Worksheet 2.1: Identify a Community of Practice
The Tech Stewardship approach focuses its efforts on communities of practice as the unit of engagement and transformation. Leadership and social influence are important factors in changing practices related to ICT choice.
Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.
-Wenger E., R. McDermott, W. Snyder (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice. Harvard Business Press. (p.4)
You are likely a member of a community of practice but may have never thought about it before.
Consider the statements in the following table. To what extent do they reflect your interactions with others in your field? Can you identify a community of practice to which you belong?
If you can’t identify an existing COP, can you imagine a community of practice that might be created to serve your professional development and/or business interests?
Download PDF worksheet (2.1 Identify a Community of Practice)
Indicator of a Community of Practice |
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? |
|
We meet regularly on topics of mutual professional interest
|
|
|
We share information about current events and new practices
|
|
|
Conversations happen easily on professional subjects
|
|
|
We share a common set of basic knowledge and skills
|
|
|
We provide advice and assistance to each other
|
|
|
We are familiar with similar tools, processes, and professional/business requirements
|
|
|
We share stories, inside jokes, and jargon
|
|
|
We share an outlook on the world
|
|
|
We want to help each other learn and improve their professional practice
|
|
|
We identify as a group
|
|
Share and discuss with your partner, then discuss as a group. List the communities of practice that you have identified with your group:
To what extent is ICT being used by or within these communities of practice? Is it effective? Is it being used to its full potential?
Choose a community of practice with your group members, give it a name, and write it down here with a brief description of its “shared concerns [and] passion about a topic”:
