Presentation on April 7, 2017 to Columbia University’s Master of Science in Information and Knowledge Strategy (IKNS) Program in the School of Professional Studies

1. M A S T E R O F S C I E N C E I N
Information and Knowledge Strategy
Use Cases for
Communities of Practice
Stan Garfield
April 7, 2017

2. 2
COLLABORATION
1. Communicate
2. Obtain
3. Locate
4. Learn
5. Assist
6. Build
7. Offer
8. Resolve
9. Ask
10. Transfer
11. Innovate
12. Onboard
13. Network

3. 3
1. Communicate
• Inform the organization
about your activities.
plans, and progress
• Interact with colleagues
• Solicit input, feedback,
advice
• Relax, refresh, relieve
tension, laugh

4. 4
2. Obtain
• Gain assistance from
others
• Find out what others are
doing
• Retrieve information
• Receive answers to
questions

5. 5
3. Locate
• Locate subject matter
specialists
• Find documents, credentials,
references, sites, official
methods, lessons learned,
proven practices
• Find needed resources

6. 6
4. Learn
• Learn more about
a topic
• Deepen expertise
• Keep current on
the latest news

7. 7
5. Assist
• Respond to a request
• Respond to a client
request for information.
proposal, or support
• Submit a proposal
• Deliver a product, project,
service, or client
engagement
• Provide thought
leadership

8. 8
6. Build
• Develop and deliver
eminence and thought
leadership
• Write a document or
presentation
• Build and deliver a
product or service

9. 9
7. Offer
• Answer questions
• Provide points of view,
proven practices, lessons
learned, examples,
official methods
• Get staffed on a project
or client engagement
• Lead an effort
• Praise, recognize, and
thank colleagues

10. 10
8. Resolve
• Identify issues
• Solve problems
• Fix something which is
broken

11. 11
9. Ask
• Ask questions
• Request advice
• Submit a query or request

12. 12
10. Transfer
• Transfer knowledge
• Share links, insights, lessons
learned, tips, tricks, techniques
• Contribute reusable content

13. 13
11. Innovate
• Develop new and better ways
of serving clients
• Solicit ideas
• Manage the innovation
process
• Improve existing products,
services, processes, and tools
• Invent new products, services,
processes, and tools

14. 14
12. Onboard
• Onboard new hires or team
members
• Get oriented as a new hire or
team member
• Orient new clients

15. 15
13. Network
• Connect to others with similar
interests
• Work together as part of a
team
• Connect multiple organizations
to deliver services as one

16. 16
SIRCL
• Share new ideas, lessons learned, proven practices,
insights, and practical suggestions.
• Innovate through brainstorming, building on each other's
ideas, and keeping informed on emerging developments.
• Reuse solutions through asking and answering
questions, applying shared insights, and retrieving
posted material.
• Collaborate through threaded discussions,
conversations, and interactions.
• Learn from other members of the community; from
invited guest speakers about successes, failures, case
studies, and new trends; and through mentoring.

17. 17
Communities of Practice
Share a link. “Here is a link to the latest Forrester report.”
Ask a question. “Has anyone encountered this problem before,
and if so, how was it solved?”
Find a resource. “Looking for a specialist in welfare benefits to
help in a project.”
Answer a post. “Here are links to three relevant documents in the
knowledge database.”
Recognize a colleague. “Thanks to John Smith for helping solve a
difficult problem.”
Inform about your activities. “Working on a new wellness initiative.”
Suggest an idea. “I think we should invite Nobel laureates to
attend our recognition event.”
SAFARIS

18. 18
5 Questions to Ask Before
Starting a New Community
1. Is there an existing community which
covers the topic or a related one?
2. Is the topic defined using widely-
understood terminology?
3. Are people likely to want to join in
sufficient numbers to achieve critical
mass?
4. Are you willing to spend the time it takes to
lead a community?
5. Are you willing to measure the community
using monthly health indicators?

19. 19
1. Is there an existing community which
covers the topic or a related one?
• If so, offer to become a co-
leader of that community
rather than creating a new
one
• Add a tab, section, or link
to a sub-page on that
community's site (e.g., sub-
topic, local chapter, etc.)
• Share collaboration tools
such as an enterprise
social network (ESN) group

20. 20
2. Is the topic defined using widely-
understood terminology?
• Try to use industry-
standard, conventional
terms
• Avoid esoteric or
company-specific
nomenclature
• Start with as broad a
topic as is reasonable

21. 21
3. Are people likely to want to join in
sufficient numbers to achieve critical
mass (100 or more)? They should:
• Identify with it: view
themselves as specializing
in it
• Be deeply interested in it,
view it as relevant to their
work, and want to deepen
their understanding of it
• Be willing to spend time
learning and collaborating
about it

22. 22
4. Are you willing to spend the time it
takes to lead a community by performing
the following activities?
• Schedule: Line up speakers and
set up events
• Host: Initiate and run conference
calls, webinars, and face-to-face
meetings
• Answer: Ensure that questions in
the Yammer group receive replies,
that discussions are relevant, and
that behavior is appropriate
• Post: Share information which is
useful to the members by posting
to the discussion board, blog, and
newsletter
• Expand: attract new members and
content contributions

23. 23
5. Are you willing to measure the community
by the following health indicators?
• Activity: at least one post to the
community discussion board per week,
posts by more than two different people,
no questions left unanswered after 24
hours
• Content: at least one document,
newsletter, announcement, or blog entry
posted to the community site per month,
and content is reviewed to ensure that it
is appropriate, current, and accurate
• Membership: at least 100 members
after the first three months, with growth
in membership every quarter thereafter
• Events: at least one conference call,
webinar, or face-to-face meeting every
quarter, listed in the community events
calendar, held as planned, with at least
10 people participating in each event

24. LinkedIn Posts
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/stangarfield

25. For additional information
• Join the SIKM Leaders CoP http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/sikmleaders/
• Twitter @stangarfield
• Site http://sites.google.com/site/stangarfield/
• Implementing a Successful KM Program https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/implementing-
successful-km-program-100th-post-20-years-stan-garfield
Implementing
a Successful
KM Program
(author)
Successful Knowledge
Leadership:
Principles and Practice
(chapter author) The Modern
Knowledge Leader:
A Results-Oriented Approach
Gaining
Buy-in for
KM
(chapter
author)
Managing the ROI
of Knowledge
Management
(chapter author) The
Case against ROI