A community of practice is a group with shared skills, interests, or concerns that meets regularly to improve knowledge and practice in a focused area. It supports continuous learning and upskilling when learning is treated as part of normal working time rather than a one-off intervention. section 17.3.1 section 17.0
Create the conditions that help a community of practice remain useful:
- Meet regularly so members can sustain participation and improve over time. section 17.3.1
- Provide community leadership that gives the group direction and support. section 17.3.1
- Create a safe-to-learn environment where members can raise concerns and seek advice. section 17.3.1
- Secure organizational support, including sufficient time to organize and attend. section 17.3.1
Supporting a product-centric transition
An organization formed a community of practice for heads of product and platform during its move from project-centric to product-centric work. The group met for an hour every two weeks, allowing leaders to raise transition problems and receive advice from peers and external experts. Early discussions exposed how leaders still applied project habits, including managing team capacity through a day-by-day spreadsheet. section 15.1.4
Use the group to connect new practices with real work, surface recurring organizational problems, and reinforce change after a modernization effort ends. Treat participation as supported work, because overloaded teams may otherwise return to older habits. section 15.1.4 section 17.5
