Join a Community of Practice

Do you belong to a community? I don't mean the community where you "live." I don't mean your home where you spend a few short hours with your family and sleep. As professionals we "live" in our professions. Are you part of the professional community?

All of us professionals need to be part of a community of practice. Yes, all of us. I'm an introvert, so I have never been much of a joiner, but I need a professional community too.

Over the past few years, my professional life has been dramatically improved by the community of practice (CP) that I belong to. A CP as a group of practitioners who meet with peers to share their knowledge and experience.

The CP I belong to is made up of members of National Speakers Association. We do not talk about speaking techniques or platform skills. What we do talk about are practice issues we face: problems, frustrations, new ideas, old procedures that need to be modified, business models, client relations, books we have read, workshops we have attended, technology we use, etc., etc.

Our CP has a core group of members. Bob, Laura, Marcia, Paul, Cam and I rarely miss a meeting. Why? Because we are able to give and take as CP members. We're all basically on the same level professionally so almost everything we discussed is relevant to all of us.

For the guest who visits, three possible things happen:

1. The guest is able to give and take as a peer
2. The guest realizes we are too far advanced for him or her
3. The guest realizes we are at a lower level than he or she is.

If the second or third thing happens the guest simply does not come back. If the first thing happens the guest will see the value of the group and join (no sales pitches necessary). Self-selection is the basis of membership.

CPs are free-flowing, relatively unstructured, voluntary groups. Organizations cannot mandate CPs, but they can provide resources (such as time) for their support. CPs typically have a coordinator, but not a formal leader.

Members join and remain in CP's because the members have a common interest. The members of the CP I belong to share interests in keynote speaking, workshops, and consulting.

Tacit knowledge is the key to CP success. What is shared in a CP is beyond book knowledge. The tacit knowledge that a shared in CP's is the result of many years of professional experience. You can’t get that kind of knowledge from a book.

Find a CP where you can give and take. It will take your career to the next level!

To learn more about communities of practice read "Cultivating Communities of Practice" by Etienne Wenger or Chapter 5 of my book, "Strategic Organizational Learning".