Building a hybrid model of support for a new community of practice in the public sector Paul Haslam, Head of Learning Technology Mike Hart, Professor of Business & Informatics King Alfred’s, Winchester, UK (wkac.ac.uk) European Conference on e-Learning, Brunel University 5th November 2002

Communities of Practice - common features evolve from informal rather than espoused practices common interests and challenges provide the basis for regular sharing and learning exhibit high levels of trust and collaboration responsible for their own destiny members gain a sense of identity from belonging, and recognise that continual learning is required to keep their knowledge and skills up to date

Underlying themes of this paper informal communities of practice may offer more fruitful ground for learning and generating new knowledge than formal corporate structures as learning communities are shaped by both tacit and explicit knowledge, nurturing their evolution within formal organisational structures is a challenge

Issues from the paper How has the community of practice emerged and how might it be sustained? How can a hybrid learning environment be developed to nurture the community beyond the academic programme? How far can external partners facilitate, given Wenger’s (1998) contention that people must work with CoPs from the inside rather than manipulate them from the outside?

Hampshire County Council Large, prosperous local authority (30,000 employees) Economy (GDP) of Hampshire is worth £16.3 billion (equivalent to N. Ireland) Hantsweb 5.1m accesses; 542,177 unique visits by 170,000 unique hosts Possibly "the most comprehensive site of its nature for a local or county government in the world” - Bill Gates, on discovering Hantsweb

The target group Up to 1000 ‘para-information professionals’ in the Hampshire region 4 information centres, plus 100 information points No recognised programme of continuing professional development Development traditionally provided by short courses and skills training

Support offered in PSIM modules ‘Communities of practice are mostly self-sufficient, but they can benefit from some resources, such as outside experts, travel, meeting facilities, and communications technology’ - Wenger, 1998 discussion presentations outside experts work-based tasks computer-mediated communication

Discussions Create space and acknowledge value Uncover tacit understanding of roles Discover shared commitments and values Offer the opportunity to talk about how they contribute to organisation as a whole

Presentations Work-related, practice-based topics Share narratives and experiences Uncover common challenges and ‘wicked problems’ Explore synergies

Outside experts Senior figures from Hampshire County Council e.g Director of IT Strategy External experts in particular fields e.g project manager for e-Delivery from another local authority Clusters of expert speakers at seminars organised by Hants CC Course tutors as catalysts

Work-based tasks Present own service, imperatives, strategies and current challenges Identify ways of contributing to initiatives, such as e-Govt and potential bids for projects to make a difference on the ground Outline current challenges of the role and appropriate forms of continuing professional development

Computer-mediated communication Use of VLE as exemplar support system Network know-how in a non-canonical form Select own themes or areas of interest Work as a larger CoP or in sub-groups Develop understanding of broad aspects of job faster than through traditional training (Wenger, 1998) Make suggestions about how best to maintain their expertise (McDermott, 2001)

Relationship to official organisation (Wenger, 1998)

Enhancing hybrid support Focus on empowerment rather than leverage Recognise that technology is important but that trust and sociability are key determinants Use technology for rapid dissemination Map expertise to workflow patterns Use technology to support facilitative leadership - moderating presence (Anderson, Rourke et al, 2001) Ensure codification does not compromise the tacit knowledge it tries to capture (Button et al, 1995) - discussions, knowledge sharing, repositories,

Issues arising Facilitators need to avoid inhibiting learning or undermining normal working patterns Knowledge management assumes knowledge and experience (explicit and tacit) should be levered for organisational advantage Over-management of communities of practice is a risk: they need space and resources, rather than managerial direction, so managers may have to become comfortable with the gap between knowledge & power (McKinlay, 2000)