Communities of Practice

Communities of Practice (CoP) are members of an organization who work together to diseminate knowledge throughout their community. They are considered great vehicles that not only promote knowledge reuse but also prmote creation of new knowledge for greater innovation and efficency of the organization. CoP's can be instrumental in the development and documentation of "Best Practices and Leasons Learned"

All CoP's share some basic characteristics. They are made up of members who share common goals. These members agree to the rules of the community and to carry out certain roles in order to achieve the communities goals. They also share a common workspace where members can communicate, store and share knowledge products.

The common workspace of a CoP usually has a virtual aspect in that the CoP will make use of an organization Intranet or the internet, so that real time exchanges and asynchronous discussions can take place.

There are many types of CoP's and they are typically defined by a common focal point, such as members or a profession or industry, work related functions such as production or operations, or topics such as technology or knowledge retention.

CoP's resemble professional organizations. They have a business case, code of ethics, and mission statement.