European Community of Practice

Perhaps we should all consider the questions Ana Vale asked Beverly in the CoP - IM newsletter from our own perspective. These are the answers I would give to those same questions:

Ana Vale (AV): We are finding it a challenge developing our CoP. Is that something normal?

Me: It is a challenge and a challenge I think that is shared with those people setting up Exchange Events and Policy Forums. However, while the Exchange Events and Policy Forums are discrete events taking place on a specific day or days with a specific outcome report, the CoP has been established to be an on-going exchange of ideas.

To me that makes the CoP more difficult to manage, perhaps because we are not focussed on a particular day in June or August or whenever the event will take place. We are focussed on a moving target in fact.

Another reason why I think this is a challenge, again shared with the Exchange Events and the Policy Forums, is that for a lot of us the concept is new.

Personally, I think these exercises are a real credit to the people who had the idea to set up Exchange Events, Policy Forums, CoPs and Peer Reviews. To my knowledge they are only done under EQUAL but surely every major EU programme should examine, assess and evaluate themselves in this way?

But I think the point is a lot of this is experimental at the minute. Pilot studies if you like on how Member States can co-operate at Managing Authority level to produce meaningful Exchange Events, Policy Forums and of course CoPs.

AV: If the potential participants in the CoP don’t recognise the advantages of participating in it, is there any advantage in creating and developing it?

Me: To my mind I think everyone recognises the advantages of particpating in the CoP but at this early stage the difficulty is more about HOW we participate. Again there is a learning curve in developing the participation process, well there is for me at any rate.

I think Beverly is absolutely right when she says "You have to be able to let go of what you think are the goals and objectives of the CoP and listen carefully to what members and potential members are saying". That statement applies to us all of course.

AV: If learning and sharing are not sufficient motivation, are there other strategies for mobilising participants?

Me: That question is a bit profound for me to answer because it can apply to almost anything in life.
I think the learning and sharing motivations are there but are overwelmed at times by other factors relating to available resources be they time, people or funding. If the resource issue could be resolved surely the motivations would be more obvious?

AV: Our face-to-face meetings have been more mobilising and more fruitful than the online communication. Doesn’t that mean that there should be more face-to-face in the starting period?

Me: I certainly agree with Ana on this one.
Is that because I am rather IT illiterate and need to understand how to manage efficient online communication?
I am sure that is part of answer.
Nevertheless, my own view is that in the end we should really be able to to have and in fact must have, mobilising and fruitful online communications within the CoP . This will definitely happen in future so we should aim to have our CoP doing this asap.

Perhaps one answer is to set more time aside at the start of CoPs for training those of us who need to know how to effectively use webbies, wikis, wobblies etc etc. not to mention SKYPE.

AV: People complain that they don’t have time to dedicate to the CoP, but they have time to travel to face-to-face meetings. What is your comment on this apparent contradiction?

Me: Another very good question that my director is always asking me!
At the start of the project setting up the CoP, as Ana said earlier it is important to have face-to-face meetings because we develop a rapport with our colleagues and establish the common goals. There is no electronic means yet devised that is better than an initial face-to-face meeting for people who want to work together.

I can't help feeling, as well, the contributions are more fruitful because others may be like me and become more animated and enthusiastic when in the same room as colleagues on the CoP rather than at the end of a computer link-up. So in fact we make time to go the face-to-face meetings because we find them actually more rewarding and productive.

But this is really only habit and conditioning to some extent. The onus is on us to get the skills if needed, but certainly to dedicate some time every week to work on the CoP online to communicate with others.

Do we need to spend more time on this, that is on setting up our structure? Others may wish to answer that one.
So to conclude our CoP for me is still something of a Pilot Study and work-in-progress. We may have more work to do on how we go forward and communicate efficiently.The concept is excellent and more so than the Exchange Events and Policy Forums, the CoP has the real potential to carry forward into the 2007 -2013 ESF programmes. We have a responsibility to ensure this happens because innovation and mainstreaming are such important features of the programmes. We have to accept time resources in particular are a problem rather than lack of motivation.