Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to let you all know about the upcoming San Francisco
Online Community Meetup, Wednesday, June 23rd, at TechSoup
Headquarters. Hope you can join us!

Best,
Layal Rabat
Nonprofit Commons in Second Life Volunteer Manager
aka Ninlil Xeltentat (avatar name in SL)
skype: layalzebub
twitter: @layalzebub
email: layal[at]techsoup.org
www.nonprofitcommons.org
http://www.techsoup.org

The fourth Wed. of the month is the free monthly gathering of online
community managers, enthusiasts, and innovators to meet and discuss
tools and strategies for building and managing effective communities.

After a brief hiatus in May, we're back for our June MeetUp. Join us
June 23rd where Maria Ogneva (@themaria), Director of Social Media at
Attensity will kick off our discussion with her presentation on social
media and community management and development.
http://www.meetup.com/octribe/calendar/13334166

Here are all the ways you can take part in the event! Feel free to
participate in any and all of these ways:

Follow the action on Twitter: hashtag: #ocrsf and via TweetChat.

Participate virtually in the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life (slurl
to location in Second Life):
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26
You can see a step-by-step guide for how to participate in Second
Life: http://npsl.wiki.techsoup.org/How+to+Participate+in+SL+Mixed+Reality+Event



Beverage Sponsor: Drinks generously donated by Hansen's Natural SF.



Event Details:

When:
Wednesday, June 23, at 7:00 PM Pacific

Where:
TechSoup Headquarters <
http://www.meetup.com/SF-Online-Community-Report/venue/325274/> 525
Brannan Street 3rd floor San Francisco, CA 94107


RSVP:
RSVP http://www.meetup.com/octribe/calendar/13334166 to the MeetUp
group <http://www.meetup.com/SF-Online-Community-Report/ > . You can
also join the San Francisco Online Community Report MeetUp group on
Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5153873869> .

John's post (and the paper, to an extent) illustrate a curious confusion that
crops up very frequently when explaining communities to unfamiliar people. The
chart that John uses is a good synthesis of the differences.

Projects are definitely different creatures from communities, IMHO, even if they
can overlap in many different ways (community development can be a project;
communities can generate projects; community management and project management
will share a few methodologies; community cores are definitely standing teams).
Both from a technology "habitat" and from a social point of view.

And e-learning is another different beast :-D, even if it runs forums, relies on
teams, and eventually nurtures communities.

IMHO, of course.

Best regards,

Miguel
________________________________________
De: com-prac@yahoogroups.com [com-prac@yahoogroups.com] En nombre de Trevor
NESBIT [nesbits@...]
Enviado el: s�bado, 19 de junio de 2010 4:48
Para: com-prac@yahoogroups.com
Asunto: Re: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey

Hi John

I am using a number of lists where the members may have different
perspectives....  the way the responses are organised lets me see what list the
respondent comes from.

Some of the lists are specifically IT related, whereas other have a KM focus
with this list having a communities of practice....

I am mainly looking at what are the most important non-technical project
management skills are, but am also interested in differing perspectives...

The connection between project teams and communities of practice is not
something I have specifically employed, but I did co-author a paper last year
that explored whether an understanding of both virtual teams and communities of
practice helps us better understand what happens with a group of eLearning
students....  that paper can be found at:

  http://hyperdisc.unitec.ac.nz/naccq09/proceedings/pdfs/63-70.pdf

Kind regards

Trevor


________________________________
From: John David Smith <john.smith@...>
To: com-prac@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, 19 June, 2010 5:51:12 AM
Subject: RE: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey


Hi, Trevor,

I�m curious as to what other lists you are using to recruit respondents.  And
how do you see us as a group?  I would guess that most of us manage projects of
one sort or another but that few of us identify ourselves as �project managers�.

I haven�t peeked at your survey yet, but I was interested in your intentions &
plans.  (Also, I�m curious as to whether you see a connection between project
teams and communities of practice.  I took a stab at a connection here:
http://learningalli ances.net/ 2010/05/digital- habitats- for-project-
teams/<http://learningalliances.net/2010/05/digital-habitats-for-project-teams/>
)

John
* John David Smith ~ Voice: 503.963.8229 ~ Skype & Twitter: smithjd
* Portland, Oregon, USA http://www.learning Alliances.. net
* �The best way to predict the future is to invent it.� Alan Kay

From: com-prac@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:com- prac@yahoogroups .com] On Behalf Of
Trevor NESBIT
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 12:58 PM
To: com-prac@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey


Hi everyone on the Com-Prac list

I am in the middle of conducting some research into skills and attributes that
are most important for project managers to have and would be most appreciative
if some of the members of the Com-Prac list could complete the survey at the
following link:

http://www.surveymo nkey.com/ s/FTWCDYB<http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CL3YJ6R>

Kind regards and many thanks in anticipation

Trevor Nesbit
Information Systems Lecturer
University of Canterbury
Christchurch
New Zealand

Personally I doubt it :-). We may be more conscious of "emergent" and
"self-selecting" teams than managers in more traditional environments, but "more
social"? What's that :-) ?

Volunteer management does not depend much on being (or not) in a formal
"community" environment, IMHO. Team dynamics are quite recognizable (with
different drivers, true). On the other hand, virtual team management IS a
specialized skill, community or no community...

On the other hand... I've recently put an "offliner" in charge of a community
project, with an emergent team. She was so disoriented that you may have a point
:-D. The project team is running itself now (she dropped to "advisory role") but
it would never have happened without her kick-starting.

Best regards,

Miguel
________________________________________
De: com-prac@yahoogroups.com [com-prac@yahoogroups.com] En nombre de Trevor
NESBIT [nesbits@...]
Enviado el: lunes, 21 de junio de 2010 10:52
Para: com-prac@yahoogroups.com
Asunto: Re: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey

Thanks Miguel

The distinctions that you make between projects and communities is a good
one....

My main reason for sending the survey out to groups like this one is connected
to the idea that people with a communities of practice focus may have a
different take one what makes a good project managers (and a good project) in
that they may have a more social point of view...

Cheers

Trevor

________________________________
From: "Cornejo Castro, Miguel" <miguel.cornejo@...>
To: "com-prac@yahoogroups.com" <com-prac@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, 21 June, 2010 7:51:19 PM
Subject: RE: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey

John's post (and the paper, to an extent) illustrate a curious confusion that
crops up very frequently when explaining communities to unfamiliar people. The
chart that John uses is a good synthesis of the differences.

Projects are definitely different creatures from communities, IMHO, even if they
can overlap in many different ways (community development can be a project;
communities can generate projects; community management and project management
will share a few methodologies; community cores are definitely standing teams).
Both from a technology "habitat" and from a social point of view.

And e-learning is another different beast :-D, even if it runs forums, relies on
teams, and eventually nurtures communities.

IMHO, of course.

Best regards,

Miguel
________________________________________
De: com-prac@yahoogroups.com<mailto:com-prac@yahoogroups.com>
[com-prac@yahoogroups.com<mailto:com-prac@yahoogroups.com>] En nombre de Trevor
NESBIT [nesbits@...<mailto:nesbits@...>]
Enviado el: s�bado, 19 de junio de 2010 4:48
Para: com-prac@yahoogroups.com<mailto:com-prac@yahoogroups.com>
Asunto: Re: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey

Hi John

I am using a number of lists where the members may have different
perspectives....  the way the responses are organised lets me see what list the
respondent comes from.

Some of the lists are specifically IT related, whereas other have a KM focus
with this list having a communities of practice....

I am mainly looking at what are the most important non-technical project
management skills are, but am also interested in differing perspectives...

The connection between project teams and communities of practice is not
something I have specifically employed, but I did co-author a paper last year
that explored whether an understanding of both virtual teams and communities of
practice helps us better understand what happens with a group of eLearning
students....  that paper can be found at:

http://hyperdisc.unitec.ac.nz/naccq09/proceedings/pdfs/63-70.pdf

Kind regards

Trevor


________________________________
From: John David Smith
<john.smith@...<mailto:john.smith@...>>
To: com-prac@yahoogroups.com<mailto:com-prac@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sat, 19 June, 2010 5:51:12 AM
Subject: RE: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey


Hi, Trevor,

I�m curious as to what other lists you are using to recruit respondents.  And
how do you see us as a group?  I would guess that most of us manage projects of
one sort or another but that few of us identify ourselves as �project managers�.

I haven�t peeked at your survey yet, but I was interested in your intentions &
plans.  (Also, I�m curious as to whether you see a connection between project
teams and communities of practice.  I took a stab at a connection here:
http://learningalli ances.net/ 2010/05/digital- habitats- for-project-
teams/<http://learningalliances.net/2010/05/digital-habitats-for-project-teams/>
)

John
* John David Smith ~ Voice: 503.963.8229 ~ Skype & Twitter: smithjd
* Portland, Oregon, USA http://www.learning Alliances.. net
* �The best way to predict the future is to invent it.� Alan Kay

From: com-prac@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:com- prac@yahoogroups .com] On Behalf Of
Trevor NESBIT
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 12:58 PM
To: com-prac@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey


Hi everyone on the Com-Prac list

I am in the middle of conducting some research into skills and attributes that
are most important for project managers to have and would be most appreciative
if some of the members of the Com-Prac list could complete the survey at the
following link:

http://www.surveymo nkey.com/ s/FTWCDYB<http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CL3YJ6R>

Kind regards and many thanks in anticipation

Trevor Nesbit
Information Systems Lecturer
University of Canterbury
Christchurch
New Zealand




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

*-- The email forum on communities of practice --*Yahoo! Groups Links

Miguel,

Your stories about community and project managers remind me of how
specialized "social" can be.  My worklife is entirely wrapped up in social
learning, communities of practice and technology.  I think of myself as
pretty social.  But a few weeks ago when I was in Cali for a FAO sponsored
knowledge share-fair (and the launch of a Spanish-speaking KM4Dev:
http://siwa-comunidad.ning.com/ ) I realized that after talking Spanish all
day face-to-face that I REALLY needed some down-time (meaning, among other
things, sitting down and being social with a computer  :-).

John
* John David Smith ~ Voice: 503.963.8229 ~ Skype & Twitter: smithjd
* Portland, Oregon, USA http://www.learningAlliances.net
* "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Alan Kay

-----Original Message-----
From: com-prac@yahoogroups.com [mailto:com-prac@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Cornejo Castro, Miguel
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 3:41 AM
To: com-prac@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey

Personally I doubt it :-). We may be more conscious of "emergent" and
"self-selecting" teams than managers in more traditional environments, but
"more social"? What's that :-) ?

Volunteer management does not depend much on being (or not) in a formal
"community" environment, IMHO. Team dynamics are quite recognizable (with
different drivers, true). On the other hand, virtual team management IS a
specialized skill, community or no community...

On the other hand... I've recently put an "offliner" in charge of a
community project, with an emergent team. She was so disoriented that you
may have a point :-D. The project team is running itself now (she dropped to
"advisory role") but it would never have happened without her kick-starting.

Best regards,

Miguel

Hi John.

If SIWA was just launched, it looks like you did a great job :-).Very lively and
very interesting as far as I can see. Efficient too (using Ning).

Re "social" being specialized skills... definitely agree :-). Both online and
offline. A skill, a serious job of work, and maybe an art form :-D.

Or rather, as you say, several different ones.

Best regards,

Miguel

________________________________________
De: com-prac@yahoogroups.com [com-prac@yahoogroups.com] En nombre de John David
Smith [john.smith@...]
Enviado el: lunes, 21 de junio de 2010 19:26
Para: com-prac@yahoogroups.com
Asunto: [cp] Styles of being social

Miguel,

Your stories about community and project managers remind me of how
specialized "social" can be. My worklife is entirely wrapped up in social
learning, communities of practice and technology. I think of myself as
pretty social. But a few weeks ago when I was in Cali for a FAO sponsored
knowledge share-fair (and the launch of a Spanish-speaking KM4Dev:
http://siwa-comunidad.ning.com/ ) I realized that after talking Spanish all
day face-to-face that I REALLY needed some down-time (meaning, among other
things, sitting down and being social with a computer :-).

John
* John David Smith ~ Voice: 503.963.8229 ~ Skype & Twitter: smithjd
* Portland, Oregon, USA http://www.learningAlliances.net
* "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Alan Kay

-----Original Message-----
From: com-prac@yahoogroups.com<mailto:com-prac%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:com-prac@yahoogroups.com<mailto:com-prac%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf
Of Cornejo Castro, Miguel
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 3:41 AM
To: com-prac@yahoogroups.com<mailto:com-prac%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [cp] Project Manager Skills Survey

Personally I doubt it :-). We may be more conscious of "emergent" and
"self-selecting" teams than managers in more traditional environments, but
"more social"? What's that :-) ?

Volunteer management does not depend much on being (or not) in a formal
"community" environment, IMHO. Team dynamics are quite recognizable (with
different drivers, true). On the other hand, virtual team management IS a
specialized skill, community or no community...

On the other hand... I've recently put an "offliner" in charge of a
community project, with an emergent team. She was so disoriented that you
may have a point :-D. The project team is running itself now (she dropped to
"advisory role") but it would never have happened without her kick-starting.

Best regards,

Miguel

A reminder that we'll be having our free monthly Online Community
Meetup at TechSoup headquarters in SF tomorrow, Wednesday, June 23rd,
at 7pm PST. Alternately, you may join us in Second Life.

RSVP FOR THE MEETUP HERE! http://www.meetup.com/octribe/calendar/13334166

The event will feature Maria Ogneva (@themaria), Director of Social
Media at Attensity, kicking off our discussion with her presentation
on social media and community management & development.

Here are all the ways you can take part in the event! Feel free to
participate in any and all of these ways:

Follow the action on Twitter: hashtag #octribe and via TweetChat.

Participate virtually in the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life (slurl
to location in Second Life):
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

Attend in-person at TechSoup Headquarters
Where: 525 Brannan Street 3rd floor San Francisco, CA 94107
When: Wednesday, June 23, at 7:00 PM Pacific

Beverage Sponsor: Drinks generously donated by Hansen's Natural SF.

Don't forget to join the San Francisco Online Community MeetUp group
here on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5153873869

Hope to see you there!

Best,
Layal Rabat
Nonprofit Commons in Second Life Volunteer Manager
aka Ninlil Xeltentat (avatar name in SL)
skype: layalzebub
twitter: @layalzebub
email: layal@...
www.nonprofitcommons.org
http://www.techsoup.org

Anybody else on the list likely to come?  It would be great to see you!

http://www.communityleadershipsummit.com/

The Community Leadership Summit 2010 is the second incarnation of the
popular event designed to bring together community leaders and managers and
the projects and organizations that are interested in growing and empowering
a strong community.

The event provides an unconference style schedule in which attendees can
discuss, debate and explore topics. This is augmented with a range of
scheduled talks, panel discussions, networking opportunities and more.

The event provides the first opportunity of its kind to bring together the
leading minds in the field with new community builders to discuss topics
such as governance, creating collaborative environments, conflict
resolution, transparency, open infrastructure, social networking, commercial
investment in community, engineering vs. marketing approaches to community
leadership and much more.

John
* John David Smith ~ Voice: 503.963.8229 ~ Skype & Twitter: smithjd
* Portland, Oregon, USA http://www.learningAlliances.net
* "The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken
place." GB Shaw

Hello,

Recently, I read an article from posted on CIOinsight dated 2002-05-15 on the
risk of overmanaging Communities of practice websites.

I'd like to hear from you! What are some of the risk you associate with
overmanaging CoPs?

Thank you,

Lea

Greetings!

I am very excited to be a new member of the Com-Pac Group. I serve in a role to
develop and manage Communities of practice websites for an Association.

I am very interested in learning how I can show measurable results in a
Community of practice and directly link those resluts to financial performance.

What are some of the various types of content analysis methodologies you use to
assess the Community of practice you manage?

Thank you for your replies.

Lea

Greetings all,

My name is Tonja and I have just now joined this group in the hope that I may
learn more about the practice of communities of practice.
I will be facilitating a post-graduate unit this semester in which the learning
structure is based around communities of practice and my hope is that I may
learn from the wealth of knowledge and experience that no doubt exists amongst
members of this group.
Anyway, just wanted to say hi and introduce myself.

Thanks,

tonja

Lea asks:
>
>What are some of the risk you associate with overmanaging CoPs?

The major risk is that over-managing will destroy the motivation to participate,
effectively killing the CoP.  What you wind up with is attendance instead of
participation.  Essentially, a CoP is a set of relationships between and among
practitioners that is wrapped around their shared practice.  The "stuff" with
which and on which they work is what they know and learn about their practice. 
In that sense, a CoP hinges on the contributions of its members.  If they don't
put anything in there's nothing to take out.  Which is why Thomas A Stewart
wrote many years ago about the importance of a "light hand" when it comes to
CoPs.

Fred Nickols
Managing Partner
Distance Consulting LLC
fred@...
www.nickols.us

I agree with you.

Moreover, i think overmanagement (but more simply management, sounding
management as a control) usually offers the illusion to companies or governance
to acceed to their CoPs, but finally they find (or create) an ersatz of CoP wich
juggles with new expactations of the company and this new management form.

We can advance that CoPs born in the activity, in the need of social
relationships, to facilitate the work, and in reaction of norms (standards) that
try to impose companies or management. I tend to think that managed CoP
reconstruct their own CoP(s) in a marginalised way, even more if they are
overmanaged. Becoming secret or unrecognised once again ?

The idea of managing a CoP does'nt convince me in reality. The idea of animating
(like said in french) seems more adpated for me to come with a real CoP. There
is less risks to overanimate than to overmanage the CoP ?

Kind regards, Michael

 

Welcome, Tonja!  Thanks for the intro!

 

Could you say more about what you mean by “learning structure”… and what the content of your unit will be?

 

Cheers!

 

John

* John David Smith ~ Voice: 503.963.8229 ~ Skype & Twitter: smithjd

* Portland, Oregon, USA http://www.learningAlliances.net

* “The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” GB Shaw

 

From: com-prac@yahoogroups.com [mailto:com-prac@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of tcb_peace
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 10:11 PM
To: com-prac@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [cp] New member

 

 

Greetings all,

My name is Tonja and I have just now joined this group in the hope that I may learn more about the practice of communities of practice.
I will be facilitating a post-graduate unit this semester in which the learning structure is based around communities of practice and my hope is that I may learn from the wealth of knowledge and experience that no doubt exists amongst members of this group.
Anyway, just wanted to say hi and introduce myself.

Thanks,

tonja

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3024 - Release Date: 07/24/10 02:36:00

--

Hi folks  - for those of you interested in narrative work and
storytelling:

Some months back, Shawn Callahan and I put out a call for case studies
for the inaugural "Origins: Asia Pacific Business Narrative
Conference" to be held in Singapore 7-8 September. We had a great
response and the conference planning is now well-advanced - we have an
amazing lineup and (we think) a great conference design! What's more,
the conference speakers have already been blogging to start the
conversations going well in advance.

If you are working and/or interested in the application of narrative
techniques and storytelling within organisational and business
contexts, this conference is one you shouldn't miss. For more on the
programme and design, check out the website at http://www.originsasiapacific.org
   and the blog at http://www.originsasiapacific.com/blog/ - we hope to
see you there!

Patrick

Patrick Lambe

weblog: www.greenchameleon.com
website: www.straitsknowledge.com
book: www.organisingknowledge.com

Have you seen our KM Method Cards or
Organisation Culture Cards?

http://store.straitsknowledge.com

I agree with you.
Moreover, i think overmanagement (but more simply management, sounding management as a control) usually offers the illusion to companies or governance to acceed to their CoPs, but finally they find (or create) an ersatz of CoP wich juggles with new expactations of the company and this new management form. We can advance that CoPs born in the activity, in the need of social relationships, to facilitate the work, and in reaction of norms (standards) that try to impose companies or management. I tend to think that managed CoP reconstruct their own CoP(s) in a marginalised way, even more if they are overmanaged. Becoming secret or unrecognised once again ? The idea of managing a CoP does'nt convince me in reality. The idea of animating (like said in french) seems more adpated for me to come with a real CoP. There is less risks to overanimate than to overmanage the CoP ? Kind regards, Michael
------------------------------------
*-- The email forum on communities of practice --*Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/com-prac/
<*> Your email settings:
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/com-prac/join
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<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

I'd agree with both, but especially with Fred.

You can't design the detail of a community: who decides to help, who turns up,
who has an initiative and who likes it. If the manager is in the middle,
proposing subjects, answering threads, culling proposals... it all goes tame and
"what you wind up with is attendance". In other words you turn down the energy
and ideas of the community.

Up to a point, and after the community's rolling, the manager's role is what
liberal economics says of government: set a safe environment and get out of the
way... well, maybe lead in the larger and more complex tasks that we can't just
agree on doing among us. Like, building a new infrastructure and finding ways to
pay the bills.

Of course you can't do that: leadership is needed, and focus even more so. But
it becomes a compromise between intervention (and focus) and liberalization (and
participation).

The nicer part is when you find something to focus them on that actually fires
the community's participation :-D, and manage to steer it lightly while the
community do the running and turn it into something exponentially better than
you envisioned (and way bigger than they though they could). I just had one of
those experiences :-) with http://www.macuarium.com/macumag/numero0.html . Not
frequent, sadly. On the whole, it's more effective to keep off the limelight and
let them choose, push, try and learn autonomously.

Best regards,

Miguel


________________________________________
De: com-prac@yahoogroups.com [com-prac@yahoogroups.com] En nombre de John David
Smith [john.smith@...]
Enviado el: viernes, 23 de julio de 2010 23:54
Para: com-prac@yahoogroups.com
Asunto: RE: [cp] Re: Risks to overmanaging Communities of Practice web sites

I agree with Fred, Lea.

The other risk is that the �over-managers� may know considerably less about the
CoP�s topic than the actual practitioners.  So if the over-managers push too
much, even with sparkling compliance it can turn out that the community is
barking up the wrong tree.  Getting domain boundaries just right turns out to be
more tricky than we think.

John
* John David Smith ~ Voice: 503.963.8229 ~ Skype & Twitter: smithjd
* Portland, Oregon, USA http://www.learningAlliances.net
* �The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken
place.� GB Shaw

From: com-prac@yahoogroups.com [mailto:com-prac@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Fred Nickols
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 11:58 AM
To: com-prac@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [cp] Re: Risks to overmanaging Communities of Practice web sites



Lea asks:
>
>What are some of the risk you associate with overmanaging CoPs?

The major risk is that over-managing will destroy the motivation to participate,
effectively killing the CoP. What you wind up with is attendance instead of
participation. Essentially, a CoP is a set of relationships between and among
practitioners that is wrapped around their shared practice. The "stuff" with
which and on which they work is what they know and learn about their practice.
In that sense, a CoP hinges on the contributions of its members. If they don't
put anything in there's nothing to take out. Which is why Thomas A Stewart wrote
many years ago about the importance of a "light hand" when it comes to CoPs.

Fred Nickols
Managing Partner
Distance Consulting LLC
fred@...<mailto:fred%40nickols.us>
www.nickols.us

Roy, i've got no evidence on this, it's what my readings suggest to me in the
case of emergent CoP becoming institutionalised/managed, and depending on the
governance and management style for sure.

It's just an hypothesis : emergent CoP become marginalised (or reconstruct) if
it is overmanaged or managed by the company.Or, other said, do members try to
conserve the control and their informal structure in an other way ?

regards

Dear list members

The current conversation about over-managing CoPs has raised some issues
discussed at various times.

I'm currently reading/writing the section of a PhD thesis that it taking
a chronological view of the development of management as both a concept
and a practice from the mid 1880's until the present day.  I'm hoping to
be able to show how voluntary organisations have adopted the "workplace"
model (see for example Drucker - "Management - revised edition" 2008)
and not always to an advantage.  I suspect that many CoPs are voluntary
groups and "doing CoP things" (whatever they are) are voluntary
activities in that employees don't have to show they spent "3 hours --
CoP responding" on their time sheets.

If CoPs are voluntary groups, what do list members consider are the
differences in managing such a group compared with being managed
in/managing salaried/paid groups?

I'm interested in your responses.

Thanks

Roy Greenhalgh

MPhil/PhD Research Student
School of Social Sciences
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ

Email: rg1o07@...