Building Communities of Practice

Communities of Practice – constellations of people and groups who share a passion for their own learning and who voluntarily work together on activities that create social and organisational value – are a template for agile and collaborative organisations.

Communities are organic, like teams – there are earlier and later stages of development – and like teams they can accelerate through to the later stages or get stuck in an earlier stage.  Although some Communities take abrupt leaps of development, others languish at key inflection points.  These include the construction of a binding sense of identity (unity embracing diversity), the transition from passive to active engagement, and the bridge between learning and action: the Learn-Act gap.

MJA has created a roadmap which tracks Community growth through five stages of development: Identity, Relations, Learning, Action and Value.   MJA employs quantitative and qualitative assessment processes to establish the Community’s current stage of development and works alongside Community stakeholders to create practical strategies which nudge the Community towards its full value-creating potential.  Our Community development solutions are tailored to the Community’s unique organisational context, as well as to its growth stage and opportunity.

What we do

• We assess and locate your Communities stage of development on the Community Development VALRI pyramid using a blend of surveys and interviews.
• We use the data to compare the Community network of sites, functions and geographies and identify ‘bright spots’ and ‘dark spots’ for deeper investigation.
• We use what we learn to co-design practical strategies which accelerate and expand Community Development – specifically at the key transition points within and between stages.
• We customise solutions which move new or existing Communities up the pyramid and amplify its value-creating potential.