How to Build a Community of Practice (with Examples)
Whatever your passion, you can bet there's someone else in the world that shares your passion. Once you find that common passion, it's one step away from creating a whole community built around your passion.
If you're interested to know how to create an online community of practice follow this guide for the best methods, tricks and 3 amazing examples of community of practice to be inspired by.
What is a community that practices?
The term "community of practice" refers to a collection composed of individuals who share an affinity, interest or desire in common and get together to discuss the subject.
As the name suggests, groups of practice work together and communicate, sharing knowledge within a community. They have a shared identity , based on their common interest.
Lave as well as Wenger Communities of Practice
Communities of practice' was initially used by socioanthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. Experts in cognitive anthropology Lave and Wenger investigated apprenticeships, and came up with the idea that communities can act as a living education.
In the case of Lave and Wenger communities of practice defined groups of people who participate in collective learning in which each person shares their knowledge with the members of the group. The theory of community of practice was founded on the idea of social learning , and was soon expanded from apprenticeships, and later to include other types of training.
Communities of practice exist all around us. It could be a group of children within a school clique as well as yoga teachers at a studio or the art historians of Reddit. The location doesn't matter. community is or what interests they share - a community of practice is formed by anyone, anywhere and for any reason.
3 components of a community of practice
According to Lave and Wenger To be considered a practice community, the group must have three fundamental elements. They distinguish a community practice from simply a group of acquaintances or friends.
Let's have a look at the 3 components:
1. Domain
For an organization to be a community of practice be successful, members of the group have to have a shared area of interest or an area of interest.
This is essential as it's the thing that brings the participants of the community together. It usually has a shared objective and can help to motivate people to cooperate and interact with each other. In addition this domain can also be the focus for shared learning that takes place in the group.
2. Community
Of course, it's not enough just to share a common interest. in order for a community of practice to be successful it is essential that the participants actively create a community around their chosen domain.
Community can take many different types and shapes, and differs based on the topic. Examples of community-building activities are:
- Face-to-face meetings
- Social media organizations
- Discussions
- Webinars
- Group activities
Communication style isn't the important thing it's the sense of community the communication creates. This is what lets for sharing learning and collaboration within the community of practices.
3. Practice
The final element that transforms a regular group of colleagues into a community of practice is that they must become practitioners in their field.
What is this all about? The simplest way to put it is that members of the community of practice have a common objective of discovering how they can do things better and further their expertise. They generate ideas and resources that help them improve their expertise within the domain.
If you go about the concept of community of practice that was developed by Wenger and Lave, apprenticeships aren't just focused on sharing a common interest and a community - they also work towards making members more knowledgeable and skills in their area.
Let's look at a brief example...
Imagine a group of bird-watching lovers. The bird-watchers are scattered around the globe but use Twitter to share tips and photographs of their birds and regularly meet for online webinars about bird-related subjects. They collaborate with one another on where to spot specific species, information and recommendations for gear. They are comprised of all the components of a practice community including domain, community and practice.
Have an idea for your own community of practice? This is how you can start a community of practice in 7 simple steps.
How do you start a community of practice
The process of creating your own group of practice involves a few different steps, including choosing the goals you want to achieve, choosing moderators and finding an effective means for your participants to connect.
Here are our most important tips to begin a group of practice, whatever you are interested in.
1. Outline your domain
If you're wondering how to start a community of practices, it's a great option to begin with your domain. In order to find members who share your interests, try to describe precisely what your domain's purpose is as well as what it's not.
A practice-based community should possess a distinct focus which allows other members to decide which community they'd like to be a part of.
Let's take an example: when you're trying to build the community of practice that you can create to help fellow photographers It's likely that you'll need to narrow the area of focus. Maybe you're particularly interested in landscapes or you are looking to establish a group of wedding photographers. You might have an affinity to a certain kind of old-fashioned camera. No matter what, it's helpful to know the subject matter before beginning.
If you're a creator of courses and you're a course creator, your community of practice is likely to be whatever your course is focused on! If you have the option of an academy, then you could want to set up separate communities of practice for the various courses you offer or modules.
2. Set out your objectives
In order to give your community of practices a clearly defined goal and a clear vision, it is useful to establish your mission and vision in the beginning. Why do you want to create your own community of practice? What's your purpose?
If you're able to develop a set of aims for your group of practice and you are able to ensure that everyone in your group agrees with your goals. While doing this you could also choose a direction to your community of practice and make your community more focused.
3. Get proper introductions from the members of your group.
In order to create an environment that will allow your practice community to grow, it's best practice to research the expertise and experience of every member.
Invite participants to share their personal information and provide their background, areas of interest, and experiences relevant to the group. It can be done through a survey or interview and encourage them to post in your online community space.
It can also be helpful to arrange a meeting for an introduction with your group members, to allow participants the opportunity to introduce themselves and to meet the other. This is especially useful if you're starting your group of practice from scratch - be aware of the value of networking in building an effective community.
4. Pick your moderator(s)
In order to create a community of practice which is beneficial to its members, it can be helpful to elect or nominate a moderator ensure that things are running smoothly.
A community moderator is a person who is a member of the community. He or she monitors it, organizes events, guides discussion and assists new members find their feet. It is possible to choose a moderator you (it might even be you!) or take a vote from your current community members.
The most important thing to be aware of is that the moderator should ideally have an extensive knowledge base and expertise in your chosen area of expertise to accomplish their task efficiently.
5. Find your platform
It's now commonplace for communities in practice to remain on the internet. If you're not all within the same city, you'll probably have limited chances to meet face-to-face in your neighborhood. That's why it's crucial to locate a platform or channel that can be used by the members of your group to enable everyone to easily communicate.
Social media can be an extremely effective tool for building and maintaining a community of practice. Try creating a Facebook group or selecting a hashtag on Instagram or Twitter for a good starting point.
6. Give support and assistance to beginners
A practice community is formed around an curiosity and desire to understand and develop. In this model it also offers the possibility of helping those who are just getting started in their chosen topic or discipline.
To create an impactful group of practitioners, you should think about making or compiling materials to help start-up communities or new members. Make use of your expertise to teach and inform people with video, webinars or workbooks, and so on. In the end, learning is at the center of every community of practice!
7. Keep track of your community and make changes
In order to keep your community of practice running at the top of the game is a great idea to create feedback loops. Feedback loops let you continue improving your community after the initial setup.
Monitor your community of practice by regularly soliciting input from its members using online surveys. When you collect information about the strengths and weak points of your practice community it is possible to adapt and refine the process to build the most effective space. This last step can help your organization to remain relevant and make sure your group is truly valuable to the community you serve.
If you're now equipped with a clear concept of what it takes to begin a community of practice, you probably want to see some examples of communities of practice working! Take a look at these cases below.
3 community of practice examples
Making a practice-based community is about encouraging involvement by your members as well as empowering other members to assist in making the size of your community. Utilize these community of practice examples to inspire you and create your own.
Community of practice examples 1:
Here at , we've created a community of practice built around our course creators. There are so many inspirational entrepreneurs and educators who utilize our courses every day. the community of practice allows them share, collaborate and grow their businesses together.
Our practice community comprises a vast array of course creators from all over the world however they all share the same aim of the sharing of their expertise through the internet.
Community of practice. Example 2 9to5Dropouts
course creator Mike Nelson is one of the top examples of successful communities of practice to take to look over. He built an online community for 9to5Dropouts, his online course, with the hope of helping entrepreneurs create an entrepreneur-owned t-shirt company and leave their job.
The heart of Mike's group of practitioners is his team of coaches that are former students who've completed the program and created their own business. These coaches act as moderators for the group and help answer other students' questions as well as hosting live Q&A sessions to share their experiences.
Mike's community of practice centers around Facebook and his private Facebook group has now grown to over 25,000. This community of practice has helped Mike increase his earnings up to seven figures and he plans to scale his online course business even more.
Community of practice examples 3. Do More with Your Dog
Before establishing an online training company with Kyra Sundance worked as a stunt performing dog. Using her expertise, she founded Do More With Your Dog, now the largest training and dog tricks organisation in the world.
At the heart of Kyra's success is her practice community she built around her own brand. Using Facebook as the primary social network, Kyra created a huge community of course graduates.
However, Kyra has taken it another step, developing a global community of certified instructors who have now built their own community of practice centered on her course. They are called "Spark Teams' the coaches are rewarded with points when a student joins their Facebook page. They encourage members to remain active and engaged within their respective communities.
A different method for building community Kyra along with her colleagues employ is monthly challenges for all the individual communities of practice to join in. This helps to drive up participation, and create a community of Do More With Your Dog communities of practice across the world.
Do you want to create a new community of practice?
A community of practice is a possibility for anyone to start - all you need is an interest and a platform.