory

Bounded membership;

group identity, shared interest, human centered

Boundaryless; fuzzy, intersecting interests,

object centered sociality (Engeström)

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualConsciousness, confidence level, risk tolerance, styles, emotionC

Distinct power/trust dynamics, shared forward movement or strong blocking, stasis, attention to maintenance, language

Flows around blocks, less cohesion, distributed power/trust, change

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualBlogs, email, research portfolios, RSS readers, the Brain…

Forums, wikis, group blogs, content mgmt systems, LMS, platforms…

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia,etc…

purpose exercise

• PURPOSE!What is the purpose of your community/group?

• Community Checklist

http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Online+Community+Planning+Checklist

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsevilla/189528500/in/set-1368427/

#2 Emerging

roles an

d

practic

es…

• …being a leader means providing a space for other people to find the truth about themselves. The leader is the person who creates the space, or the opportunity, where some truth can shine forth and where the people who inhabit the space can find themselves at the deepest level.

Fred Kofman

Rule of Thumb: Make way for teenaged elephants!

enable people to…

• discover & appropriate useful technology

• be in and use communities & networks (people)

• express their identity • find and create content• usefully participate

facilitators community leaderstechnology stewards network weaversIndependent thinkers

Thanks!

Nancy [email protected]://www.fullcirc.com

http://bit.ly/csp5uZ

Online Facilitation(STUFF we DID NOT USE but which you might find useful...)

Facilitating Online Interaction:

What’s It All About, Anyway?

Nancy White, Full Circle Associates cc 2007

2.

Online CommunicationsNancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

Bumblebee time...


tortise time...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/179390341/

"To receive everything, one must open one's hands and give”Taisen Deshimaru

3.Learning Together


4. Facilitation

• Me: Identity/Reputation /Presence

• Us: Relationship• Benefit: Process


From: http://oubs.open.ac.uk/e-moderating/fivestep.htm Gilly Salmon

Identity/Presence

RelationshipProcess

Benefit


Convening Conversations

• Invite• Focus• Questions• Control

emergence• Feed


5.

Intercultural Antennae

…including professional culture


6.

Tolerance for AmBiguitY

Move forward without certainty


7. Bridge & Connect

• Multi-membership

• Connectors• Networkers• Multiple

perspectives


ODI: 6 Network Functions

• Filters• Amplifyers• Convenors• Facilitators• Investors• Community

builders

http://www.odi.org.uk/Rapid/Projects/PPA0103/Functions.html

8. Technical Skills

• Know enough• Be curious• Experiment • Have friends


Finally…1. Self-AwarenessNancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

A Systems View of Community Facilitation

(STUFF WE DID NOT USE)

1. Work with the whole

system

Source: Keith McCandlesshttp://socialinvention.net

Who needs to be “in the room” to make this happen?

Catalysts and connectors

From David Wilcox

2. Identify and build on

assets.

http://www.plexusinstitute.org/complexity/index.cfm?id=3

3. Engage the

system in the

learning

We learn from each other.We learn when we “do.”

Participation Practices• Open Space

(http://www.openspaceworld.org)

• World Café (http://www.theworldcafe.org)

• Positive Deviance• Storytelling• …and many,

many more

Keep it simple

Keep technology simple, relevant, and local

Build on what is there and being used

Involve users in the design

Strengthen capacity

Introduce greater monitoring & evaluation, especially

participatory approaches.

Include communication strategies.

Research and share learning about what works, and what fails.

http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.84.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsevilla/189528500/in/set-1368427/

4. Find where we can do the most as

leaders.

Do we….

–let it happen?–help it happen?–make it happen?

What are some “mud maps” we can think about today? What conditions might we create for these learning patterns and relationships?

Background Stuff on Communities of Practice

WHICH WE DID NOT USE

A Communities of Practice Lens: What can it show us?

Nancy WhiteFull Circle Associates

A Community of Practice Perspective

Distributed CoPs:Benefits?Bullish?

• Potential for diversity

• Border/boundary spanning

• Multi-modal• Accumulate Artifacts• Complex

Challenges

• Diffuse attention

• Diverse intention

• Fuzzier identity • Invisible

boundaries• Lurking

What is a CoP? Why care?

• “CoPs develop around things that matter to people…. The difference between a CoP and a team is that the shared learning and interest of its members are what keeps it together. It is defined by knowledge rather than task. It exists because participation has value to members.

• “In their teams, they take care of projects. In their networks, they form relationships. In their CoPs they develop the knowledge that lets them do these other tasks

Etienne Wenger, 1998

Some Comparisons

Who belongs Purpose Cohesiveness Duration

Formal Org.

Hierarchical reporting

To deliver a product or service

Organizational goals

Until next reorganization

Project Team

Management assigned

To accomplish a specific task

Project goals Until project is complete

Community of Practice

Voluntary, invited or self-selected

Build & exchange knowledge

Passion, identity, commitment

As long as interest remains

Informal network

Friends and acquaintances

Collect & pass on information

Mutual needs, friendship

As long as reason to connect exists

Etienne Wenger 2003

CoPs and Social Networks

• Nurturing/preserving/ the social capital created by an educational or work experience

• Embedding the results of training in new work practice

PPEERRFFOORRMMAANNCCEE

Purpose SOCIAL FORMATIONPRACTICE

Is the distinction between a CoP, team or other form relevant to your situation?

• A = Yes• B = No• C = Lets talk

about this more!

A Community of Practice Perspective: Domain

Domain:Shared Interest; Purpose

• What are we about?• What is our identity?• Significance?

– Organization– individual

• Scope?• Learning and doing

What is Purpose?• “A purpose is a social

invention. It is constructed out of the intentions of the people in interaction with their environment.

• Purpose is the meaning of the group's existence.

• Purpose is the intended impact of the groups actions (or non-action) on the world.”

Jon C. Jenkins Imaginal Training, Groningen, The Netherlands

Practical Purpose Points

• Is it clear?• Is it sharable?• Is it inviting?Organization

individual

• Is it reasonable?• Is it negotiable?

Does your community have a clear purpose?

• A = Absolutely• B = Maybe not• C = Nope!

A Community of Practice Perspective: Community

What is a community?“A set of people (or agents in

a more abstract sense) with some shared element…a group of people or things that live in the same area. The substance of shared element varies widely, from a situation to interest to lives and values. The term is widely used to evoke sense of collectivity.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

…in a CoP sense?

• Who is involved?• What roles?• What relationships? • How do they interact

to solve problems & answer questions?

• How is engagement and trust fostered?

Keys to Community Interaction

• Control <--> Emergence• Translucent design• Transparent facilitation• Surface values &

agreements

Social Translucence• “Vital tension

between privacy and visibility.” Erickson

• The “door with the glass window”

• Visibility• Awareness • Accountability

Translucent Systems

• Balance of public and private spaces

• Balance of push/pull of information

• Clarity on decision making authority & processes

• Shared goals, but often individual work

Norms, Agreements & Accountability

• What is the minimum?• How explicit?• How to make visible?• How to keep them

“alive?”• What shared values

underpin?

Legitimate Peripheral Participation

Picture courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/rollerboogie/

Lave&Wenger, 1991“In the workplace, learners can, when they

need, steal their knowledge from the social periphery made up of other, more experienced workers and ongoing, socially shared practice.” (Brown&Duguid, 1992)

Leadership online?

• Servant leaders• Lead by action & example• More explicit than offline• Perhaps more process-

focuses• Hold the space• Shared• Tolerant of ambiguity

A Community of Practice Perspective: Practice

Practice

• Domain-related practice • What knowledge matters?• What activities Needed? • What tools?

• Meta-practice of being a CoP

• Meta-practice of a distributed CoP DOMAIN

Practice

“Being in a CoP” Practice

Distributed

The “place between the spaces”• What practices enhance

community formation &thriving?

• How does practice show up online and offline?

• What is the tolerance for risk & experimentation?

ThePower of Conversation

• Yearn for “pub” or coffee shop• Social conversation (ad hoc, unstructured, no explicit

focus) • Scientific discussion (topically organized, structured

around data & hypothesis)• Blend of both• Time issues

Collaboration

• Whole greater than parts

• Derived from purpose and outcomes

• Principles determine behaviors

• Based on honest assessments

• Ownership and commitment

• InclusiveMartin Leith

http://www.martinleith.com/lgi/chapter.html

Inquiry• Define the

problem• Develop and

evaluation solution alternatives

• Come to some resolution

• Develop a plan of action

• Reflect on the process

Facilitating Communities of Practice in the Network Era

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