Facilitating Communities of Practice in the Network Era

Facilitating Communities of Practice in the Network Era Nancy White Full 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 Individual Personal 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 Individual Consciousness, confidence level, risk tolerance, styles, emotion C 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 Individual Blogs, 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 and practices…

… 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 leaders
technology stewards
network weavers
Independent thinkers

Thanks! Nancy White [email_address] http://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 Communications Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007 Bumblebee time...

Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007 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 Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

4. Facilitation
Me: Identity/Reputation / Presence
Us: Relationship
Benefit: Process
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

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

Identity / Presence Relationship Process Benefit Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

Convening Conversations
Invite
Focus
Questions
Control   emergence
Feed

5. Intercultural Antennae …including professional culture Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

6. Tolerance for A m Bigu i tY Move forward without certainty Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007

7. Bridge & Connect
Multi-membership
Connectors
Networkers
Multiple perspectives

ODI: 6 Network Functi ons
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-Awareness Nancy 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 McCandless http://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 White Full 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 As long as interest remains Informal network Friends and acquaintances Collect & pass on information Mutual needs, friends hip As long as reason to connect exists Etienne Wenger 2003 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

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
P E R F ORMANCE Purpose S OCIAL F ORMATION PRACTICE

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

P ractical 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?

Control <--> Emergence
Translucent design
Transparent facilitation
Surface values & agreements
Keys to Community Interaction

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?

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)
Legitimate Peripheral Participation Picture courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/rollerboogie/

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?

The Power 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
Inclusive
Martin 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

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Facilitating Communities of Practice in the Network Era

by Nancy White on May 18, 2010

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Facilitating Communities of Practice in the Network Era — Presentation Transcript