Product Communities of Practice
At every organisation I’ve worked at as a product leader I’ve set up a community of practice. They are a fantastic vehicle for building a team’s knowledge, developing their craft and fostering a sense of interdependence which underpins high performance (as per Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - highly recommended reading for all leaders.)
So ‘what is a COP?’ I hear you ask.
A group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly."
As an aspiring psychologist, I’m fascinated by the theory behind COPs. Lave and Wenger first coined the term in 1991 as learning which takes place in the same context as it is applied, and that learning is a social process where knowledge is co-constructed. In less jargony terms - we learn from each other, and we learn where we can also do the thing. For Product teams, that means learning from other PMs in the same company, by coming together to share our experiences of doing product management in that company.
COPs are super common across many organisations in different industries. A great reference is Gov.uk’s Community Development Handbook, which I’ve used many times as inspiration for getting started and developing the COP further.
When COPs first start out it’s really important to make sure that folk understand what they’re about, and that they will only get out of it what they put in. That means it’s not an optional meeting in their diaries - people need to commit and turn up.
Initially it needs one person to take the lead on getting it going and nurturing it, but with the expectation that others will step up to lead sessions and continue it.
So here’s how to get a COP going:
Assign a person the role of Community Development Manager. They are responsible for ensuring each COP session has a subject, a facilitator, and people turning up. Between sessions there’s work to set up the next one, and communicate to other audiences what the COP is focusing on. Without this role it would be a group full of good intentions but failing to get value out of the sessions (and it would be just a matter of time until it all fizzled out).
Set it up on a regular schedule at a time that works for everybody. Fridays are generally a bad day for learning (holidays and long weekends, tired at end of the week, last minute things to get done before the weekend).
Meeting virtually offers many benefits if your team is distributed, as you can also record each session in case people can’t make it. I’ve found that recording sessions also creates a library which can be super helpful for new people during their onboarding (how do we do Product here?)
Consider how to capture knowledge from your COP. I use a Confluence page which includes a list of past recordings and slide decks, along with a headline of what is coming in the next COP, and a suggestions box for future COPs (plus volunteers can put their name down to take the lead). You can also consider how to share knowledge from the COP more widely across your organisation. This is great for awareness and also to encourage internal progression as people not in your team learn what you get up to.
Have you thought about starting your own COP?
