Online Communities & Communities of Practice

Week 8 of Social Media for business introduces COP – Communities of Practice. In this blog I will try to analyze what are the characteristics of COP and their relevance to business strategy, and their benefits and limitations of online communities.

Today’s economy runs on knowledge,  and use of cross-functional teams, customer- or product-focused business units, and work groups to capture and spread ideas. In many cases, these ways of organizing are very effective, and no one would argue for their demise. But a new organizational form is emerging that promises to complement existing structures and radically galvanize knowledge sharing, learning, and change. It’s called the community of practice.

Etienne Wenger summarizes Communities of Practice (COP) as “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

The author (Etienne Wenger) noted three important elements:

1. Domain – an identity formed through a domain of shared interest. Being a part of the domain implies commitment & therefore a shared competence distinguishing members from non-members.
2. The Community – has shared interest in its domain and engage in building relationships that enable them to learn from one another. Commitment to the community can run deeply within its members.
3. The practice – members of a community of practice are practitioners. Over time they develop tools and a practice that is enduring an beneficial to its members

 

Characteristics of COP

Communities of practice have different names in all organizations. They are known under various names, such as learning networks, thematic groups, or tech clubs. Communities of practice have been around for as long as human beings have learned together. At home, at work, at school, in our hobbies, we all belong to communities of practice, a number of them usually. In some we are core members. In many we are merely peripheral. And we travel through numerous communities over the course of our lives.

The concept has been adopted most readily by people in business because of the recognition that knowledge is a critical asset that needs to be managed strategically.  COP is used for:

• Sharing and co-learning about related practices across projects.
• Learning while doing.
• Support for practitioners spread across the globe.
• Professional development.

Communities of practice are as diverse as the situations that give rise to them. People in companies form them for a variety of reasons. For example, when a company re-organizes into a team-based structure, employees with functional expertise may create communities of practice as a way of maintaining connections with peers. Sometimes people may form communities in response to changes originating outside the organization, such as the rise of e-commerce, or inside, such as new company strategies—think of auto manufacturers going into the financing business or computer makers offering consulting services.

COP and Business Strategy

The COP raises the capability and facilitates innovation through the cross-domain exchange. As a business strategy a COP offers a lot of value. The informality and passion that drive COP’s if harnessed effectively can be a very effective business tool.

The infrastructure to support COP’s doesn’t need to be complex. It needs to be simple and easy to use  social media tools, like blogs, wikis, discussion forums, on-demand video/teleconferences etc. are highly effective.

An example from Hewlett-Packard, where a community of practice consisting of product-delivery consultants from around North America holds monthly teleconferences. The community focuses on an HP software product called High Availability, which minimizes computer downtime for customers. The core group of consultants, who had been somewhat isolated, came together a few years ago with the help of facilitators from a knowledge management support team. The members discovered that they had many problems in common and that they could learn a great deal from one another. The community has succeeded in standardizing the software’s sales and installation processes and establishing a consistent pricing scheme for HP salespeople.

Online Communities

An online community is a virtual community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet. For many, online communities may feel like home, consisting of a “family of invisible friends.  An online community can act as an information system where members can post, comment on discussions, give advice or collaborate. Commonly, people communicate through social networking sites, chat rooms, forums, e-mail lists and discussion boards. People may also join online communities through social media like blogs and virtual worlds.

What is an online community of practice?

The evolution of Internet and Web technologies has:

• Impacted on the way individuals communicate;
• Greatly enhanced the development of communities online; and
• Provided the opportunity for online communities of practice to facilitate the creation, refinement, sharing and use of knowledge effectively between individuals.

Benefits And Limitations

An online community of practice requires more than simply transferring a community of practice to an online environment.

Technology infrastructures have to be created to support the functioning of online communities of practice to overcome barriers that do not occur in co-located communities of practice. These barriers include:

– Time: to meet and communicate;

– Size: membership may be large and involve many locations;

– Affiliation: members spread across organisations; and

– Culture: members experience different organisational cultures.

Can communities of practice be totally supported and operated online? An ongoing debate is whether or not communities of practice can be virtual. Two key issues raised in this debate concern:

• Whether relationship and trust can be built online
• Whether tacit knowledge and practice can be shared online.

Limitations:

• Very little information is available regarding bilingual online communities of practice.
• Conducting online discussions in multiple languages is complicated.
• Designing a bilingual website requires more than translating the words.
• Providing bilingual websites makes an important statement regarding the value of that culture to society.
• More research is required into the provision of bilingual online communities of practice.

Benefits of online communities of practice include:

 

• Membership is diverse;
• Leadership is strong;
• Technology is used appropriately;
• There is an emphasis on participation and community building; and
• They are long-term

 

It should be noted that communities of practice can be very effective in a digital world, where the working context is volatile, complex, uncertain and ambiguous.  A large part of the lifelong learning market will become occupied by communities of practice and self-learning, through collaborative learning, sharing of knowledge and experience, and crowd-sourcing new ideas and development.

Reference:

Wenger, E. (2006). Communities of practice: A brief introduction.   Retrieved from  http://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/07-Brief-introduction-to-communities-of-practice.pdf

Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier. Source: https://hbr.org/2000/01/communities-of-practice-the-organizational-frontier

Online Community.  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_community

 

 

Social Media In The Work Place

It’s my tea break.  Let me check how many people have liked my new profile picture….
Busy writing this business case and twitter notification pops up on the phone.  oh I need to check it out quickly.  It will just be a minute maximum…..
I am stuck and need more information to solve this issue.  OK let’s use google….
I don’t like the products of that company…let me write a bad review on their Facebook page….

While most organizations understand that social media use in the workplace is a reality, their approach to managing it varies.  There are some organizations who either want to simply block altogether all social media applications for use at work and there are some who want to allow all or some social media applications like Facebook and Twitter . But most work places are keen on striking a balance of acceptable use.

Even organizations who have a general understanding about why social media should be allowed in a corporate setting, they are still in one of two camps: those who embrace social applications willingly for its ability to enable business agility and those who embrace it grudgingly, worrying in the back of their minds about how these applications may be impacting worker productivity.  Let’s explore some of these hesitations and issue, and how they can be managed for a healthy work-life balance.

 Business Use of Social Media

With a number of social networks offering a slightly different approach to sharing, interaction and communication, there’s a platform available for all strategies and business types.

With an expected 2.44 billion people to be using social media by 2018, can you afford to ignore it as a resource of marketing, recruitment and engagement?

Let’s look at some advantages of using social media at work:

• Social media’s great for company culture – people know how to use social media and are comfortable with it. Allowing employees to interact with each other through a social medium is a great way to enable a cohesive culture and encourage individuals to communicate with each other from disparate locations.
• Social media improves collaboration – although many assume that social media is only for non-work related interaction, the functionality included is often extremely useful for business collaboration. The ability to share data in any form, quickly and easily (and often for free), with a large number of people or specific teams, makes social media an invaluable tool for collaboration.
• Social media provides a channel for advocacy – allowing the use of social media by employees can provide a brand with an advertising channel that is not only free, but very influential.
• Social media’s a great way to network – any productive employee will need to network with other people. Sales is all about networking, whether this is with an existing lead or sourcing new ones. Business leaders can nurture opportunities for business partnerships and relationships.
• Marketing can build and manage the company’s brand online – free form of advertising and engaging people. Creates brand awareness and distinction.  Enables people to like or familiarize with brands.
• Recruiting teams can search for and engage with talent. To grow a business, everyone needs to have the trust, ability and tools necessary to do so. If a company is completely insular, then it will be quickly surpassed by its competitors that are embracing new technologies and strategies using social media.
  

Use Of social Media During Work Hours

Research shows that a majority of employees who access Facebook during their workday act as “social voyeurs,” meaning the application is running in the background as they continue their normal tasks.Most employees keep Facebook or Twitter open in the background while they’re at work, like email.

 

The addition of new features such as the “Like” button, a more interactive Timeline and greater integration with other websites (and apps) is likely driving the increase in more interactive use of Facebook. Like the growth of social applications alongside IM, more widespread access to better tools leads to more time spent being interactive online. This is a trend that is likely to continue, and one that smart businesses can leverage to their advantage. This closely matches the way that most people use their email at work – .  an always-on communication tool, albeit one with a much more business-critical focus.

Employers’ Concern

The biggest concern from an employers’ perspective is that employees who use social applications are less productive than employees that do not. It is deemed that staff spend a lot of time checking their social media pages instead of working their full shifts.  Perception is that at times employees start interactions including chatting which takes up time and concentration away from daily work. However, research has shown that employees who are always connected (thanks to personal devices like smart phones) take shorter work breaks than ever before (down an average of 35 minutes per day).

These same devices and remote access to enterprise applications also means employees regularly work during “off hours,” increasing overall productivity. After all, how often do you check your smartphone for work-related email, tweets, etc. during ‘off hours’? In addition to productivity as it ties to time worked, there are also the productivity bonuses associated with the ability to safely use social networks like Facebook and Twitter to meet corporate business objectives in areas like marketing, customer service and sales.

Enterprise executives are not just enduring this evolution in communication, but many are embracing and proactively seeking ways to use these social applications to form connections with their customers and their employees. Finally, more and more forward-thinking organizations are leveraging the trend towards more digital interaction and are turning towards advanced collaboration tools to improve company’s efficiency, overall.

Cultural Differences

We all know that social media can be very effective for promoting and marketing brands, but what about it’s effect on your company’s productivity?

I’m sure there are many managers out there who have or are struggling with the question of allowing employees to use social media in the office.

I know that I’ve seen some that do allow their staff to use it and some that lock it all down. I have to wonder though, is productivity any more of a problem since social media came along?

Has social media really created the problem or is it simply drinking coffee in the kitchen where staff may gather to while away a little time?

Of course Twitter and Facebook etc can be distracting. However, is it whether you should be blaming the technology or your own hiring and management practices is the dilemma here. It’s just too easy to point the finger at something such as social and rationalize that blocking it will increase productivity.

Arguably it is wrong to adopt policies which affect those who are productive and put in the extra effort both in the office and outside normal hours.  Some employers out there think that they own the employees between 8am to 5pm and show little or no real appreciation for the extra work taken home or stayed and worked late in the office or come early to work.

People Need A Break Now And Then

Perhaps employees are distracted because moral is low due to a bad environment. A recent Canadian study found that 35% of HR people said their organization would tolerate just about anything from a manager so long as they got results – leaving HR to clean up the mess, if possible. 73% of HR people reported they spend a significant amount of time dealing with problems caused by bad managers.

Some people like to stare out the window on sunny days and daydream – does this mean they should be bricked up? If  employees are distracted by social media then it’s a staffing/culture issue and taking the easy way out by blaming the web or social media is simply glazing over a deeper problem. If  company supervisors are pointing the finger at social media as the issue then perhaps  taking a good hard look at how they manage their people is more important.

It’s really a human nature problem and that’s pretty much always the case. Technology is an avenue and not the driver. Those folks who seem to be distracted so much by social would probably be waylaid if a penny rolled by their feet. They’d find other things to waste time with, be it chatting by the water cooler or wandering the halls chatting up coworkers. Social media didn’t create a problem with productivity in the workplace, it just happens to be the latest and greatest way for those individuals to while away time at jobs they are not engaged by.

People do need a brain break every so often.  Research shows that we work best if we take a little break every 25 minutes or so. In other words, heavy focus on the task for 25 minutes then take five or ten minutes to reset the brain for the next task. So, having that little distraction via Twitter or Facebook might actually enhance performance for some. At least one recent university study reported in the New Yorker backs that up and suggests companies offer staff “internet breaks” to increase productivity.

A smart workplace policy on social applications is one that supports employees’ natural inclination to use these apps intelligently while still ensuring the company is safeguarded from security risks. It also puts into context the reality of how these technologies are really used at work and points towards opportunities for businesses to leverage their employees’ desire to collaborate with each other online. Finally, it’s important to realize that effective social media use policies are often linked to enterprise-specific collaboration tools as well, which are often delivered online via Web applications.

As a parting thought, I’d recommend that when it comes to determining access to social applications in the workplace, keep the lines of communication open – and yet secure – within the company as well as externally with your partners and vendors. Understanding what Web applications employees are using in your company allows safely enable not only company-sanctioned applications, but also the ones used by your company’s most effective and efficient workers. By ultimately creating a balance that allows the effective use of technology while hedging against some failings in human behavior, you can make sure that your employees are always able to benefit from the best social and collaboration tools that the web has to offer.  Of course employees work ethics plays a vital role as well.

References

• Does Social Media Actually Cripple Productivity in the Office? Source: http://www.wired.com/insights/2014/07/social-media-actually-cripple-productivity-office/
• In Praise of Distraction. Source: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/04/11/in-praise-of-distractionKennedy, M. & Sakaguchi, T.  (2009).  Chapter XII Trust in social networking: Definitions from a global, culture viewpoint.  In C. Romm-Livermore & K. Setzekorn.  Social networking communities and e-dating services:  Concepts and implications (pp. 225-238).  Hershey, NY: Information Science Reference.
• Mello, J. A. (2012). Social media, employee privacy and concerted activity: Brave new world or big brother? Labor Law Journal, 63 (3), 165-173, Retrieved from Business Source Complete Database

• The Next Generation of Social Media in the Office. Source: http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-Next-Generation-of-Social-Media-in-the-Office?gko=bb000

What is Blogging

blog text under magnifying glass

A blog is a frequently updated online  journal or diary. It is a place to express yourself to the world. A place to share your thoughts and your passions.  Blog is a short form for the word weblog. Blogs are a special type of website that usually displays date stamped entries in reverse chronological order.

Many blogs provide commentary on a certain subject, while others are  personal online diaries, or online brand advertising of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs and web pages.

History of Blogging

The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists or journalists.

According to research, the first blog was created by Junstin Hall while he was a student and it was called Links.net. At that time they weren’t called blogs, and he just referred to it as his personal homepage. Blogger was the first blogging website launched in 1999 by Pyra labs and google bought blogger in 2003 and added its own features such as integration with picasa to enable the users to post photos.

 

Different types of Blogs

• Micro blogging – practice of posting small pieces of digital content in the form of text, pictures, links, short videos, or other media on the internet.  Friends use it to keep in touch, business associates use it to coordinate meetings or share useful resources, and celebrities and politicians (or their publicists) micro blog about concert dates, lectures, book releases, or tour schedules.
• Personal blogs – an ongoing diary or commentary written by an individual, example, an update about a trip or family event. It is shared only among private connections.
• Collaborative blogs or group blogs – written and published by more than one author. Different authors contribute to a particular topic of interest and is targeted at a certain level of audiences.  These blogs are around a single theme, example, politics.
• Corporate and organizational blogs – used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or business.  It can also be used externally for marketing and branding or public relations.

 

Social Media and Blogging

Blogs have become an integral part of online culture. Blogs these days are now being used for business purposes as a form of social media.  It is used for self expression and connecting with people who are interested in the same topics or same interests as you, creating a platform to build a relation with the readers as they comment on posts and sharing though social media with the whole world. Effective blogs require understanding of the key attributes of blogging which are voice, frequency, style, features and the passion to become a blogger.

Some of the major advantage for businesses using blogs are below:

• Develop relationships with potential and existing customers – Blogging allows you to connect with your site visitors. This can be accomplished by asking your readers questions at the end of your posts to get the conversation going or by simply allowing comments and feedback. By reviewing and responding to readers’ comments, you can create a rapport with your audience, build trust, and gain valuable insight into what your customers are looking for.
• Establish your business as an industry leader- you can build trust and clout within your industry by providing valuable, expert information in your blog posts. Over  period of time, you become a “go to” resource for helpful, informative content, which can ultimately lead to higher customer conversion rates. This is especially important for small businesses looking to gain credibility to compete with larger companies.
• Create connection and relationship between people and your brand -Blog posting allows you to show a personal side of your business that perspective and current customers won’t see through outbound marketing techniques. Blogging gives others a sense of the corporate standards, vision, and personality of your company.
• Engage with readers and blog users
• Share links, images, videos and receive feedback from readers via comments
• helps to keep profile information up to date for the readers and followers to build trust and loyalty.
• Place targeted blogs based on demographics and various interests and keep track.

 

References

• Kaplan, A.M. & Haenlein, M.  (2010). Users of the world unite!  The challenges and opportunities of social media.  Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.