Centres of Excellence Club
Event 48 -Communities of Practice
Back in March 2023, we hosted a fantastic event at the Close Brothers offices in London. This was with professionals in the industry interested in understanding what a ‘Community of Practice’ really is. We also discussed if it’s a worthwhile investment for individuals, their networks and their respective organisations.
I would like to start by saying a huge thank you to our wonderful hosts for the day Close Brothers. The venue was great, and we were really looked after with the wonderful lunch and refreshments that were provided. Also for supporting our clients requests to obtain quieter rooms which were made available, thank you!
The day was filled with energetic and engaged professionals who passionately discussed the theme centred around ‘Communities of Practice’ within the industry and respective organisations.
It was insightful to hear the different mechanisms that organisations have already or are planning to adopt to empower their people to bring about successful change and innovation through different projects and programmes. Hearing success stories, challenges of 3 groups of expertise; Centres of Excellence, Professions and Communities of Practice.
In light of the industry movement and the thought-provoking conversations at this event, we have decided to revamp our renowned Centres of Excellence Club, to the Communities of Experience Club. We hope this change will allow us to adapt further to continue staying relevant and having highly engaging conversations. Watch this space!
Nick help us distinguish the similarities and differences between 3 key groups within organisations- Centres of Excellence, Professions and the topic of conversation, Communities of Practice. challenges of 3 groups of expertise; Centres of Excellence, Professions and Communities of Practice.
You can access the slides presented on the day here.
Amongst topics of interest, surfaced during the discussions were:
The concept of the evolution of professions from increasingly formalised communities of practice. Whilst there is some attraction to the concept in terms of successful communities might well grow both physically as well as in terms of their areas of interest (including secular, rather than exclusively, practice related). However, the implication of such an approach, if it were to exist, of usurping the authority of the governance structure of the organisation would suggest it as unlikely as well as potentially unwelcome by the ‘host’ organisation.
One panel expert suggested that the need for infrastructure and support for a profession should not be underestimated; it had proved rather more prodigal than had been expected.
Another suggested that with respect to a community of practice construct the level of infrastructure and support were best aimed at facilitating and administering the community but that they (the community) should be posed with the question of their agenda. This latter comment resonates closely with the literature on the subject and was also mirrored by Andy McAlister’s (our Close Brothers’ host) assertion that the community of practice construct.
“depended on facilitation and the provision of space to grow and not on top-down imposition”
How can you quantify the proof of value of a community of practice?
Everyone was unanimous in supporting the concept that communities of practice must provide value. However, the extent to which this is in the interest of the organisation, or the community did prove quite divisive. The organisation is not able to mandate the value the community seeks (this is probably one of the seminal distinctions between a profession and a community).
Conclusions
Whilst communities of practice might, on a cost basis, look like an attractive option to many businesses there is not a clear appreciation of how ‘unmanageable’, from a corporate perspective, the community of practice concept is.
Keep in touch
Let’s now leverage the momentum of this newly formed community to have more advanced conversations, provide opportunities to share knowledge and invoke change. This is just the start for many of our organisations to building their own internal communities or professions. We will be supporting this by:
Following insights around key subject areas
Creating more regular virtual sessions on relavant topics
LinkedIn Groups to continue the conversation
Keep in touch for upcoming CofEe Club events
CITI has been known for respectfully challenging the norms, pushing the agenda for meaningful change and developing thinking on what’s next. We can effectively support your business transformation agenda, bring the communities together to tackle real life business challenges, developing leadership enablement, empowering people to make safer decisions, capability development and navigating the complexity of culture change and people.
Thank you to all the participants who took the time out of their busy diaries to attend, to Close Brothers again for hosting us and to the wider CITI team who work hard to make this happen. The feedback has been fantastic for this 48th CofEe Club!
Our CofEe Club wouldn’t be what it is today without wonderful hosts! Would you like to collaborate with CITI to host our next CofEe Club? Please get in touch with your CITI contact or email info@citi.co.uk. We are also keen to hear about any topical areas that you may wish to nominate for future events.
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