Communities of practice within and across organisations: A guidebook

This guidebook provides comprehensive guidance on cultivating and sustaining communities of practice (COP) within and across organisations.

It covers foundational concepts, practical frameworks, and real-world examples to help you understand and implement communities of practice. The guidebook emphasises the importance of social learning, collaboration, and the strategic value that communities of practice bring to organisations. It is intended for a wide range of audiences, including community leaders, organisational sponsors, social learning teams, practitioners, facilitators, researchers, and organisational development professionals.

Key sections

1. Introduction
   Describes COPs, distinguishes them from other familiar structures, explains why organisations should be interested and provides stories of two initiatives to illustrate the key points.
2. The organisational perspective
   This section discusses whether COPS are right for a given organisation, relevant roles and responsibilities, and the importance of capacity building. It highlights success and risk factors and provides indicators of success.
3. Cultivating communities of practice
   This chapter provides principles and frameworks for nurturing COPs, including details around forming a COP, lifecycle, phases of development and levels of maturity.
4. Facilitating meetings and activities
   Offers guidelines for designing and facilitating effective social learning activities and meetings within communities of practice.
5. Technology
   This chapter discusses the use of technology to support communities of practice, including tools for asynchronous and synchronous interactions.
6. Evaluation
   Outlines principles and methods for evaluating the value created by communities of practice, including indicators and stories of value creation.
7. Epilogue
   The epilogue reflects on the significance of communities of practice and the ongoing journey of social learning, including achievements and challenges ahead.