facilitating communities of practice in the network era nancy white full circle associates
TRANSCRIPT
Facilitating Communities
of Practicein the
Network EraNancy WhiteFull Circle Associates
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/33556189/in/set-72157594373420115/
Note to Slide Viewers:This set of slides contains both the slides we used at our May
17th, 2010 workshop, along with some other slides you may find useful. But we sure didn't talk
about them! Nancy
Let’s build some “mud maps” (from Shawn Callahan – Anecdote.com))
A Community of Practice Perspective
#1 People Forms(me, we, network)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/2918198742/in/set-72157603453505459/
Go Solo?
Pairs, triads and very small groups –
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/2167756791/
Fly with the flock?
Research teams...http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/2167756791/
South Africa's community nest spider
http://www.south-african-game-reserves.com/arachnidpics/comnestspid.htm
Roam the network?
Networked Individualism Barry Wellman
Many: Networks
We: Communities
Me: the IndividualPersonal identity,
interest & trajectory
Bounded membership;
group identity, shared interest, human centered
Boundaryless; fuzzy, intersecting interests,
object centered sociality (Engeström)
Many: Networks
We: Communities
Me: the IndividualConsciousness, confidence level, risk tolerance, styles, emotionC
Distinct power/trust dynamics, shared forward movement or strong blocking, stasis, attention to maintenance, language
Flows around blocks, less cohesion, distributed power/trust, change
Many: Networks
We: Communities
Me: the IndividualBlogs, email, research portfolios, RSS readers, the Brain…
Forums, wikis, group blogs, content mgmt systems, LMS, platforms…
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia,etc…
purpose exercise
• PURPOSE!What is the purpose of your community/group?
• Community Checklist
http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Online+Community+Planning+Checklist
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsevilla/189528500/in/set-1368427/
#2 Emerging
roles an
d
practic
es…
• …being a leader means providing a space for other people to find the truth about themselves. The leader is the person who creates the space, or the opportunity, where some truth can shine forth and where the people who inhabit the space can find themselves at the deepest level.
Fred Kofman
Rule of Thumb: Make way for teenaged elephants!
enable people to…
• discover & appropriate useful technology
• be in and use communities & networks (people)
• express their identity • find and create content• usefully participate
facilitators community leaderstechnology stewards network weaversIndependent thinkers
Online Facilitation(STUFF we DID NOT USE but which you might find useful...)
Facilitating Online Interaction:
What’s It All About, Anyway?
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates cc 2007
2.
Online CommunicationsNancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
Bumblebee time...
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
tortise time...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/179390341/
"To receive everything, one must open one's hands and give”Taisen Deshimaru
3.Learning Together
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
4. Facilitation
• Me: Identity/Reputation /Presence
• Us: Relationship• Benefit: Process
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
From: http://oubs.open.ac.uk/e-moderating/fivestep.htm Gilly Salmon
Identity/Presence
RelationshipProcess
Benefit
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
Convening Conversations
• Invite• Focus• Questions• Control
emergence• Feed
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
5.
Intercultural Antennae
…including professional culture
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
6.
Tolerance for AmBiguitY
Move forward without certainty
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
7. Bridge & Connect
• Multi-membership
• Connectors• Networkers• Multiple
perspectives
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
ODI: 6 Network Functions
• Filters• Amplifyers• Convenors• Facilitators• Investors• Community
builders
http://www.odi.org.uk/Rapid/Projects/PPA0103/Functions.html
8. Technical Skills
• Know enough• Be curious• Experiment • Have friends
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
Finally…1. Self-AwarenessNancy White, Full Circle Associates, cc 2007
A Systems View of Community Facilitation
(STUFF WE DID NOT USE)
1. Work with the whole
system
Source: Keith McCandlesshttp://socialinvention.net
Who needs to be “in the room” to make this happen?
Catalysts and connectors
From David Wilcox
2. Identify and build on
assets.
http://www.plexusinstitute.org/complexity/index.cfm?id=3
3. Engage the
system in the
learning
We learn from each other.We learn when we “do.”
Participation Practices• Open Space
(http://www.openspaceworld.org)
• World Café (http://www.theworldcafe.org)
• Positive Deviance• Storytelling• …and many,
many more
Keep it simple
Keep technology simple, relevant, and local
Build on what is there and being used
Involve users in the design
Strengthen capacity
Introduce greater monitoring & evaluation, especially
participatory approaches.
Include communication strategies.
Research and share learning about what works, and what fails.
http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.84.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsevilla/189528500/in/set-1368427/
4. Find where we can do the most as
leaders.
Do we….
–let it happen?–help it happen?–make it happen?
What are some “mud maps” we can think about today? What conditions might we create for these learning patterns and relationships?
Background Stuff on Communities of Practice
WHICH WE DID NOT USE
A Communities of Practice Lens: What can it show us?
Nancy WhiteFull Circle Associates
A Community of Practice Perspective
Distributed CoPs:Benefits?Bullish?
• Potential for diversity
• Border/boundary spanning
• Multi-modal• Accumulate Artifacts• Complex
Challenges
• Diffuse attention
• Diverse intention
• Fuzzier identity • Invisible
boundaries• Lurking
What is a CoP? Why care?
• “CoPs develop around things that matter to people…. The difference between a CoP and a team is that the shared learning and interest of its members are what keeps it together. It is defined by knowledge rather than task. It exists because participation has value to members.
• “In their teams, they take care of projects. In their networks, they form relationships. In their CoPs they develop the knowledge that lets them do these other tasks
Etienne Wenger, 1998
Some Comparisons
Who belongs Purpose Cohesiveness Duration
Formal Org.
Hierarchical reporting
To deliver a product or service
Organizational goals
Until next reorganization
Project Team
Management assigned
To accomplish a specific task
Project goals Until project is complete
Community of Practice
Voluntary, invited or self-selected
Build & exchange knowledge
Passion, identity, commitment
As long as interest remains
Informal network
Friends and acquaintances
Collect & pass on information
Mutual needs, friendship
As long as reason to connect exists
Etienne Wenger 2003
CoPs and Social Networks
• Nurturing/preserving/ the social capital created by an educational or work experience
• Embedding the results of training in new work practice
PPEERRFFOORRMMAANNCCEE
Purpose SOCIAL FORMATIONPRACTICE
Is the distinction between a CoP, team or other form relevant to your situation?
• A = Yes• B = No• C = Lets talk
about this more!
A Community of Practice Perspective: Domain
Domain:Shared Interest; Purpose
• What are we about?• What is our identity?• Significance?
– Organization– individual
• Scope?• Learning and doing
What is Purpose?• “A purpose is a social
invention. It is constructed out of the intentions of the people in interaction with their environment.
• Purpose is the meaning of the group's existence.
• Purpose is the intended impact of the groups actions (or non-action) on the world.”
Jon C. Jenkins Imaginal Training, Groningen, The Netherlands
Practical Purpose Points
• Is it clear?• Is it sharable?• Is it inviting?Organization
individual
• Is it reasonable?• Is it negotiable?
Does your community have a clear purpose?
• A = Absolutely• B = Maybe not• C = Nope!
A Community of Practice Perspective: Community
What is a community?“A set of people (or agents in
a more abstract sense) with some shared element…a group of people or things that live in the same area. The substance of shared element varies widely, from a situation to interest to lives and values. The term is widely used to evoke sense of collectivity.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community
…in a CoP sense?
• Who is involved?• What roles?• What relationships? • How do they interact
to solve problems & answer questions?
• How is engagement and trust fostered?
Keys to Community Interaction
• Control <--> Emergence• Translucent design• Transparent facilitation• Surface values &
agreements
Social Translucence• “Vital tension
between privacy and visibility.” Erickson
• The “door with the glass window”
• Visibility• Awareness • Accountability
Translucent Systems
• Balance of public and private spaces
• Balance of push/pull of information
• Clarity on decision making authority & processes
• Shared goals, but often individual work
Norms, Agreements & Accountability
• What is the minimum?• How explicit?• How to make visible?• How to keep them
“alive?”• What shared values
underpin?
Legitimate Peripheral Participation
Picture courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/rollerboogie/
Lave&Wenger, 1991“In the workplace, learners can, when they
need, steal their knowledge from the social periphery made up of other, more experienced workers and ongoing, socially shared practice.” (Brown&Duguid, 1992)
Leadership online?
• Servant leaders• Lead by action & example• More explicit than offline• Perhaps more process-
focuses• Hold the space• Shared• Tolerant of ambiguity
A Community of Practice Perspective: Practice
Practice
• Domain-related practice • What knowledge matters?• What activities Needed? • What tools?
• Meta-practice of being a CoP
• Meta-practice of a distributed CoP DOMAIN
Practice
“Being in a CoP” Practice
Distributed
The “place between the spaces”• What practices enhance
community formation &thriving?
• How does practice show up online and offline?
• What is the tolerance for risk & experimentation?
ThePower of Conversation
• Yearn for “pub” or coffee shop• Social conversation (ad hoc, unstructured, no explicit
focus) • Scientific discussion (topically organized, structured
around data & hypothesis)• Blend of both• Time issues
Collaboration
• Whole greater than parts
• Derived from purpose and outcomes
• Principles determine behaviors
• Based on honest assessments
• Ownership and commitment
• InclusiveMartin Leith
http://www.martinleith.com/lgi/chapter.html
Inquiry• Define the
problem• Develop and
evaluation solution alternatives
• Come to some resolution
• Develop a plan of action
• Reflect on the process