What are Communities of Practice?

What are Communities of Practice?
Communities of practice is a term originally developed by Lave and Wenger. It describes a learning theory with a strong relationship to the social construction of knowledge. The community of practice (sometimes incorrectly referred to as “communities of practices”) consists of members who interact with each other for their pursuit of a common practice. It is therefore this collective social practice that links individuals together across official organizational boundaries and departments and makes up the community. It is important to note that these are not teams. A community of practice can be defined as “a group of professionals informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge”

Garfield presents a number of principles concerning communities in organizations, including:
● They must be independent of organizational structure.
● They are not teams, sites, blogs, etc.; they are people who interact, and they are based on topics.
● Community membership cannot be forced; it must be voluntary.
● Communities should span organizational, functional and geographic boundaries.
● Communities require a “critical mass” of members.
● Communities must be nurtured.

Source: Knowledge Management System and Practices, A Theoretical and Practical Guide for Knowledge Management in Your Organization,
(Emil Hajric 2018)