Organisation VS Communities of Practice

Can these two work for or against each other? If CoPs have been proven to facilitate learning and sharing of ideas and skills, can organisations take advantage of CoPs that may exist within and even outside of its boundary?

In previous posts under this label, we looked at Organisations (i.e. Business Organisations) a well as Communities of Practice (CoP). Now we would determine a relationship if any exists between the two.

CoP is applied in various ways; within a neighbourhood, within a family, as well as within a business. Its application in these areas owe to the value it can add to the overall Organisation be it a village a family or a business organisation. This value can be measured by the knowledge, skills, culture and relationships associated with being in a CoP.

A CoP provides an ideal platform for learning and knowledge. In today’s organisations, there is no doubt as to the importance of knowledge; more important is the ability to transfer knowledge within the organisation. After all, “Knowledge is power” as stated by Sir Francis Bacon.

At this point, I would use an illustration of a bank which I would call ‘Bank G’. This Organisation is made up of divisions which have groups under them and subsequently units. Each unit is made of a unit head and 2 or 3 officers. Now the officers within one section of the marketing group agree to meet every Friday to share experiences and ideas gained form their daily activities, ranging from how to manage their head, experiences on their marketing activities and even customer issues that were or were not resolved. Once in a while a member would present a proposal which resulted in signing on a major account or maybe share tips on how they handled a situation that is most likely similar for the other officer. Knowledge shared within this CoP and will then be applied toward meeting units’ objectives.

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Lesser E.L. and Storck J identified a link between CoP and Organisational performance. They found that Organizational performance was influenced by activities of CoPs in the following areas:

• Decreasing the learning curve of new employees
• Responding more rapidly to customer needs and inquiries
• Reducing rework and preventing “reinvention of the wheel”
• Spawning new ideas for products and services

It is clear from the above that an Orgnaisation can tap into the benefits an active CoP can offer.