What the Heck is a Community of Practice? Explaining My Job to Grandma

I often get asked, "What exactly is a Community of Practice (CoP)?" or "What do you mean by CoP Lead role?". Well, if you're curious about these questions, you're in the right place! I have decided to break this down in a post to use as future reference.

What is a Community of Practice?

Alright, Grandma, imagine you love cooking (which you do). Now, think about a group of chefs who get together regularly to share recipes, techniques, and help each other improve their dishes. That's pretty much what a Community of Practice (CoP) is, but instead of cooking, we're talking about software development. A CoP is a group of people who share a common interest or role and come together to share knowledge, solve problems, and develop new skills.

The concept of CoPs was introduced by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger in the early '90s. They saw that people learn best when they engage with others who share their interests and goals. [1] [2]

In our company, CoPs are organised around specific roles, such as agility, backend, frontend, user experience (UX), data insights, and more. These communities operate alongside our day-to-day product teams, providing a platform for peer collaboration and knowledge sharing.

The Role of a CoP

As a Community of Practice, our goal is to facilitate and nurture the community, think of it as organising our culinary club. While my core role is that of a backend engineer, my secondary role as a CoP Lead involves representing and pushing forward several key responsibilities that lie with the community:

1. Organising Meetings and Events: Just like planning cooking classes or recipe swaps, we set up conference attendances, workshops, and off-sites where we can share knowledge and learn new skills;
2. Fostering Collaboration: Create opportunities for community members to work together, share best practices, and solve common challenges. It's like organising group cooking sessions where everyone brings their unique flavor to the table;
3. Curating Resources: We gather and share useful resources like articles, tutorials, trainings and tools to help everyone stay updated with the latest trends and technologies. Think of it as compiling the best cookbooks and kitchen gadgets for our team;
4. Mentoring and Support: We provide guidance and support to each other, by helping them navigate their career paths and develop their skills. Comparable to mentoring aspiring chefs in our group;
5. Defining Job Profiles: We ensure that the job profiles within our community are up-to-date and accurately reflect the roles and responsibilities. Much like keeping a recipe book current with the latest dishes;
6. Setting Skills for Career Development: We help define the skills required for career progression within our community, ensuring everyone knows what they need to grow, similar to setting the techniques needed to become a master chef.

This can, of course, vary depending on the company and the specific needs of the community.

For example, Spotify's organisational structure features squads, tribes, chapters, and guilds. Squads function as teams, tribes are akin to programs, chapters serve as communities of practice, and guilds act as communities of interest. [3] [4]

I recommend reading more about this in the references section.

Conclusion

Communities of Practice are a powerful tool for fostering collaboration, learning, and innovation within a company. They offer numerous benefits, including enhanced improved collaboration, increased engagement, and better knowledge sharing. CoPs also facilitate the onboarding of new joiners, assist in staff hiring, break down silos, improve communication, and enhance employee retention.

Grandma, I hope now you have a better understanding of what is a Community of Practice.

References and Further Reading

• Webber, E. (2016). Building Successful Communities of Practice: Discover How Connecting People Makes Better Organisations. Paperback – February 8, 2016.
• Etieenne Wenger-Trayner and Beverly Wenger-Trayner. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice. Retrieved from Wenger-Trayner

1. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press.
2. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press.
3. Kniberg, H., & Ivarsson, A. (2012). Scaling Agile @ Spotify with Tribes, Squads, Chapters & Guilds. Retrieved from Crisp's Blog.
4. Spotify engineering culture (part 1). Retrieved from Spotify Engineering Blog.