Week 3 - Blog Posting #6 -Communities of Practice
It is always a wonderful thing to realize you have been successfully on the cutting edge for years and never even knew it. It is even more special to get a really cool name for hanging out with friends with common interests. Communities of Practice WOW.
When I first started to learn Microsoft Office (Version 3) I found buddies that were better at it than I was and hung out in their offices and watched them work. I picked up new techniques and gained understanding of workflows. This helped me to become very skilled in Word and Excel, or so I thought. The reality of my limited knowledge hit when I did an internship with a computer training company. In my first week I learned that I had taught myself the most cumbersome and convoluted ways of doing almost everything. My plan failed because I looked first for a buddy, and then for someone to teach me.
When I became a full time computer trainer I promoted power user luncheons and coffee breaks. It was wonderful to have a team of true power users sitting around a screen figuring out better ways of accomplishing tasks.
McDermot, (N.D.) describes “Information junkyards and empty libraries” as the common result of typical knowledge management. Somebody must know how to do that thing, but who is it and how do we find them? To address this problem I proposed and created Power User Groups for both the City of Boise and Blue Cross of Idaho. Each department supervisor designated a Power User as the go to person in the room. On a weekly basis the power users met for a presentation on a task and were treated to lunch in the cafeteria. The power users gained a new community of friends they could depend upon to help with computer issues.
“Communities of practice are groups of people who share information, insight, experience, and tools about an area of common interest” (Wenger, 1998). By establishing communities of practice in the workplace, recognizing the power users and providing on-clock time for the meetings productivity increased and errors were minimized.
McDermot, R. (N.D.). Knowing in community: 10 critical success factors in building communities of practice. Retrieved August 19, 2009 from http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=18256282762269958641&hl=en
Wenger, E. (1998), Communities of practice: Learning as a Social System. Systems Thinker. Retrieved August 19, 2009 http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=13212442059881753827&hl=en.
When I first started to learn Microsoft Office (Version 3) I found buddies that were better at it than I was and hung out in their offices and watched them work. I picked up new techniques and gained understanding of workflows. This helped me to become very skilled in Word and Excel, or so I thought. The reality of my limited knowledge hit when I did an internship with a computer training company. In my first week I learned that I had taught myself the most cumbersome and convoluted ways of doing almost everything. My plan failed because I looked first for a buddy, and then for someone to teach me.
When I became a full time computer trainer I promoted power user luncheons and coffee breaks. It was wonderful to have a team of true power users sitting around a screen figuring out better ways of accomplishing tasks.
McDermot, (N.D.) describes “Information junkyards and empty libraries” as the common result of typical knowledge management. Somebody must know how to do that thing, but who is it and how do we find them? To address this problem I proposed and created Power User Groups for both the City of Boise and Blue Cross of Idaho. Each department supervisor designated a Power User as the go to person in the room. On a weekly basis the power users met for a presentation on a task and were treated to lunch in the cafeteria. The power users gained a new community of friends they could depend upon to help with computer issues.
“Communities of practice are groups of people who share information, insight, experience, and tools about an area of common interest” (Wenger, 1998). By establishing communities of practice in the workplace, recognizing the power users and providing on-clock time for the meetings productivity increased and errors were minimized.
McDermot, R. (N.D.). Knowing in community: 10 critical success factors in building communities of practice. Retrieved August 19, 2009 from http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=18256282762269958641&hl=en
Wenger, E. (1998), Communities of practice: Learning as a Social System. Systems Thinker. Retrieved August 19, 2009 http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=13212442059881753827&hl=en.
1 comments:
- isaiahveale said...
- Brian, I appreciate Communities of Practice. I have seen it in learning Photoshop and Final Cut by working with people who are more proficient in the software. Tasks such as the right lighting for a specific feel for our videos, scene selection during screenwriting, and editing techniques have all been gathered by working in Communities of practice. But the greatest area I have experienced this is on the soccer field. As a player I learned from more experienced players on the right technique, decision making, and tactics. Other coaches have shared knowledge in training, psychology of sport, and unifying players. These communities of practice make me better at everything I do.
- March 24, 2010 10:53 PM
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