30.4: Factors Related to CoP Success

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What makes [communities of practice] successful is their ability to generate enough excitement, relevance and value to attract and engage members . . . nothing can substitute for this sense of aliveness. (Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002, p. 50)

Lave & Wenger (1991) suggest that five factors determine the success of a CoP:

the existence and sharing by the community of a common goal;
the existence and use of knowledge to achieve that goal;
the nature and importance of relationships formed among community members;
the relationships between the community and those outside it; and
the relationship between the work of the community and the value of the activity.

Wenger (1998) later added the idea that achieving the shared goals of the community requires a shared repertoire of common resources, e.g., language, stories, and practices.

There are a number of key factors that influence the development, functioning and maintenance of CoPs (Lathlean & LeMay, 2001). The legitimacy of initial CoP membership is important. Commitment to the desired CoP goals, relevance to members, and enthusiasm about the CoP’s potential to influence practice are also key. On the practical side, a strong infrastructure and resources are essential attributes. These include good information technology, useful library resources, databases, and human support. Of course, skill in accessing and appraising knowledge sources is important, as is skill in bridging this knowledge to practice. In order to provide these key factors, one or more strong, committed, and flexible leaders are needed, to help guide the natural evolution of the CoP. If professional learning is to flourish, it is critical that community members can learn from positive and negative experiences in a blame-free culture (Triggs & John, 2004).

Millen, Fontaine & Muller (2002) have outlined key questions to address in establishing a CoP, including:

How will the community be formed and evolve?
How and when will members join?
What do members do and how will they interact?
How will the CoP be supported by the members’ organization(s)?
What value will members and their organizations receive?

Wenger et al. (2002) suggest principles for cultivating CoPs:

CoPs are dynamic entities and need to be designed for adaptability and scalability.
They should combine the perspectives of both insider members and outsider participants, and all members should be valued regardless of their level of participation.
Both public and private spaces are necessary and need to be related.
Although familiarity is important, challenge and excitement are needed to keep the energy high.
The CoP must provide value to its members, otherwise participation will be minimal or absent.
Finally, the CoP needs to settle into a rhythm that works for its members.

Case Study: Small Cities Online Research Community

The Small Cities Online Research Community was and continues to be funded through a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant. The original $20,000 SSHRC grant came from the Strategic Research Cluster Programme (SRC) and it was awarded in the fall of 2004. The purpose of the grant was to facilitate the creation of a research cluster.

So far participation in the community has largely been top down; there is a lot of lurking, the term sometimes used for reading without participating. Its organizers realize that having a variety of activities in the community invites participation. With that in mind they have seeded discussions, produced webcasts, offered polls, and produced other events to encourage more active participation. The Small City site allows for daily/weekly/monthly email notices of content updates and more recently a RSS feed has been added to help push communication about these activities out so that those interested in participation are made aware and can choose to participate. All these are ways in which facilitators are fostering participation. Today their major challenge is making community members aware both of the availability of these tools and how to use them.

Online communities must provide their members with value. The Small Cities community provides members with value in the form of easy access to research articles, notices of upcoming events, and communication with colleagues at a distance. They believe that they need to make their members aware, through education, of this value and the possibilities of the community platform.