Community of Practice: creating, managing, sustaining Peter Norman Levesque Institute for Knowledge Mobilization Slides available at: Password: practice ©Peter Levesque

Logistics What are we doing today? When can I get more coffee? Where are the bathrooms? 2014©Peter Levesque

Workshop Agenda Morning: Logistics Introductions What is a community of practice? Why use them? What the major components of a CoP? What are the major elements of a strategy to implement a CoP? Afternoon: Case studies – what are others doing? Policies and governance to manage a CoP? How to sustain a CoP? How to identify and overcome barriers to CoPs? How to monitor and evaluate progress? 2014©Peter Levesque

Workshop Objectives You will learn: Enhance your understanding of communities of practice. Develop an understanding of strategy as it relates to communities of practice. Self-assessment of current state of policies and governance practices regarding communities of practice. Understand the management process for a community of practice. Gain access to tools and templates. Gain access to a diversity of community of practice policies. Engage with a broader community of people working to implement communities of practice. 2014©Peter Levesque

Workshop Format Some lecture Lots of group discussions A few self assessments A few videos Some resource materials ©Peter Levesque

Workshop Appendices – Available Online 1.Cultivating Communities of Practice 2.A national clinician-educator program 3.SHRTN Collaborative CoP Orientation Guide 4.Case Study: Community of Practice Based on a Wiki 5.EDC CoP Terms of Use Policy 6.EDUCAUSE CoP Design Guide 7.Mobile Gov. Wiki Notices ©Peter Levesque

Discussion Hello Let’s find out a little about each other. What do hope to gain today? 2014©Peter Levesque

Discussion What do you think a community of practice is? 2014©Peter Levesque

Quote People are five times more likely to ask a colleague for information than to consult any online resource. —2005 MIT Technology Review 2014©Peter Levesque

What is a community of practice A group of people who share a craft and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created specifically with the goal of gaining knowledge related to their field. It is through the process of sharing information and experiences with the group that the members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger coined the phrase in their 1991 book, 'Situated learning’ and Wenger then significantly expanded on the concept in his 1998 book, 'Communities of Practice’. Online and Face-to-Face 2014©Peter Levesque

An example of explaining: Communities of Practice 2014©Peter Levesque

Why use communities of practice? 2014©Peter Levesque

Quote Telling the “stories behind the story” should be encouraged to enhance the practice of KT beyond the science. – G.P. Browman, MD MSc, Current Oncology, VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1, ©Peter Levesque

Discussion Do we have data overload or filter failure? Or both? 2014©Peter Levesque

CIHR Canadian Institutes of Health Research 2014©Peter Levesque

2014©Peter Levesque CIHR Canadian Institutes of Health Research

CHSRF Canadian Health Services and Research Foundation “Knowledge transfer and exchange is collaborative problem-solving between researchers and decision- makers.” Canadian Health Services Research Foundation 2014©Peter Levesque

Some Modern History Passive push (until 1970s+) Push harder (1990s+) Partner & pull (2000+) Dissemination via traditional journals, conferences Focus on implementation, e.g. performance feedback Linkage & exchange, e.g. joint production 2014©Peter Levesque

DateEvent 1958Advanced Research Projects Agency creates the first computer network 1959Peter Drucker coins the term “knowledge worker“ 1962Everett Rogers publishes “Diffusion of Innovation” 1972 Archie Cochrane publishes “Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services” 1980Bayh-Dole Technology Transfer Act passed in USA 1991Tim Berners-Lee invents the “World Wide Web” 1990s“Evidence-based medicine” emerges from McMaster University 1997 Canadian Health Services Research Foundation is launched to increase relationships between health researchers and decision-makers 1997 Cancer Care Ontario’s Program in Evidence-Based Care formalized to produce clinical practice guidelines for cancer management for Ontario Canadian Institutes of Health Research formed to create new knowledge and translate this into benefits for Canadians NowWhat significant events would you add? 2014©Peter Levesque Some Modern History

©Peter Levesque Why?: To provide access Access – Physical ✔✔✔✔ Increasing access to findings published in Journals, on- line, open access, systematic reviews – Conceptual ✔ What does this mean for my practice, location, context, culture

©Peter Levesque Access New Yorker: John Caldwell

©Peter Levesque Why?: To create meaning Taking in traumatic information and transmuting it into life- affirming action may turn out to be the most advanced and meaningful spiritual practice of our time. Richard Heinberg

©Peter Levesque Plain language New Yorker: Dana Fradon

Why?: To create value from research ‘All breakthrough, no follow through’ Woolf (2006) Washington Post op ed Much of the US $100 billion/year worldwide investment in biomedical and health research is wasted because of dissemination and implementation failures 2014©Peter Levesque

©Peter Levesque Impact New Yorker: Sam Gross

Why?: To search for answers Re/Search 26 Research optimizes Search 2014©Peter Levesque

Why?: To make decisions Philip Davies, Is Evidence-Based Government Possible? Jerry Lee Lecture 2004, Washington, DC Evidence ExperienceJudgementResourcesValuesHabitsTraditionsLobbyists Pressure Groups PragmaticsContingencyEmotions Other Factors 2014©Peter Levesque

28 Why?: To create value Now What: Decisions, Directions, Actions So What: Meaning, Analysis, Interpretation What: Data, Information, Description, Stories MULTIPLE INPUTS FROM RESEARCH, PRACTICE, EXPERIENCE, CULTURE Innovation Supporting Infrastructure Initiatives Incentives to Share between Levels Value Creation Programs Policies Priorities Processes Practice Products Perspectives Procedures Possibilities People Skills 2014©Peter Levesque

Value is created in exchange Réjean Landry, of l’Université Laval, has shown that the greatest value from knowledge mobilization happens when we LINKage and EXCHANGE. Yet most KMb activities are still based on PUSH and PULL. PUSHPULL LINK EXCHANGE How do I do this?

Data and information is for machines. 2014©Peter Levesque

It becomes knowledge when it has a social life. 2014©Peter Levesque

How do we socialize our findings so that we can learn? 2014©Peter Levesque

Conversations are central ©Peter Levesque

What are the major components of a community of practice? 2014©Peter Levesque

Quote We all belong to communities of practice. – Etienne Wenger, Communities of Practice: learning, meaning, and identity ©Peter Levesque

Social Theory of Learning 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 1: Domain There needs to be a domain. An identity defined by a shared domain of interest: – radiologists, – Star Trek fans, – College history teachers, – Cycling lane advocates. Not just a network of people or club of friends. Membership implies a commitment to the domain. 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 2: Community Members of a specific domain interact and engage in shared activities. Help each other and share information. Build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. Must be people who interact and learn together in order for a CoP to be formed. – Static website is not a CoP – Sharing the same job is not a CoP Members do not necessarily work together on a daily basis. – Impressionist painters who sometimes met in cafes to discuss their painting styles. 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 3: Practice Not just people who have an interest in something. Members are practitioners. Develop a shared repertoire of resources: – Stories, – Helpful tools, – Experiences, – Ways of handling typical problems. Interaction needs to be developed over time. – A conversation with a random stranger who happens to be an expert on a subject matter that interests you does not in itself make a CoP. 2014©Peter Levesque

Discussion What are some of the communities of practice that you belong to? 2014©Peter Levesque

What are the major elements of a strategy to implement a community of practice? 2014©Peter Levesque

Quote Good community design requires an insider's perspective to lead the discovery of what the community is about. – Etienne Wenger, Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge ©Peter Levesque

Where does Strategy fit? 2014©Peter Levesque VisionMissionGoalsStrategyTacticsOutputsOutcomesImpacts 43

Etienne Wenger: Strategy for Communities of Practice 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 1: Design for evolution CoPs are organic New members bring new interests More like life-long learning than traditional organization design Build relationships Coordinator or problem- solving meetings, can precipitate the evolution of a community 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 2: Open a dialogue between inside and outside perspectives Good design requires an insider's perspective Deep understanding of community issues Often takes an outside perspective to help see the possibilities 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 3: Invite different levels of participation People have different levels of interest Small core group of people who actively participate (10-15%) Active occasional group (15-20%) Large portion of members are peripheral and rarely participate Outside but interested 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 4: Develop both public and private community spaces Public places such as: meetings, Web site Private space: one-on-one networking Multiple conversations Use the strength of individual relationships to enrich events and use events to strengthen individual relationships 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 5: Focus on value Help potential value emerge & enable to discover new ways to harvest it Not always clear at first Changes over time Be explicit about the value of the community throughout its lifetime 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 6: Combine familiarity and excitement Familiar comforts of a hometown Interesting & varied events to keep new ideas and new people Neutral places separate from the everyday work pressures Stability & common adventure 2014©Peter Levesque

Element 7: Create a rhythm for the community Web of enduring relationships among members Sense of movement and liveliness – not breathless or sluggish Foster both casual connections and directed community action 2014©Peter Levesque

What some people and organizations doing? 2014©Peter Levesque

Quote Communities of Practice come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different purposes and functions. – Overseas Development Institute, Communities of practice: linking knowledge, policy and practice. December ©Peter Levesque

Case 1: Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada Issue: Complexity of medical training requires educational expertise in curriculum design, instructional methods, program evaluation, faculty development, educational scholarship Benefits of CoP: improved problem solving, Recognition of educational needs Development of new initiatives Enhanced educational expertise Enhanced engagement and talent retention 2014©Peter Levesque Positive influence on organization Influence outside organization Challenges: Takes time Balancing size and composition Equality of skills and uniformity of tasks is not the goal Facilitating communication is essential Program evaluation is necessary CoP may run its course

Case 2: Seniors health knowledge network Issue: SHTRN is a network of networks. Seeking to engage researchers, policymakers and caregivers to allow flow of knowledge and quality improvement. Goals: Ensure feasible expectations for participation and collaboration Reduce time for implementation Reduce duplication among partners 2014©Peter Levesque Content: Overview of CoPs Lifecycle of a CoP Quick Tips Recommended Resources appropriate to the community Evaluation Tools – Individual – CoP Attributes Work Plan Template

Case 3: Agence d'évaluation des technologies et des modes d'intervention en santé Issue: Researchers on contract and at a distance Goals: Create, nurture and sustain an intellectual community without coming physically together 2014©Peter Levesque Process: Used open source web-based application TikiWiki Platform used for other applications within the Agency (precedent) Paired experienced and newer people together Grew access to all external researchers Discuss content Adapt to changing knowledge base No imposition of overhead

Discussion What are some relevant examples from your experience? 2014©Peter Levesque

Policies and governance for a community of practice? 2014©Peter Levesque

Quote More companies are discovering that an über-connected workplace is not just about implementing a new set of tools — it is also about embracing a cultural shift to create an open environment where employees are encouraged to share, innovate and collaborate virtually. – Karie Willyerd & Jeanne C. Meister, HarvardBusiness.org 2014©Peter Levesque

Examples EDC Communities of Practice Terms of Use Policy National Learning Infrastructure Initiative at EDUCAUSE Mobile Gov. Wiki Other examples? 2014©Peter Levesque

Training Policies are only as good as your employee's awareness, understanding, and willingness to comply with them. Do not expect untrained employees to be aware of and understand risks. Formal, ongoing employee education is critical to your community of practice success. 2014©Peter Levesque

Best Practices No training means little or no compliance to the community of practice policy Educate everyone involved: FT, PT, Executives, Board Members, Contractors, Consultants, Freelancers Policy applies at all times: at work and at home Easiest way to control risk is to control content – discuss lawful vs. illegal content 2014©Peter Levesque

Liability There is no 100% effective way to avoid liability however, these practices help: Establish – update annually – clear and comprehensive policies governing social media, blogs, web 2.0, mobile devices, , Internet, etc. – and link communities of practice, whether face-to-face or online to these policies Conduct formal ongoing training programs for everybody. Ensure that “acceptable use” policies exist 24/7/365 Within limits of privacy, monitor use. Have legal counsel available. If red flag is raised deal with it in a timely way. 2014©Peter Levesque

Enforce Policy Let employees know that compliance with the policy is mandatory and that violations may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination More than half of employers have dismissed employees (Fortune 500) for policy violations. 2014©Peter Levesque

How to sustain a community of practice? 2014©Peter Levesque

Quote Communities do not “run themselves,” regardless of how well the fundamental dynamics of a community may have been set in motion. – Bronwyn Stuckey, Sustaining communities of practice ©Peter Levesque

Core issues with high utility Problem solving: "Can we work on this design and brainstorm some ideas; I’m stuck." Requests for information: "Where can I find the code to connect to the server?" Seeking experience: "Has anyone dealt with a customer in this situation?" Reusing assets: "I have a proposal for a local area network I wrote for a client last year. I can send it to you and you can easily tweak it for this new client." Coordination and synergy: "Can we combine our purchases of solvent to achieve bulk discounts?" Discussing developments: "What do you think of the new CAD system? Does it really help?" Documentation projects: "We have faced this problem five times now. Let us write it down once and for all." Visits: "Can we come and see your after-school program? We need to establish one in our city." Mapping knowledge and identifying gaps: "Who knows what, and what are we missing? What other groups should we connect with?” 2014©Peter Levesque

Success Story: Collaborative Forums for Problem Solving 2014©Peter Levesque

How to identify and overcome barriers to communities of practice? 2014©Peter Levesque

Quote I’m not sure that we have permission to innovate in our organisation – Participant at the IDeA Community of Practice Facilitator’s WorkshopIDeA 2014©Peter Levesque

Discussion What are some of the issues that you are experiencing? 2014©Peter Levesque

Face-to-Face Issues Issues: Scientific knowledge is difficult to aggregate (Standard tools for KT may presume an ability to codify and disseminate knowledge that is not realistic in cutting-edge scientific enterprises.) Scientists work independently (Must work harder than other organizations to maintain open communication channels, adopt common toolsets, and keep groups focused on common goals.) Difficulty of cross-institutional work (Issues of intellectual property, funding, legal issues) Bos, Zimmerman, Olson, Yew, Yerkie, Dahl, E., et al. From shared databases to communities of practice: A taxonomy of collaboratories. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(2), article ©Peter Levesque How to address: Different tools for different contexts – Distributed Research Centers, – Shared Instruments, – Community Data Systems, – Open Community Contribution Systems, – Virtual Communities of Practice, – Virtual Learning Communities, – Community Infrastructure Projects. Communities of practice are good for sharing Knowledge (new findings) but other tools are better for other functions Use an ecological framework – complex relationships

Online Issues Issues: Emotion, Technology, Connectivity, Understanding norms and learning tensions Guldberg and Macknesst. Foundations of communities of practice: enablers and barriers to participation. Journal Of Computer Assisted Learning ©Peter Levesque How to address: Assess the technical expertise of participants, particularly when a number of different technological tools are used; Find ways to identify and evaluate emotional responses so learners can be supported in managing these; Ensure that participants understand the norms of a community; and Develop clear induction materials and processes.

How to monitor and evaluate the progress of communities of practice? 2014©Peter Levesque

Evaluation Framework Promoting and assessing value creation in communities and networks: a conceptual framework content/uploads/2011/12/ Wenger_Trayner_DeLaat_Value_creation.pdf 2014©Peter Levesque

5 cycles/levels of value creation Immediate value: the activities and interactions between members have value in and of themselves Potential value: the activities and interactions of cycle 1 may not be realized immediately, but rather be saved up as knowledge capital whose value is in its potential to be realized later. Applied value: knowledge capital may or may not be put into use. Leveraging capital requires adapting and applying it to a specific situation. Realized value: even applied new practices or tools are not enough. A change in practice does not necessarily lead to improved performance, so it is important to find out what effects the application of knowledge capital is having on the achievement of what matters to stakeholders … Reframing value: this happens when learning causes a reconsideration of how success is defined. It includes reframing strategies, goals and values… 2014©Peter Levesque

Key questions about Immediate Value What happened and what was my experience of it? What were significant events? What happened? How much participation was there? What was the quality of the mutual engagement? Was it fun, inspiring, convivial? How relevant to me was the activity/interaction? With whom did I interact or make connections? Which connections are most influential on my own development? 2014©Peter Levesque

Key questions about Potential Value What has all this activity produced? How has my participation changed me? Have I acquired new skills or knowledge? Has my understanding of the domain or my perspective changed? Do I feel more inspired by the work I do? Have I gained confidence in my ability to engage in practice? How has my participation changed my social relationships? What access to new people have I gained? Do I know them well enough to know what they can contribute to my learning? Do I trust them enough to turn to them for help? Do I feel less isolated? Am I gaining a reputation from my participation? … 2014©Peter Levesque

Key questions about Applied Value What difference has it made to my practice/life/context? Where have I used the products of the community/network? Where did I apply a skill I acquired? When did I leverage a community/network connection in the accomplishment of a task? Was I able to enlist others in pursuing a cause I care about? When and how did I use a document or tool that the community produced or made accessible? How was an idea or suggestion implemented? At what level -- individual, team/unit, organization? 2014©Peter Levesque

Key questions about Realized Value What difference has it made to my ability to achieve what matters to me or other stakeholders? What aspects of my performance has my participation in community/network affected? Did I save time or achieve something new? Am I more successful generally? How? What effect did the implementation of an idea have? Did any of this affect some metrics that are used to evaluate performance? What has my organization been able to achieve because of my participation in community/network? 2014©Peter Levesque

Key questions about Reframing Value Has it changed my or other stakeholders’ understanding and definition of what matters? Has the process of social learning led to a reflection on what matters? Has this changed someone’s understanding of what matters? Does this suggest new criteria and new metrics to include in evaluation? How has this new understanding affected those who have the power to define criteria of success? Has this new understanding translated into institutional changes? Has a new framework or system evolved or been created as a result of this new understanding? 2014©Peter Levesque

Thank you – Merci Final Questions and Discussion (613) Knowledge Mobilization Works Fairmont Chateau Laurier 1 Rideau Street, Suite 700 Ottawa, ON, K1N 8S7 2014©Peter Levesque