A quick look back at the successes and challenges of Communities of Practice in Local Government

1. Looking back at the
successes and challenges of
Communities of Practice in
Local Government
Insert date Insert website

2. KM Strategy 2006
• Procure or develop a technology that will
enable and encourage collaboration, learning
and sharing through people to people
connections
• Pilot communities of practice that will facilitate
‘p2p’ and ‘p2i’ connections currently delivered
via the IDeA-Knowledge web site
• Develop a Community of Practice toolkit
• Develop and deliver Community of Practice
Training

3. Timeline
Sept 05 Business Case Apr 06 Planning Sept 06 Pilot Dec 07 Launch Nov 08 People
Various iterations of Management team First pilot built on Drupal Official launch December Over 19,000 people
business case to get approval failed 2007 registered
management backing for
KM strategy, including Developed and run Assisted in running focus Ongoing support to 550 Communities
CoPs training for facilitators groups with potential selected communities at
members of the Pilot the IDeA through a 109 have IDeA
Intensive work with Developed technology communities coaching and mentoring involvement
stakeholders spec for online platform scheme
Introduced a technology
platform to support Completion of application
Produced spec for the KM
collaboration form to set up a
team structure
community
May 2009 Feb 2010 June 2011 October 2011 Mar 2012
Phase 3 launched Phase 4 launched Upgraded search engine 100,000 people CoP Platform closes
Over 29,000 people registered on CoP down
registered Over 49,000 people
registered
Tag and social
bookmarking Community landing page,
Themes updated profile area
Upgraded administration

4. Key ingredients
• Purpose: a CoP needs a clear purpose which is relevant and meaningful to
its members. It should specify exactly what the community is for and what
will be gained from being part of it.
• Facilitation: every CoP should begin with a team of three facilitators as a
minimum, they will work together to ensure that the purpose of the
community and the needs of the members are being met through a variety
of online activities and discussions. They welcome new members and keep
the community vibrant and focused.
• Activities: within each CoP there are a variety of activities, tools and
techniques employed to aid and enhance conversations and the transfer of
knowledge.
• Active membership: each community will have active members with a
lively interest in sharing knowledge with each other.
• Promotion: ensure high levels of management buy in and promote the
CoPs ability to help solve daily work challenges

5. Technology
Communities of Practice - IBM Websphere J2EO
•People Finder •News
•Profiles •Document Library
•Tags •Events
•Blogs •Polls
•Forums •Alerts
•Wikis •Administration
•Search

6. Knowledge Management Team
Help Desk
Training
Community facilitation Facilitators Community
Knowledge and Information Management CoP

7. Training
1. Purpose, characteristics and roles
2. Planning cycle
3. Facilitation methods
4. Communication channels
5. Technology
6. Benefits, measures and impact
7. Management plan and charter
8. Community management

8. Lesson learned

9. Lesson learned

10. Lesson learned

11. Stats - CoP
Contributions Communities New members
per year created per per year
year
2007 - 12283 2007 - 75 2007 - 5696
2008 - 42773 2008 - 153 2008 - 14381
2009 - 165748 2009 - 391 2009 - 24069
2010 - 241838 2010 - 637 2010 - 33183
2011 - 275313 2011 - 732 2011 - 69514

12. Survey Results

15. Value
• Value through saving time
• Innovations
• Sharing Good Practice / avoiding duplication
of work
• Carbon Footprint reduction
• Keep up to date with current thinking
• Developing ideas
• Induction to new roles / staff development
• Relationship building

16. Value Examples
One Day Face to Face Conference (est 5 Day online Conference (est costs)
costs)
Delegates = £100
Delegates = 100 Venue Hire = £0
Venue Hire = £2,000 Audio – Video = £250
Audio – Video for venue = £2,250 Marketing Materials = £250
Marketing Materials = £800 Advertisement = £250
Advertisement = £1,500 Delegate Rate = £0
Delegate Rate @£65 per person = £6,500 Event Team Accommodation = £0
Conference Team Accommodation = £600 Event Team Travel = £0
Conference Team Travel = £400 Speakers Travel = £0
Speakers Travel = £200 Conference Team (15 days @ £500 per day) = £7,500
Conference Team (11 days @ £500 per day) = £5,500 (Includes before, during and after)
(Includes before, during and after) Speakers time (average of 8 speakers) = £4,000
Speakers time (average 2 speakers) = £2,000 Couriers = £100
Couriers = £300 Delegate Accommodation = £0
Delegate Accommodation (est. £40 per person) = Delegate travel = £0
£4,000 Total Cost = £12,350
Delegate travel (est. £50 per person) = £5,000
Total Cost = £31,050
Cost avoidance of £18,700

17. Value Examples
Facilitators Community saves 354 days
154 document
2445+ downloads est. cost avoidance £19,804
created
Based on the current the cost of an immediate download from the British Library is £8.10
est. 1.5 days
52% of members
saved per est. cost avoidance £123,900
contributing
member
236 members x £525 (1.5 days @£350 per day) per person =£123,900 in avoidable cost