Organisations often know far more than they are able to use. Communities of Practice help people facing similar work find one another, exchange practice and solve problems across the boundaries of function, geography and organisation structure.
Launching a platform or creating a mailing list does not create a community. People participate when doing so helps them with work they care about.
We therefore begin with purpose and value: who needs to connect, around what practice, and why will that relationship matter?
Useful communities tend to deepen through access to people and expertise, relationships and trust, sharing practice, solving problems together, creating and adapting knowledge, and improving capability across organisational boundaries.
The work is often less about managing the community than creating conditions in which those forms of value can develop.
MJA can support community purpose and proposition, member research, maturity diagnosis, community leadership, rhythms and convening, knowledge-sharing practices, behavioural nudges, connection with formal learning, and measurement and evaluation.
AB Sugar — MJA studied Operations and Agriculture communities across businesses and countries, using surveys and interviews to understand maturity, collaboration and value over time.
Heathrow — communities of practice and interest were considered as part of the wider organisational learning environment.
Worldpay — the Talent Partner team explored what it would mean to operate as a genuine community of practice rather than a collection of individual specialists.
We can help you turn a network of people into a community that creates practical value.