Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

Community of Interest
A group of individuals who communicate with each other within a common area of knowledge.
Supports: knowledge sharing, learning, knowledge retention, cross-training
LEVEL OF EFFORT
SIZE OF UTILITY
SCOPE OF WORK
MED
LARGE
WIDE
A community of people who are interested in a specific area of knowledge and need to share
information. Comprised of a network of individuals who have a common interest in an area of
knowledge, a CoI communicates virtually to share and learn from each other’s experiences,
insights, best practices and lessons learned. A CoI is primarily a community of learners who
exchange ideas, develop relationships and work towards furthering their knowledge and
perhaps the application of the area of interest.
While communities are supported by technology, their social dynamic plays a much larger
role than technology. They are implemented by making connections, dialoguing and building
relationships based on trust and mutual interests. The focus is on value added, mutual
exchange, sharing, and continuous learning.
A CoI can be used in support of a CoP (community of practice). When this is the case,
individuals outside the work area of the knowledge domain have the opportunity to participate in
and learn about that domain, thus building future capacity and capabilities for a Utility. CoIs can
be particularly effective vehicles for engaging stakeholders.
Since communities of Interest are primarily virtual, they can involve geographically-dispersed
individuals across various functional areas. The APQC benchmarking study on Virtual
Collaborations provides detailed information on preparing for, supporting and measuring a
virtual collaboration strategy.
Expected Outcomes:
Individuals enhance their learning through information dialogues and conversations.
The organization benefits from cross-learning and
See: Case Example #4 (Chrysler Corporation)
Case Example #6 (SHELL HP)
Singapore Case Study
Tools: Best Practices
Community of Practice
Lessons Learned
Ideas: Stakeholder Engagement
Additional Resource:
APQC benchmarking study on Virtual Collaboration
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Reference:
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. New York, NY: Cambridge
University Press.
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