Communities of Practice in the Workplace

Abstract

This chapter will focus on reviewing the core elements of communities of practice in the workplace through four case studies that illustrate examples of what can be done to support organizational learning. Any organization, or workplace, has practices, domains of knowledge, and communities of employees. Yet, the role of communities of practice allows these three dimensions to come together and support employee success, learning, and embedding key practices. This chapter will begin with a review of the workplace and workplace learning. The chapter will then focus on what constitutes a community of practice, and additional permutations of the concept, such as landscapes of learning, that support learning. Four case studies in this chapter will focus on communities of practice examples from the medical field, corporate environments, and education. Suggestions for future research will also be discussed.