Box 4.3 The Value of Communities of Practice: An Example for
the World Bank
A Community of Practice is a group of people who communicate with
each other because they share common work practices, interests, and
aims. Generally they will have a regular system of interchange that
allows the sharing of knowledge concerning their field of expertise.
COPs generally operate at an informal level although they can be
stimulated and encouraged to grow by providing space and resources
in which they may flourish.
The value of COPs is evident in this example from a World Bank Thematic
Group:
The Transport sector thematic group is a community of practice
that promotes team building, compiles a knowledge base of good
practices, and supports staff learning through brown bag lunches,
forums, seminars, and other events. When someone in DC sent an
email to the group seeking best practice examples for a National
Transport Sector Strategy the first response came back a mere 20
minutes after the initial enquiry was sent. It was a useful contribution
from a Bank staff member working in Beirut. Within 24 hours four
other relevant contributions were made by colleagues, including
letters and notes on Transport Sector Reform strategies, Terms of
Reference (ToRs) for carrying out transport sector reviews, as well
as reference to a recent Working Paper by the Operations Evaluation
Department. Eleven country examples were obtained in response
to the query and two were selected as best practice, given their
applicability to the current need. By focusing on these examples it is
expected that significant savings on technical assistance costs and
the timeliness of the project will be forthcoming.