1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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?

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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)

13. Relationship to official organisation (Wenger, 1998)

14. 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,

15. 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)