Organizations are increasingly becoming more diverse and distributed, while at the same time pursuing mechanisms to increase collaboration between groups and consistency of knowledge and practice. Communities are one tool organizations use to keep people involved and increase capabilities. A Community of Practice (COP) is one type of community (we will explore the COPs first cousin, the Community of Interest (CoI) next). Organizationally, CoPs have three primary goals. They are:
- Synchronization of behavior,
- Expanding knowledge, and
- Increased capacity (or performance).
In order to synchronize behavior, CoPs act as a clearinghouse for how the sponsor of the group wants people to act. This might sound nefarious, however consistent practice is important to many business models. For example, a Scrum CoP in an organization might be used to exert peer pressure to get people to follow Scrum as the Scrum Guide defines it rather than allowing multiple different interpretations to take root in an organization. I often see CoPs in consulting practices where consistency across a practice is crucial for sales and delivery.
CoPs act as a platform to expose the group to new ideas, expanding the envelope. In a classic CoP what the group is exposed to is carefully curated to ensure behavioral boundaries are observed. Experimentation is controlled and practice evolves rather than radically changing.
The third goal, increasing capacity, is most often seen in CoPs that are part of a consulting practice or support an internal resource pool. For example, I recently participated in a Python CoP at a multinational organization. The CoP’s goal is to increase the ability of its participants to deliver value to the organization. The CoP’s events focused on topics that would make the individuals more productive (I spoke on test-driven development).
There are often several secondary goals, for example, building a community, identifying new people to convert, and networking with people that can provide support. All of these goals are great, but are often transitory and sometimes somewhat disingenuous. For example, I worked for a firm that has started a CoP for Scrum Masters. One of the stated goals was to create a network of Scrum Masters within the organization. Wait for it…however, only Scrum Masters from one group were invited. These folks already sat together, ate lunch together, and worked together. There was little that needed to be done to generate a community. The real goal was to ensure synchronization, but the management team was frightened to publish that goal. While most CoPs are not nefarious or pursuing disingenuous goals, goals like networking often wax and wane depending on the influx of new participants or significant changes in work patterns.
CoPs are a very valuable tool for keeping people using a common skill set (e.g. Scrum, Python, SAFe) in a distributed environment. The CoP provides a way for people to interact while guiding behavior.
Next: Communities of Interest
