com-prac : Messages : 1-32 of 8344

Messages: Show Message Summaries (Group by Topic)

#32

From: pmford3@...
Date: Tue Nov 2, 1999 1:54 am
Subject: More on "Cost versus Knowledge for Different Groups"

pmford3@...

<html>

<head>
<title>Cost versus Knowledge for Different Types of Groups</title>
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0">
</head>

<body>

<p><big>Immediately below is Louis de Merode's 31-Oct-99 response to my
chart</big> (ie,
Cost versus Knowledge for Different Types of Groups)</p>

<p><font size="2">&quot;Paul:<br>
In my view, functional organizational units are also communities in
addition to being
formal organizations, so I am struggling with your table. I also don't
see all these forms
as belonging on a spectrum from low to high efficiency as much as I see
them as being
suitable for different types of task: no heavy lifting for communities,
no open-ended
reflecting&nbsp;for work units.<br>
Cheers!<br>
Louis&quot;</font></p>

<p><big>And my reply:</big></p>

<p>I think it is great to have such a diverse set of CP practitioners
participating in
this CP site. So the challege for us is how to build a shared sense of
what we know to be
true as well as what are the important areas for us to focus our
discussion, dialog and
exploration (our learning agenda). So I am interested in testing out
the differences I saw
among types of common groups that exist within an enterprise (I am
ignoring other types of
groups that normally exist without any context of one or more
enterprises; eg, political
parties are an non-enterprise group). I think the distinctions among
common enterprise
groups goes to the heart of what we are talking about. So please bear
with me as I try to
explain my thought process.</p>

<p>1) in the chart below I identified 4 common groups within an
enterprise:

<ul>
   <li><strong><font color="#008080">Functional Organization
Units</font></strong> -- a group
     like this is visible as a box on an org chart (eg, Accounting; the
group typically
     &quot;own&quot; its people resources, has defined job positions,
performs services and/or
     produces products, members of the group follow defined procedures,
operate under set
     policies).</li>
   <li><strong><font color="#0000ff">Teams -- cross discipline process
teams and project teams</font></strong><font
     color="#400040"> -- a group such as this is set up with members
assigned from organization
     units to participate in a cross-functional process (eg, new product
development) or
     participate in a project with defined deliverables, budget, scope,
deadlines (eg, prepared
     the enterprise's mainframe systems so they are Y2K
compatible).</font></li>
   <li><strong><font color="#800080">Networks, Alliances,
Committees</font></strong><font
     color="#400040"> -- a group here is more focused on a common
interest area; a network can
     be as informal as a group of people who all attended the same
college; an alliance such as
     a preferred supplier agreement will be staffed with participants
from the member
     enterprises and their task is to make sure their enterprise's
interests are represented in
     any decisions and actions taken; while a committee is composed of a
set of people charged
     with setting and overseeing direction for some initiative or
resource (eg, an Information
     Technology steering committee made up of managers whose groups
receive services from the
     IT organization unit).</font></li>
   <li><font color="#400040"> </font><strong><font color="#ff0080">Commu
nities of Practice,
     Communities of Interest </font></strong><font color="#400040">--
here are the groups that
     share a common topic (eg, the affordable housing interest group in
Boston) or a work
     discipline (rotating equipment engineers dealing with the
enterprises's turbines and
     compressors running in production facilities). The members of these
groups band together
     to help each other solve problems and share new
learnings.</font></li>
</ul>

<p>2) Work Efficiency -- how much does it cost to get a unit of work
accomplished (eg,
what is the cost to move an individual's phone from one office to
another office within an
enterprise's facility). You can define the work, measure the cost,
evaluate the quality,
and benchmark this work against similar work performed by other
enterprises.

<ul>
   <li><strong><font color="#008080">Functional Organization
Units</font></strong> -- <strong>Highest
     Work Efficiency</strong> -- the ideal here is for an organization
unit&nbsp; to be very
     efficient in that it can perform/produce at targeted performance
levels (most org units
     don't live up to their ideal target performance levels but this is
the intent in how an
     organization unit is structured and staffed).</li>
   <li><strong><font color="#0000ff">Teams -- cross discipline process
teams and project teams</font></strong><font
     color="#400040"> -- </font><strong>High Work Efficiency</strong> --
teams are structured
     and staffed to produce their assigned results, however they are
often dealing with more
     complexity and uncertainty than Functional Organization Units. So
the complexity and
     uncertainty reduces the efficiency of the team to produce the
intended result (over half
     of all projects no matter what the discipline end up failing to hit
their targets in terms
     of budget, deadlines and quality of their results). The cross-over
from &quot;team&quot;
     to &quot;organization unit&quot; is with self-directed work teams.
Here, a team ends up
     actually being a functional organizaiton unit but the paricipants
are more like a
     cross-discipline process team.</li>
   <li><strong><font color="#800080">Networks, Alliances,
Committees</font></strong><font
     color="#400040"> -- </font><strong>Low Work Efficiency</strong> --
we do not expect a
     group such as a core steering team for a preferred supplier
alliance to perform highly
     structured work activities. These groups are charged with spending
money and time towards
     improving how <em>OTHERS'</em> work is syncronized between the
alliance enterprises. So it
     is not this group's efficiency an enterprise is trying to leverage.
Hence the relaxed
     demand for performing up to some defined benchmark.</li>
   <li><font color="#400040"> </font><strong><font color="#ff0080">Commu
nities of Practice,
     Communities of Interest </font></strong><font color="#400040">--<st
rong> </font>Lowest
     Work Efficiency</strong> -- if you want your phone switched between
offices, would you
     give it to a community of practice? Obviously we do not expect such
an informal group to
     perform defined work processes to targeted benchmark levels. Here
we are dealing with
     problems that don't fit pre-defined patterns, otherwise the problem
would have been
     assigned to a team or a functional organization unit. There may be
some strategic and
     macro-level ways of evaluating the results from the interactions of
a community of
     practice (I have seen an ancedotal database set up to capture what
when well and
     time/money saved by the knowledge shared among the community
members). However work
     efficiency (cost per unit of work) is not even a factor for
evaluating the value of a
     community of practice/interest.</li>
</ul>

<p>3) Knowledge Structure -- this is a spectrum spanning opposite ends
where knowledge on
one side is very explicit, highly structured and codified (validated
and verified) versus
the other end of the spectrum where knowledge is very tacit, has little
formal structure
and new knowledge is emerging quickly (not yet validated and verified).

<ul>
   <li><strong><font color="#008080">Functional Organization
Units</font></strong> -- <strong>Highest
     Knowledge Structure</strong> -- the structural intellectual capital
of an enterprise is
     mainly in its organization units' policies, procedures, forms, job
descriptions, training
     programs, etc. All these knowledge artifacts are codified (besides
being written down,
     they have been verified as correct and validated as been effective
and useful). This
     structured knowledge is what remains after the people leave the
office, plant, etc. and go
     home. Enterprises that have efficient organization units are
competitive in their markets
     on product and service cost (especially in that they have higher
margins with which to
     compete on price).</li>
   <li><strong><font color="#0000ff">Teams -- cross discipline process
teams and project teams</font></strong><font
     color="#400040"> -- </font><strong>High Knowledge
Structure</strong> -- many teams start
     up with members already bringing to the effort existing
methodologies, templates,
     checklists, and go-bys all ready to be re-used from previous
projects. In addition there
     are common team/project competencies such as project management and
associated tools (eg,
     Microsoft Project). All this background knowledge has been
structured and codified
     (validated and verified). So teams can leverage what has already
been done on similar
     projects in the past.</li>
   <li><strong><font color="#800080">Networks, Alliances,
Committees</font></strong><font
     color="#400040"> -- </font><strong>Low Knowledge Structure</strong>
-- typically a group
     here is a one-off effort with low structure and little explicit
definition of deliverables
     and work products. Rather the focus is on improving how some set of
organization units
     and/or teams work together. Members of this type of group are not
involved primarily for
     their work execution abilities but rather for their broad knowledge
and experience. To
     some extent a group can study how similar groups have approached
this type of assignment.
     But in the end the group will have to figure out what will work
best given all the
     peculiarities of their situation.</li>
   <li><font color="#400040"> </font><strong><font color="#ff0080">Commu
nities of Practice,
     Communities of Interest </font></strong><font color="#400040">--
</font><strong>Lowest
     Knowledge Structure</strong> -- here a group's knowledge is
primarily in the heads of the
     individuals and is visible in their conversations and common
explorations (new
     understandings leading to new knowledge). No matter how much a
community of practice
     builds up a database of best thinking (written down, explicit
knowledge), this database
     will be a small fraction of the intellectual capital represented in
the members of the
     group. Some knowledge will be written down such as project stories,
best practices,
     lessons learned. However if you are not a part of this community
and practitioner of the
     discipline, this written down thinking will not provide you with
the how to and the why.
     You will simply see the &quot;what&quot; of the described
thinking.</li>
</ul>

<p><font color="#400040">&nbsp;</font></p>

<hr>

<p><big><strong>Cost versus Knowledge for Different Types of
Groups</strong></big></p>

<p>Below is a matrix by which I attempt to portray distinctions among
different types of
groups within an enterprise. Two dimensions that help to bring out the
differences are:

<ol>
   <li><strong>how efficient is work performed by the group
</strong>(i.e., how much does it
     cost per unit of work to accomplish the work itself, such as moving
an individual's
     computer from one office to another) </li>
   <li><strong>how structured is the knowledge used by the group
</strong>(i.e., is the
     knowledge validated, codified and made explicit or is the knowledge
tacit, primarily found
     in the individuals as they interact within their group) </li>
</ol>

<table bgColor="#ffffff" border="1" width="630">
<TBODY>
   <tr>
     <td rowSpan="5" vAlign="top" width="120"><strong>higher
efficiency<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     <big>Work Efficiency</big><br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |<br>
     lower efficiency</strong></td>
     <td align="middle" width="17%"><p align="center"><strong><font
color="#008080">Functional
     Organization Units</font></strong></td>
     <td align="middle" width="19%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="17%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="22%">&nbsp;</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td align="middle" width="17%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="19%"><p align="center"><strong><font
color="#0000ff">Teams --
     cross discipline process teams and project teams</font></strong></t
d>
     <td align="middle" width="17%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="22%">&nbsp;</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td align="middle" width="17%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="19%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="17%"><p align="center"><strong><font
color="#800080">Networks,
     Alliances, Committees</font></strong></td>
     <td align="middle" width="22%">&nbsp;</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td align="middle" width="17%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="19%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="17%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td align="middle" width="22%"><p align="center"><strong><font
color="#ff0080">Communities
     of Practice, Communities of Interest</font></strong></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td colSpan="4" width="75%"><strong>higher structure &lt;---
<big>Knowledge</big> ---&gt;
     lower structure<br>
     codified &lt;------------------------------------&gt;
emergent</strong></td>
   </tr>
</TBODY>
</table>

<p>by Paul Ford, 1-Nov-99, pmford3@...</p>
</body>
</html>

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (3)

#31

From: abigail.harper@...
Date: Mon Nov 1, 1999 8:38 pm
Subject: Hello to all

abigail.harper@...

Send Email

Hurrah, I've just successfully navigated the sign up procedures! I
enjoyed meeting all of you in Miami last week and look forward to
continuing conversations and discoveries via this group.  I am Abbey
Harper O'Connor, a Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Knowledge
Management group. Over the past 5 years, I've been involved in building
our global Intranet, KnowledgeCurve, which supports the
knowledge-sharing, communications, virtual office, and continuous
learning activities of our global organisation.  This summer, my
responsibilities shifted slightly and I am now responsible for
developing the firm's KM community of interest.  Thus, my reason for
attending the CoP conference.  I must say I came away with all sorts of
inspirations and thoughts.

On the personal side, I too have an 8 year old son who occupies most of
my time outside the office.  I'm also an avid gardener and cook.  And,
my husband and I are both extremely interested in restoring/renovating
old homes.  Which is a good thing, because we've just purchased a circa
1837 home in Virginia that we're now renovating and hope to move to in
the next few years.

Look forward to getting to know you all and to continuing to learn
about Communities of Practice.

Best regards,
Abbey

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#30

From: "Louis de Merode" <ldemerode@...>
Date: Sun Oct 31, 1999 4:11 pm
Subject: Re: Cost versus Knowledge for Different Types of Groups

ldemerode@...

Send Email

Paul:

In my view, functional organizational units are also communities in addition to being formal organizations, so I am struggling with your table. I also don't see all these forms as belonging on a spectrum from low to high efficiency as much as I see them as being suitable for different types of task: no heavy lifting for communities, no open-ended reflecting for work units.

Cheers!

Louis

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (3)

#29

From: pford@...
Date: Sat Oct 30, 1999 9:57 pm
Subject: Cost versus Knowledge for Different Types of Groups

pford@...

Send Email

Note: this is in web page (HTML) format. If you receive this via email and can not read it correctly, save this message as a web page (with .htm) format. You can then view this document correctly in your web browser.

Cost versus Knowledge for Different Types of Groups

Below is a matrix by which I attempt to portray distinctions among different types of groups within an enterprise. Two dimensions that help to bring out the differences are:

how efficient is work performed by the group (i.e., how much does it cost per unit of work to accomplish the work itself, such as moving an individual's computer from one office to another)
how structured is the knowledge used by the group (i.e., is the knowledge validated, codified and made explicit or is the knowledge tacit, primarily found in the individuals as they interact within their group)

higher efficiency \| \| \| \| \| \| \| Work Efficiency \| \| \| \| \| \| \| lower efficiency	Functi onal Organization Units
		Teams -- cross discipline process teams and project teams
			Networ ks, Alliances, Committees
				Commun ities of Practice, Communities of Interest
	higher structure <---------- Knowledge ---------> lower structure codified <--------------------------------------------------> emergent

by Paul Ford, 30-Oct-99, pmford3@...

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (3)

#28

From: smithjd@...
Date: Sat Oct 30, 1999 6:27 pm
Subject: Sharing notes from the Open Space confersations

smithjd@...

Send Email

I'm wondering whether anybody else has notes they could share from the
Open Space event on Monday night.  I'm especially interested in what
was said in the group that was discussing "CPs for innovation and new
knowledge."  A good place to post those notes would be:

http://www.egroups.com/docvault/com-prac/Conference_Notes_and_Insights

That's where I put my notes on community leadership

Cheers!

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#27

From: "Louis de Merode" <ldemerode@...>
Date: Sat Oct 30, 1999 2:50 pm
Subject: Re: Welcome Dale, Cindy, John, Claire, and Dan

ldemerode@...

Send Email

Paul:

Don't forget I'm Belgian! I'm flattered you don't think of me as the alien I
am!

Louis

Louis
----- Original Message -----
From: <pford@...>
To: <com-prac@eGroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 29, 1999 8:07 PM
Subject: [com-prac] Welcome Dale, Cindy, John, Claire, and Dan


> Thanks for posting and letting us know you successfully arrived.
>
> We are starting to build an international CP community. B.Y. and Cindy
> are from Korea while Claire is from the Netherlands. Hope we will
> gather many more CP practitioners from across the globe.
>
> -- Paul
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Learn2 Avoid Junk Mail. Learn2 Shop for Bargain Airfares. Learn2
> Weatherize Your Home. Learn2 Speak Wine. Learn2 Get by in French.
> Learn2 Negotiate a Raise.  http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/965
>
>
>
> eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/com-prac
> http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications
>
>
>
>
>

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (2)

#26

From: "John D. Smith" <smithjd@...>
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 11:36 pm
Subject: Re: Panel Session, Questions & Insights

smithjd@...

Send Email

I'm afraid I just renamed the folder that Paul refers to.  I had a page of
notes from the Open Space event on Monday night.  I figured that it would be
better to rename a folder than to start on the path to many folders each
with one item inside.

John

--*
--* John D. Smith, (503) 963-8229
--* 2025 SE Elliott Ave., Portland OR 97214-5339
--* Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (4)

#25

From: smithjd@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 11:22 pm
Subject: community leadership notes from the open space event

smithjd@...

Send Email

I've just posted a summary of the notes I took in the Open Space event.
  I tried to organize what I heard, giving no consideration to the time
sequence of ideas nor to who said what.

I'd be interested in hearing any thoughts you might have about the
subject or about my summary!

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#24

From: pford@...
Date: Sat Oct 30, 1999 12:07 am
Subject: Welcome Dale, Cindy, John, Claire, and Dan

pford@...

Send Email

Thanks for posting and letting us know you successfully arrived.

We are starting to build an international CP community. B.Y. and Cindy
are from Korea while Claire is from the Netherlands. Hope we will
gather many more CP practitioners from across the globe.

-- Paul

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (2)

#23

From: pford@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 11:56 pm
Subject: Re: Panel Session, Questions & Insights

pford@...

Send Email

caogdi-@... wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/com-prac/?start=22
> Here's an URL to the HTML vesion of "Insights" that Louis supplied:
>
> http://www.egroups.com/docvault/com-prac/Panel%20Session%20Insights/I
ns
> ights.htm
>

Much thanks to Carol Anne for posting the conference's wallchart notes
and questions eariler as well as the Tuesday afternoon workshop's
questions and insights (also thanks to John and Louis for editing these
notes and getting them back to Carol Anne quickly).

Perhaps you noticed that the link above doesnt work? What happenned is
that the eGroups message posting script doesnt realize it needs to keep
all of a link's characters together. So the above link wont work
because the last part "ights" got separated from the rest of the link.

So to find the webpage version of these Insights (prepared by Louis),
go to the vault section, Panel_Session_Insights folder, and click on
Insights.htm

Another thing about folder names and file names on the web: instead of
blanks in names, I use dashes and underscores (like
Panel_Session_Insights). This eliminates the confusing HTML replacement
characters %20 that take the place of a blank in a folder and a file
web location URL. I replaced blanks with underscores in the
Panel_Session_Insights folder name so that when you copy the location
of Insights.htm in this folder you get the following (again the eGroup
message posting script may break the link apart -- hopefully they will
fix this script soon):

http://www.egroups.com/docvault/com-prac/Panel_Session_Insights/Insight
s.htm

-- Paul

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (4)

#22

From: caogdin@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 5:58 pm
Subject: Re: Panel Session, Questions & Insights

caogdin@...

Send Email

Here's an URL to the HTML vesion of "Insights" that Louis supplied:

http://www.egroups.com/docvault/com-prac/Panel%20Session%20Insights/Ins
ights.htm

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (4)

#21

From: caogdin@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 5:54 pm
Subject: Panel Session, Questions & Insights

caogdin@...

Send Email

My thanks to Louis de Merode and John D. Smith for quickly editing the
material they transcribed during the Tuesday morning Panel Session.

First the Question, then the Insights

                  QUESTIONS

----------------------------------
**-- Intention

* What is YOUR question?  Why is it so important to ask it?

* What are the best types of activities that CPs can take on in order to
contribute to the business?

* What percentage of what you learned at this conference are you
actually
going to implement?

* WHY would an organization try to do KM?  CPs?

**-- Assessing value & practice

* As a result of CPs, are you actually more effective IN PRACTICE?
(actually
drilling wells more cheaply?  getting more clients?)  (How do you know?)

* Is your CP strategy making the organization's knowledge available to a
larger community?

* How do you best assess link between the outcome of a CP strategy and
its
impact on the business?

* What is WORTH measuring?

* Which communities or activities or parts of a strategy are more
effective?
and how do you make that assessment?

* Who are measures of CP effectiveness made for?  Community members?

**-- Other consequences

* How are firms managing integration of CPs into other organizational
structures?

* Will intervention (or "help") actually destroy existing CPs?

* Will cultivated CPs be as healthy as "natural" ones?  (healthy plants
metaphor)

* What effect will working with CPs have on the practice of governance
at
work?  Will that lead to a more collaborative spirit with our families?
  How
will that affect our sense of identity?

* How can we live in healthy ways?  How can I be a better parent?

**-- Mechanisms

* How should CPs be funded?  Who gets the actual funds?

* How do we create and keep expertise around a specific practice?

* Can we leverage funding for CPs from outside our organizations and if
so
how?

* How could we develop a "knowledge capitalists" economy?  Are
consultants
and how they operate a model?

** --  KM

* How can we reduce barriers to knowledge flow between firms and
customers?

* How can we identity strategic communities on the periphery of our
organizations?

* What parts of the technology and practices in our vision of the
future are
not available today?

* What exactly IS in Release 5 of Lotus Notes?

**-- Knowledge ecology

* Does time-based competition and compensation system propel knowledge
creators (true learners) outside a system?  (e.g., burn out Boston
Consulting Group consultants)

* Are CPs shaped by the lags within a company in how knowledge is
applied?

* Are there good reason to NOT find existing CPs?  Would it be better to
just be a dumb organization?

* How make CPs really thrive?

* What is a good starting point for increasing the propagation of
knowledge
across large communities that are constantly traveling?

**-- Community building as a practice

* What is a "thick rich picture" of the practice of community-building?
  How
does that work  actually get done?

* How give people who have a major contribution to make a venue in their
communities so that their knowledge can get disseminated?

* Since we've heard of "mis-conceived CPs" (e.g., a CP on cost-cutting
did
not take root) how can we get a CPs "topic" or "domain" right the first
time
around?

* How close to the business does a "knowledge manager" need to be?
Using
the gardener metaphor, is there a difference between gardening knowledge
vegetables and knowledge flowers?

* How do we nurture the "gardeners" who make communities grow?  Is
there a
community that will provide a home for THEIR competence and identity?
How
do we collect more knowledge about farming in general (e.g., community
growing)?

---------------------------

John

--*
--* John D. Smith, (503) 963-8229
--* 2025 SE Elliott Ave., Portland OR 97214-5339
--* Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?


            INSIGHTS

PANEL INSIGHTS
   a.. 2 types of communities
     a.. "dancing naked around the campfire". This produces delayed
results that are hard to measure
     b.. wrench-turning. This produces an immediate impact, often
tangible
   b.. we are often good at sharing, bad at implementing
   c.. the PEARL process introduces accountability for results in
knowledge management processes
   a.. Important to have structure around measurement. Decide what your
objective is before measuring.
   b.. Inputs - activities - outcomes - impact is the measurement
continuum. As you move along the continuum, validity increases but
measurement difficulty increases
   c.. Impact measurement is hard, people have moved on
   d.. Why are you measuring? Is the issue justification? Is it
effectiveness? Is it to promote participation?
   e.. CoPs need to look at the future as well as at current experience
   f.. Paradox  between "intentional fostering..." and  "informal
communities". Don't collapse the paradox
   g.. Zen master teaches to breathe is a good metaphor for how we need
to build communities
   h.. We need more double-loop learning. It's very hard.  Need to be
more intentional
   i.. We need more attention to civic communities issues, parenting,
etc.?
=======================================================================
==
FUNDING
   a..  2 issues (HP)
      - fund the gardeners (Fund off the top)
      - funding participants
     big clash between participation and utilization rates. HP makes
participation part of Personal Development. that solves the problem
   b.. Funding should come from where the value is
   c.. Funding can come from outside
   d.. Knowledge capitalists.  Opportunity -> funding -> monitoring
   e.. Involving suppliers, vendors, in communities, share funding,
knowledge
   f.. K really about culture, values, attitudes, behaviors.  Technology
doesn't help much with those
   g.. The more structured the production system, the more structured
the CPs.
   h.. Time scale of Knowledge application drives CP structure.
   i.. Why discriminate between teams & communities for funding.
   j.. Funding can be decided based on strategic priority
   =====================================================================
=====
HOW TO FACILITATE CPs?
   a.. Offer technologies fitting CP preferences
   b.. Facilitators can supply social skills
   c.. Develop thick, rich picture of how the work is done.
   d.. The anthropological view:  work is not done the way you think
   e.. Get the CP right in the first place. Two criteria:
     a.. Strategic value
     b.. personal passion, identity
   f.. Roles people identify with.
   g.. 3 types of needs in CPs
     a.. I have a problem
     b.. I would like to work an issue with a few interested people
     c.. I have something exciting to share
   h.. "I get 4 ideas a week from this newsletter I can use in my work"
(type of success measurement)
   i.. Coach and nurture gardeners
   j.. Gardeners of vegetables have to be vegetables.  They also need to
know farming.

       Louis de Merode

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (4)

#20

From: "Daniel D. Elash" <lashrig@...>
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 3:23 pm
Subject: Re: Brainstorm success and fail factors in CoPs

lashrig@...

Send Email

Claire,

     I suppose the item I would raise should be called the use of the
informal leader.  In my experience, local, informal thought leaders are
invaluable in building communities.  Often, these are natural community
builders just on the strength of their judgment and their personalities.
When encouraged or facilitated they are invaluable as resources.  Groups
tend to coalesce areas of felt need or concern.  At times a facilitator can
"fan those flames" by helping to frame issues so that the implications
across boundaries or geographies are apparent at the pesonal level.  Another
thing that the facilitator can do is to create the opportunites or occasions
for those informal leaders to talk either with others or among themselves.
These conversations can be supported either formally or informally and the
"right" approach is closely interwoven with local culture, conditions and
resources.  Of course, open forums are better for this than are scripted
ones.  People ususally come together around a threat (most commonly) or an
opportunity (occasionally) and any strategic communicationsplan or
capabilities in the organization that can be used to highlight those common
issues are also important CoP resources.  Hope that this spurs some
conversation while addressing your needs, Claire.

Dan

claire-de.neree@... wrote:

> In the tuesday afternoon workshop we ended up speaking about the
> success and fail factors in CoPs. We had a little brainstorm, the
> results of which I will write down below, and hoped that people could
> contribute by commenting and expanding the list.
>
> Success and fail factors - in no particular order:
> Funding and resources (money and time)
> Top management support
> Active coordinator and strong leadership
> Face to face meetings
> More of a feeling culture instead of a thinking culture
> A culture in which team work is rewarded instead of individual work
> The right technology enablers
> Enlarged peripheries anchored in the culture as opposed to "We are
> already doing that"
>
> Hope to hear from you,
>
> Claire
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Learn2 Avoid Junk Mail. Learn2 Shop for Bargain Airfares. Learn2
> Weatherize Your Home. Learn2 Speak Wine. Learn2 Get by in French.
> Learn2 Negotiate a Raise.  http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/965
>
> eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/com-prac
> http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (4)

#19

From: claire-de.neree@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 2:37 pm
Subject: Brainstorm success and fail factors in CoPs

claire-de.neree@...

Send Email

In the tuesday afternoon workshop we ended up speaking about the
success and fail factors in CoPs. We had a little brainstorm, the
results of which I will write down below, and hoped that people could
contribute by commenting and expanding the list.

Success and fail factors - in no particular order:
Funding and resources (money and time)
Top management support
Active coordinator and strong leadership
Face to face meetings
More of a feeling culture instead of a thinking culture
A culture in which team work is rewarded instead of individual work
The right technology enablers
Enlarged peripheries anchored in the culture as opposed to "We are
already doing that"


Hope to hear from you,

Claire

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (4)

#18

From: lashrig@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 3:15 pm
Subject: Just signed on

lashrig@...

Send Email

Hi folks, I am Dan Elash. I am an organizational capabilities consultant and co-owner of my own small firm, Guarriello and Elash,Inc. I have a couple of CoP/KM projects going with client companies and I want to learn more, have people with whom I can dialogue, brainstorm and network. I'm also more than willing to kick in my two cents when its appropriate! I have been a community organizer with a tribe of American Indians, a chapter organizer with the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease and am a Ph.D. clinical psychologst by training. I have spent most of my professional life coaching/facilitating growth at the individual, the team and the organizational level. I have an organic model of organizations. My Ph.D. is from the University of Kansas, the birthplace of Ecological Psychology as a specific discipline so I tend to look at the ecosystem as well as the community in which it exists. I would be glad to share more about myself, both background and orientation but I don't want to bore the group with what might appear to be self-centered drivel. So more available upon request. I am looking forward to the comradery. Dan

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#17

From: claire-de.neree@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 2:12 pm
Subject: Introduction

claire-de.neree@...

Send Email

Hello everybody,

I had a great time at the conference, came back at the office today and
had lots of things to tell my colleagues, which I see as a good sign.

As a little introduction, I just joined Unilever as a management
trainee. I am  currently working as a knowledge management specialist
with the Knowledge Mapping and Structuring Unit in Vlaardingen, the
Netherlands. My responsibilities will be to support a part of Unilever
with setting up Communities of Practice, to facilitate and organize
knowledge management workshops and to think about a knowledge
management benchmark.

I hope to exchange lots of useful insights on Communities of Practice
with you, so that we will all become a little wiser on the topic.

Cheers, Claire

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (47)

#16

From: smithjd@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 2:00 am
Subject: Intro and posting about "Passion"

smithjd@...

Send Email

Hi, everybody!

It was great to meet everybody in Miami and really good to spend some
social time together.

I'm an independent consultant based in Portland, Oregon.  I've been
building and leading communities for many, many years.  While I was a
"management analyst" at the University of Colorado some 20 years ago I
would get people together at lunch to talk about how it was they did
their jobs in planning at all levels of the University.  One friend
kidded me about how it was "just talk" that didn't actually accomplish
anything by calling it "the planning for lunch bunch."

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about communities of practice for the
last 2 years or so, most recently by helping with Etienne's class on
the Web:

	 http://www.KnowledgeEcology.com/keu/cc/99aug.cop.shtml

I'm very concerned with the question of how we can support ourselves as
a community of community builders.  I don't think that anything comes
for free, and it seems to me that if we took this seriously, we would
pay the $60 to get rid of the irritating advertisements that e-groups
inserts.

I just ran across something interesting in an e-mail Zine named Fast
Take:

	 http://www.fastcompany.com/community/fasttake.html


"You cannot motivate the best people with money. Money is just a way to
keep score. The best people in any field are motivated by passion." --
Eric S. Raymond,open-source software evangelist

	 http://www.fastcompany.com/fast.take/online/29/inspired.html

Cheers!

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#15

From: pmford3@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 1:52 am
Subject: How to Contribute to this CP site

pmford3@...

Send Email

To help everyone get up to speed on how to contribute content to our CP
eGroup site, I have created a set of step-by-step 'how to' instructions
and uploaded them to the 'vault' section in a folder called:
How_to_Contribute. Inside this folder you will see a webpage called:
How_to_Contribute.htm. Click on this to see directions for functions
such as managing your eGroup profile and subscription to this CP site,
posting a message, adding a link to a web resource on the Internet,
uploading a file (when you get ready to upload your photo, you may want
to look at this).

It is important that you know how to contribute to our discussion
(posting a message). And you may have some content such as a
presentation or an image that is better shared through storing in the
vault. And if you find a great CP resource on the web, it sure would be
nice if you can post it on our site in the 'links' section.

Let me know if any of these directions don't make sense. -- Paul Ford

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#14

From: pmford3@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 1:43 am
Subject: Feel Free to Post a Photo of Yourself

pmford3@...

Send Email

I have set up a Member_Photos folder in the "vault" section of our CP
site. And I uploaded a small photo of myself. Please consider uploading
a digital photo of yourself. Tip: use your name as the file name of
your photo so others know who they are looking at when they click on
your photo (recommend jpeg/jpg format for photos).

-- Paul Ford

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#13

From: ehpark@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 1:41 am
Subject: Hello,Cindy from Korea

ehpark@...

Send Email

Hi, everyone.

I am Cindy Eunhye Park from Korea.
You can call me Cindy.

It was really great time sharing with you in Miami.

I have been working for LG Electronics for 6 years based in Korea.
Since I joined to our corporate knowledge management team this year,
I have been doing on communites of practice in this organization.
We have some sort of CPs in the R&D dept. And we want to make them
more productive than ever before.

Out company is a manufacturing the home appliances and some digital
equipments.
So I am interested in cases within manufacturing companies, especially.

Personally, I expect to be a mother next March. She(or he) - I expect,
she,
and my husband, he - would be a millenium baby!
So this long trip to Miami was not easy for me, but it came to be
helpful, finally.

I hope we could share new ideas and experiences through this site.

Thank you so much, Paul.

Cindy

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#12

From: pmford3@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 1:39 am
Subject: Welcome Judy and Louis

pmford3@...

Send Email

Judy and Louis,

It is wonderful to see you both made it to our site, signed up and
posted your introductions. Thank you for sharing some personal info
that gives us pictures of you in your glory, eclipses and fly fishing!

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#11

From: ldemerode@...
Date: Fri Oct 29, 1999 1:18 am
Subject: Louis made it too!

ldemerode@...

Send Email

Hello, everybody:

I thoroughly enjoyed our conference in Miami, and I have great
expectations for this dialogue.

I am an independent consultant with a focus on Communities of Practice,
based in the Washington, D.C. area. I worked for more than 20 years at
the World Bank where I was part of starting its Knowledge Management
program. I have been part of struggling and thriving CPs both in my
work and as a citizen, a fly-fisherman a cook, and a recent student.
Indeed, 25 years after studying to become an economist, an engineer and
an MBA, I took a 2-year Masters in OD at the U. of Pepperdine from
which I graduated in August last year in the presence of my wife and my
children. I spent two years in this program in a wonderful learning
community dedicated to helping each other learn from each other -- as
well as from faculty -- and to succeed. Seeing the power of this
community is really what convinced me to dedicate myself to helping
organizations tap into this source both of higher performance and of
better quality of work life.

I live in Alexandria, VA, with my wife, our three children and our two
dogs. I stay connected to my country, Belgium, by visiting my Belgian
family about every year. My children's passions are with opera singing
(Vanessa, 24), soccer (Justin, 16) and acting & singing (Cat, 13). My
wife Janet is starting an Internet company to sell essential medecines
to developing countries. And if I had time in addition to working and
watching my children perform, I would gladly do more reading,
fly-fishing, cooking and jogging.

Thank you, Paul, for making this possible!

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#10

From: jaleavit@...
Date: Thu Oct 28, 1999 11:00 pm
Subject: Hi from Judy

jaleavit@...

Send Email

Hi,
    I'm Judy Leavitt from Rockwell Collins (a part of Rockwell
International).
    Rockwell Collins is located in Cedar Rapids, IA.  We're an avionics
and communications company with 14,000 employees.  In my role as
Information Center manager, I negotiate contracts for web-accessible
databases, provide weekly competitive alerts to management, and manage
the strategic and tactical efforts of our corporate library.  We're
initiating some knowledge management projects with our Engineering and
Technology dept. and are looking at Communities of Practice as one way
to locate and leverage the pockets of technical expertise in our
organization as part of our Lean Electronics initiatives.
    Personal data:  married 30 years, two grown children, love to travel
and to learn about tea.  My husband and I viewed the total solar
eclipse in Stuttgart, Germany in August. What a thrill!
     I'd like to hear details about what projects others are initiating
in the area of knowledge management and communities of practice.
What's worked -- what bombed?

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

From: drvollenweider@...
Date: Thu Oct 28, 1999 10:50 pm
Subject: Re: Intro & feedback

drvollenweider@...

Send Email

pmford-@... wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/com-prac/?start=8
> Carol Anne  caogdi-@... wrote:
> original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/com-prac/?start=5
> review.
> > so far, I've only been able to read two of the
> > four posts ostensibly here (I can't figure out how to get the other
> two
> > to show up!).
>
> One of the options you have after you post a message to this CoP
> eGroups site is to delete your message from the message board (only
you
> -- Paul Ford

Paul: thanks again for setting this up and for braving the navigation
issues for us!  - Dale Vollenweider, Lincoln Re

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (3)

From: pmford3@...
Date: Thu Oct 28, 1999 8:16 pm
Subject: Re: Intro & feedback

pmford3@...

Send Email

Carol Anne  caogdi-@... wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/com-prac/?start=5
review.
> so far, I've only been able to read two of the
> four posts ostensibly here (I can't figure out how to get the other
two
> to show up!).

One of the options you have after you post a message to this CoP
eGroups site is to delete your message from the message board (only you
and the site managers can delete a message you post, other members can
not delete your messages). So we have had messages #1 and # 3 deleted.
Here's why:

Message #1: in the startup of this site, the eGroup software messed up
the formating of the invitation message (it was not readable). So I
deleted the initial invitation message. Probably the wrong choice on my
part!

Message #3: B.Y. deleted his first posting. B.Y.'s first message did
not have anything in the subject heading so he posted another message
with a subject heading (probably best to leave a "blank subject"
message like this on the message board so we don't confuse others with
why a message is missing). Wish we could edit at least the subject
heading of a message after we post it but we can't.

One more thing, once you post a message it will be copied and sent out
via the com-prac@egroups.com mailing list. So those members viewing
messages via email will see it even if you delete your message off the
message board.

As with any technology, there are some new things to learn with using
eGroup. But the $ price is right!

-- Paul Ford

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (3)

From: pmford3@...
Date: Thu Oct 28, 1999 8:00 pm
Subject: Welcome B.Y. and Carol Anne

pmford3@...

Send Email

Welcome to our CoP site. Great to see you braved the eGroup sign-up
process and subscribed to our new CoP site. Also, B.Y., I much
appreciate your introduction. Obviously Carol Anne as a presentor is
already a visible person to this community.

And I really have to say thanks to Carol Anne for posting the notes
from our conference. We need this type of content to help us connect
and find the important discussions areas.

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

From: caogdin@...
Date: Thu Oct 28, 1999 3:06 pm
Subject: Notes from Schedule Annotations

caogdin@...

Send Email

Here's information I captured from wallchartes at Mayfair House, mostly
from the schedule pages I'd posted, and the Post-It Notes you all
wrote.  When Louis de Merode and John D. Smith finish their editing,
I'll make sure those get posted here, too.

Sunday Afternoon Workshop
=========================
Before:  #Successful CoP's  What are the characteristics they have in
common?

# Expectation: What are some of the key cultural issues implied in CoP
formation & sustenance & how do we address these issues?

# is it (wise and/or possible) to replace all the existing formal
organization into community?

# How do you measure effectiveness of communities?

# How do you measure satisfaction of community members?

# How to meausre CoP performance?

# How to make business results from CoP?

#  How do you start communities of practice in a traditinal stove-piped
organization that is attempting to reengineer its structure and
processes?

# If I am building an online communit of practice, how do I know when
   1) I am doing it right?
   2) the community is successful?

# How can we convince the leaders of organization on value of
communities?

# How do you deal with individuals that are isolated by location - in
making them feel like parts of the group, particularly if they need
direct contact?

# Given that existing formal organization is highly performance
oriented and very busy, how can we still make communities formed,
developed, and sustained?  They might be perished in the end.

# What form of grouping qualifies as a CoP?

# How od you form a Community of Practice?

# What is the mechansim (common) that allows community to impact and
influence formal organization's practices?  (the formal organization
might not accept changes proposed)

# How can you help an online community take off when some members are
"techo-phobes" or technology resistant?

# How can you build an *on-line* community designed to enhance human
interaction not *replace* it?

# What kind of motivational measures and organiztional catalysts can be
provided to promote/facilitate communities of practice?

# How to keep online community relevant and continually updated?

# Can the community operate independently or does there need to be a
knowledge manager?

# How do we evaluate the work of individual communities?

# Do financial rewards have any role to play in facilitating community
participation?

# How to transation from a "fact to face" meeting culture to utilizing
on-line community techniques?

# When the global community wants a team room but does not have skill
to develop, how get them to buy in and support the team room?

# With nature of business CoP should form & dissolve.  I know will talk
about developing, will you discuss dissoultion?  Frequently we don't
let go to dissolve.

# How do you best motivate participants to contribute a CoP?

# Should someone coord an on-line CoP?  How much time should I expect
it to take?

# How can you measure success and try to prove ROI?

# What technologies, systems work best to keep people in touch?

# When online community grows and new natural sub-communities develop,
how split off into new communities

# How do you control the growth of the community?

# As it grows, how keep the online knowledge focused?


Monday Morning Sessions
=======================

9:00 Keynote:  Why CoP are Critical to Success (McDermott)
----------------------------------------------------------
Before: #What do you do when management feels a topic is important, but
employees just do not have the enthusiasm to make it work?

# Expectation:  Need some clarity on why knowledge _communities_ are so
important for organizations and not just knowledge _management_

# Does community work dilute the focus on the task orietntation of the
job at hand?  Does it add complexity/confusion to the current
organizational structure?

# Would it help for different 'community of practice' within a company
to share their CoP experiences?

# What is the profile of the coordinator?  How do you get good people
to become a coordinator?

# Please repeat questions or have individuals in audience use
microphone.

After:  Leader / Facilitator / Coordinator:  Are these terms
interchangeable?

9:45 Start Up - Planning & Executing CoP (Cothrel)
--------------------------------------------------
Before: # A community of 1000/4000 people is not a small group who know
each other, trust each other.  Would this group not be a Community of
Interest, rather than a Community of Practice?

#  How do you "seed" a community -- if the senior mgmt realize that
this is an important area to get cross-organizational ideas?  How can
people be 'mobilized' to volunteer for comm. participation?

# Is there a relationship between the success of the CoP and the size?
Is this dependent upon the type of CoP?

After:  How many communities is it feasible to begin at the same time?

10:45 Strategy - How CoP are the Source of a Robust Business Strategy
(Love)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Before:  # What is the minimal support required from senior management?

# How do we quanitfy the success of a learning community?

After:  Communities are about experience.  This is too theoretical &
"in the head" for me

11:45 Customer Loyalty - Integrating your Communities (Marsh)
-------------------------------------------------------------
After:  # Who "owns" the artifacts arising from community effort?  Who
ecides if they should be elevated to "best practice" status vs. deleted
after a certain time period?

# What portion of CoP documents can be hyothetical vs. biz-related
problem?

# What portion of CoP documents arise directly from biz work vs.
created specifically FOR the community?


Monday Afternoon Sessions
=========================

Lunch
-----
Before:  On some of your forms you list only "City & State" yet the
majority of people I've met are from outside the US.

1:45 Practical Rules for Building an On-Line Community (Ogdin)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Before:  Should communities be "top-down" or "bottom-up" at the time of
formation?

After:  #  How to compute the $ value of successful CoP implementation?

# What do you do when executives compete among themselves and don't
think of themselves as a community?

# In a world where executives think all the time about competition, how
do I persuade them to think about communities?

2:30 Building Global Communities for Industry Leadership (Jackson)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Before:  Role of coordinator in managing the interaction of COP within
its ecosystem?

3:30 Fostering Global Communities of Practice (Laporte)
-------------------------------------------------------
After:  Delightful insights into the false assumptions some of us have.

4:15 Fostering & Sustaining Effective Knowledge-Based CoP (Hanley)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Before:  How should communities be 'funded'?


Tuesday Morning Sessions
========================

Tuesday Morning Questions Raised
--------------------------------

1.  What are the energies at work in this picture?

2.  What are the key discourses in which many communities within the
organization engage on an ongoing basis?

3.  How to be a "good citizen" within the discourse?

4.  How do you make communities of practice accountable?

5.  How do you develop identities for communities of practice in
customer service enviroments?

9:00 Keynote:  Are You Ready for CoP? (Wenger)
----------------------------------------------
Before:  # How can we encourage creation of new knowledge as opposed to
knowledge-sharing (recycling of old, existing knowledge)?

# What are the major differences btw the characteristics of a CoP and a
learning organization (e.g.,, as define by P. Senge)?

After:  Great models & examples...but where's the HOW?

10:00 Building a Knowledge Community at Viant (Newell)
------------------------------------------------------

11:15 Interactive Panel Discussion (Hanley, et. al.)
----------------------------------------------------
Before:  What might be the next logical evolution *after* Communities
of Practice?


Tuesday Afternoon Workshops
===========================
1:30 Designing CoP Constellations for Robust Strategy Advantage (Love)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

1:30 Recognizing Your CoP:  Analyze What You Have Learned (Smith)
-----------------------------------------------------------------


What I Plan To Do With What I've Learned Here and Things I Wish Could
Happen After This Conference
=======================================================

# A by-invitation Community of CoP Practitioners


Topics Not on the Agenda I Wish Had Been and People I Wish Had Been Here
========================================================================
# Is it gospel that good communit guilders shall exercise the evil
lurkers?

# Recommendation:  Stories are a way of convening strong meaning.  Int
he speakers' presentation, there were many stories.  Could they be
tape-recorded & transcribed?

# I wanted this to last long enough that we could have EXPERIENCED
community together.

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

From: caogdin@...
Date: Thu Oct 28, 1999 3:04 pm
Subject: Intro & feedback

caogdin@...

Send Email

Most of you have discovered who I am, through my participation in the
CoP program in Coconut Grove...for which I thank you for participating.
  I love programs where I learn as much as I teach, and ours was
certainly one of those kinds of programs.  Each of you had valuable
insights for me to carry away and ponder.

I've offered to post things here, and I will do that, in a separate
thread of messges.  I have typed in all the wallcharts from the
conference, and I have sent to Louis and John their respective records
from the Panel session for their review.

I appreciate Paul having set up this community, but the fact that there
are only four messages since Sunday supports my point that The Internet
(and, in particular, the WWW) is absolutely the WRONG medium to use to
build communities in today's world.  This particular conferencing tool
is wicked complex and awesome slow (and I have a very fast Internet
connection here)...and, so far, I've only been able to read two of the
four posts ostensibly here (I can't figure out how to get the other two
to show up!).

--Carol Anne

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (3)

From: bybyun@...
Date: Thu Oct 28, 1999 10:15 am
Subject: Hi, I am B.Y.

bybyun@...

Send Email

I am Bong-Yong Byun(just call me B.Y.), and I am a Partner in Sigma
Knowledge Group, a management consulting firm in Korea. I live in
Seoul, Korea. At the
moment I am directing a KM project for a client. As a practitioner of
COP, I would like to share experiences and references with the other
members of this group. I hope I can contribuite to this on-line
community on approaches of CoP implementation in Asian countries for
the benefit of members who are affiliated with multi-national
corporations that want to implement CoP in asian region.

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

From: pmford3@...
Date: Mon Oct 25, 1999 5:04 am
Subject: Hello from Paul Ford

pmford3@...

Send Email

Hello, I�m Paul Ford. For the past 3 years I have been helping groups
with virtual teaming. I�m working for ARCO in Anchorage, Alaska. My
wife and I are raising our 2 sons (10 and 8). You can see photos (click
on any of the thumbnails to see larger images) of my kids and our
kitten at:

http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/enfield/16/family/family.html

And besides teaming and helping raise kids, I have also led ARCO�s
exploration of knowledge management and learning approaches. Our group
is called the Learning Organization TechLink (this group started as a
team then changed over a 3 year period into a community of practice).

What do I want out of this site? I hope to share a common interest with
others in learning about forming and supporting effective groups (CPs,
teams, interest groups, alliances, etc.). I am a techie at heart so I
am also interested in what technologies others have found work well for
the groups they are involved in.

Hope to hear from each of you. -- Paul Ford

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

Yahoo! Groups Tips

Did you know...

Messages

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail
	Sign In New User? Sign Up
		Groups Home - Help

Yahoo! Groups Tips

Did you know...

Best of Y! Groups

Messages