InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Building Successful Communities of PracticeInfoToday 2002

Kathy ValderramaJim Lee

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Objectives

• Creating Communities of Practice• Sustaining Communities of Practice• Success Stories

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Creating Communities

• Obtain sponsorship• Conduct visioning session

Long term perspective

• Set goals and priorities Community/business goals Knowledge management goals (KM Plan, Metrics)

• Develop value proposition• Identify the players

ExamplesDeliverablesActivities

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Creating Communities - Deliverables

• Vision document• Knowledge management plan• Value proposition• List of players in the community

ExamplesDeliverablesActivities

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Creating Communities - Examples

• Vision document – list long term description of the group: where do we see this group in 5 years?

• Knowledge management plan – list of goals and priorities of the business and community – specific, trackable and measurable

• Value proposition – how will this community help the business become more successful and increase productivity overall?

• List of players – Member Directory

ExamplesDeliverablesActivities

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Sustaining Communities

• Conduct periodic review of KM plan Involve sponsor Revise and adapt plan as the business changes

• Give rewards and recognition Recognize innovation as key to business success

• Solicit feedback Surveys, focus groups

ExamplesDeliverablesActivities

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Sustaining Communities - Deliverables

• Revised Knowledge management plan• Survey• Metrics/scorecards• Rewards/recognition – memos, performance

review

ExamplesDeliverablesActivities

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Sustaining Communities - Examples

• Thank you message to those who contributed to the community’s knowledgebase

• Survey mailed to all community members asking for their feedback

• Quarterly review of knowledge plan with sponsor• Identify improvement opportunities using metrics

on community usage of knowledge bases

ExamplesDeliverablesActivities

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Symptoms of Low Performing Communities

• Low level of communication and collaboration• Low business results• Not a team based activity• Content is not consistently managed

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Community Success Stories

• Business Value Achieved Faster response time to clients Lessons learned for use throughout the organization Faster implementation time for projects Lower costs Content ready-to-go for re-use by others Shorter time to market Improved quality in work and deliverables

InfoToday 2002 – Creating and Sustaining Successful Communities of Practice – May 2002

Questions?