1. Communities of Practice Welna Bowden Improvement Services IDeA

2. I will cover: What is a community of practice (CoP) Why Introduce CoPs The website The success (and failure) of CoPs? Ingredients for a successful CoP What can CoPs be used for Support available from KM Team

3. A Community of Practice is a network of individuals with common problems or interests who get together to explore ways of working, identify common solutions, and share good practice and ideas. (Etienne Wenger 2002)

4. Local Government 2.1 million people 370 councils 700 services

5. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wparsons/370782317/sizes/l/ Knowledge and experience But…

6. Links Copyright ~Dezz~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/residae/2560241604/sizes/o/~Dezz~ … And

7. Connecting people to people Efficiency and value for money Sustainable self-improvement So… Communities of Practice

8. The CoPs Website Officially Launched Dec 2007 55,000 members 140 new members a day 1000 individual communities 25,000 visits per month Membership from every council in England and Wales

11. Forum Events Members Librar y WikiBlogs

13. Success (& failure)

14. Saves Time

15. http://www.flickr.com/photos/drewwilsonphotography/1872799475/sizes/l/ Accelerates Learning

16. Avoids re-inventing the wheel

17. Reducing Carbon Footprint

18. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanr/142455033/sizes/o/ Sharing good practice And building relationships

19. Lack of Community engagement

20. Ingredients for a successful CoP: 1.Demand & Purpose 2.Management Backing 3.Planning 4.Good facilitation

21. Types of CoPs National Issues / Interests Job specific Regional Issues Online conferences Project specific CoPs Online Market Place Government Consultation Team workspace File Sharing

22. Support Available One day training course Bespoke CoP training for individual teams Support and consultancy creating and managing a community

23. Contact: welna.bowden@idea.gov.uk 07766 251 639