Citation:

Berry, W. Book review for the journal, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management of "Building Successful Communities of Practice," by Emily Webber. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, KS, 16(6):1019-1025, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4335

Impact/Purpose:

This book review for the journal, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. of "Building Successful Communities of Practice," by Emily Webber, could increase the visibility of the book to EPA scientists who might want to start community of practice. The book might be a big help to them.

Description:

Physical scientists are used to thinking that they are the smartest people in the room and that, even without specific training, they can do anything. Or at least anything to do with people, like organizing a meeting, or creating a survey, or developing a community of practice (COP). But here is the deal: they are not, and they cannot (at least not always). And it's funny, because a toxicologist would never assume that they could design a bridge or send someone to the moon, but they do often think they can do the work of a social scientist or facilitator, even without any training in those areas. So, if a group of scientists is looking to reap the benefits of developing a COP, they might want to get some help from the experts. Reading Building Successful Communities of Practice, by Emily Webber, might be a good place to start. The book is a quick read, well laid out, and easy to follow. The author starts by proposing a definition of a COP (“A community of practice is 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”) and then talks about the many benefits of COPs, like increased efficiency and productivity, and better collaboration and morale. She describes the importance of figuring out what the purpose of the COP is and who it is supposed to serve. The purpose guides who the membership should be and helps to determine what the most effective structure of the COP might be. The author then discusses how to build, grow, and manage the COP by following a budding community of practice through its various stages of development: potential, forming, maturing, self‐sustaining, and transformation (letting go of the COP and moving on). There are different levels of energy and different leadership requirements at the different stages. It is important to set up the right environment for the COP, that it be a safe space with buy‐in from the members and management. There must be regular meetings (preferably face‐to‐face), and the meetings must be well run. All of this seems to be just common sense. In fact, I found 1 online reviewer who was disappointed in the book because it did not have any deeply technical ideas. So, I did an experiment. Thinking about a COP that I am helping to develop, I went back through the book and looked to see if there was anything I would do differently as a result of the book. I do believe I see the COP through a different perspective because of the book, and I think that perspective will be very useful going forward. To a certain extent, if you are clear on what your purpose is, starting a COP is the easy part. The hard part is building a self‐sustaining community that can grow and change as the needs and makeup of the membership change. Somebody, or better yet everyone, is going to have to keep up a consistent effort through the life of the COP for it to flourish. If you want it to work, you have to make it work, and you have to show the membership that it is in their best interest to help make it work, too. And that may not be as easy as it sounds. The book provides concrete suggestions as to how to do it. There is one thing that I wish the author had done that she did not do, and that was go into a few more of the nitty gritty details of running the COP, like communication, and how to run a good meeting. Maybe she thought that anyone wanting to set up a COP would understand the importance of having a purpose, an agenda that you stick to, and a follow‐up from every meeting, but I know that is far from the case, at least with scientists. If you are thinking about starting a COP and are not sure if you should or how to do it, I think you should consider reading this book. It won't take you very long, and, in the end, I think that you will be in a much better position to sell the idea to management and colleagues, and to make it succeed in the long run.

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