Transcript What do communities of practice look like? Communities

Communicate
PARTNER
Welcome to the
SUPPORT
SSVF Community of Practice
SHARE
COLLABORATE
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Agenda
Mission
CoP Components
Goals
Roles & Responsibilities
Benefits
Characteristics
Rules of Engagement
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“If you have an apple and I have an apple
and we exchange these apples
then you and I will still each have one apple…
But…
if you have an idea and I have an idea and
we exchange these ideas, then…
each of us will have two ideas.”
— George Bernard Shaw
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Mission:
The mission of the NYS & New England VA SSVF Community of Practice is to provide
an environment for SSVF providers to exchange ideas, best practices and build
collaboration through a variety of learning, communication, and networking settings.
Provides a neutral and impactful platform for sharing concerns, issues and opportunities, as
well as a vehicle for professional growth – exists alongside VA Technical Assistance but
importantly, this is your forum to help one another become best-in-class.
Designed to build capacity across New York and New England by creating practices and
systems that best-assist and support SSVF Providers serving Veterans and their families.
SSVF CoP Components:
SSVF
Community of Practice
Domain
Practice
Community
Serving
Veteran
Families
Develop, Share
& Maintain
Knowledge
Connecting,
Engaging &
Communicating
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SSVF Community of Practice Goals:
 Foster Peer-Driven Knowledge Exchange
 Promote Cross-Sector Agency Coordination to Identify Challenges and Opportunities
 Identification and Modeling of Emerging & Promising Practices
 Embed Peer-to-Peer Assistance
 Promote and Sustain a Culture of Consensus Focusing on Outcomes and Issues
 Maximize the Efficient use of Resources
 Reduce Fragmentation & Redundancy
 Benchmark Progress/Evaluate Impact
 Provide the means by which to measure the collective ROI
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CoP Roles and Responsibilities
Sponsor/Champion –
Provides guidance, resources, visibility legitimacy
Facilitator/Coordinator –
Facilitates & guides direction, organizes events - serves as the administrator of information
Core Group –
Working group that initially assists with start-up activities and provides input
Experts –
Subject matter experts/specialist, in or outside the CoP
Members/Participants –
Interact, sharing information, insights and experiences
Levels of CoP Participation
Outsiders
Transactional
Peripheral
Occasional
Lurkers
Experts
Members
Leaders
Active
Beginners
Core group
Coordinator
Sponsors
Source: Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
The role of IVMF in the CoP:
1. Create engagement opportunities & making members aware of the knowledge, skills, and
expertise of other members of the community
 Regional convening's
 Professional Development Training Workshops
 Annual Leadership Meeting
2. Build the means by which to share
 Offering a Knowledge Network Web Site
 Improving information flow and knowledge reuse
3. Provide ongoing measurement of the Community’s efficacy
4. Ensure the sustainability of our domain serving Veteran families - positioning grants to remain
competitive
5. Foster a collaborative effort geared towards aggressively supporting the goal to end Veterans
homelessness and preventing its recurrence
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Individual Member’s Role:
CONNECT
Participate in productive conversations –
Provide expertise, advice, and opinions to help solve the problems
presented
Bring problems of practice to the community –
Keep the community active in pursuing ways to address problems
CONVERSE
Engage in personal and professional development –
Continue to increase individual capabilities that in turn will challenge the
community to keep the practice moving forward
Establish links with other agencies & communities –
COOPERATE
Support the creation of a knowledge network by making connections
between the various communities in which you are members
WIIFM?
(What’s in it for me?....)
Benefits of
Participating
in a CoP…
For Organizations –
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Reduced time/cost to retrieve information
Reduced learning curves
Knowledge sharing and distribution
Coordination, standardization, and synergies
across programs
 Reduced rework and reinvention
 Benchmarking against industry standards
 An ability to communicate collective impact
For Members –
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Continual learning/professional development
Improved communication with peers
Increased productivity and quality of work
Sense of professional identity
Provides challenges & opportunities to contribute
What can the Community of Practice Assist with?
Problem Solving…
“I’m stuck. Can someone assist me in brainstorming a solution for…”
Requests for Information…
“Where can I find the guidelines for…”
Seeking Experience….
“Has anyone dealt with a client in this situation?...”
Coordination & Synergy…
“Can we share outreach location dates?…”
Reusing Assets…
“We have a great SOP for that, let me send it to you…”
Documentation….
“We have faced this problem before, lets write it down….”
Identifying Gaps…
“Who knows what else we are missing…”
Visits…
“Can we come and see your financial counseling program?...”
Community of Practice
V
A
L
U
E
Source: Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
PHASE 3
PHASE 4
Potential Value:
Robust Resources
Applied Value:
Promising
Practices
Realized Value:
Return on
Investment
Good Meeting
Documents
New Practice
Measurements
Challenging
Inquiry
Relationships
Applied Advice
Outcome
Introductions
Insight
Use of
Connection
Feedback
PHASE 1
PHASE 2
Immediate Value:
Productive
Activities
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Value of the Community of Practice
 Exclusivity: Unique opportunity for each to join a select group of
providers with unique strengths and experiences
 Access to resources: Professional development opportunities, a
strong network of peers with opportunities for knowledge exchange, IVMF’s
continuous support, etc.
 Contributing to the CoP: Sharing strengths and best practices, and
providing training in your area of expertise
 Sum is worth more than its parts: Impact on Veterans and their
families extends beyond those served by a single service provider –
achieving the greatest good, for the greatest number
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The Characteristics of a Good
Community of Practice
Commitment
1. Commitment – Promise to Commit
2. Collaboration – Connect & Work Together
3. Conversations – Engage & Ask Questions
4. Connectivity – Use Technology
5. Capabilities – Link Strategy & Performance
Capabilities
The
Five
C’s
Connectivity
Collaboration
Conversations
“ROE”
Rules of Engagement:
1. Communicate –
 Willingly solicit and discuss ideas
 Promote an environment that is safe for participation & open communication
 Be open to new ideas or thinking that appears “outside the box”
2. Participate –
 Participate actively, providing input that reflects the unique expertise or experience you bring
 Support your colleagues by adding information that strengthens and sharpens their ideas
3. Cooperate –
 Avoid side bar conversations & interruptions
 Don’t do outside work - not on computers, PDA’s, or paper. Hold your twittering…
 Arrive & return on time
4. Coordinate –
 Find a new way to collaborate with someone outside of your organization
 Be responsible for the success of our efforts and help facilitate, critique, and evaluate work
2014 CoP Calendar of Events
May 8th – Downstate Professional Development Workshop, NYC
May 22nd – Upstate Professional Development Workshop, Chittenango
July 1st – Community of Practice Knowledge Network
August 14th – Upstate Regional Meeting, Syracuse
September 23-24 – New Grantee/Staff Training
September 25th – Downstate Regional Meeting
November 7th – Leadership Meeting, Annual Recognition of Excellence &
Innovation, Albany
Annual Recognition – ICE Award (Innovation, Collaboration & Excellence)
Purpose –
Recognize and honor organizations within the SSVF Community of Practice that demonstrate
extraordinary innovation, collaboration and excellence in providing services to Veterans and their
Families
Criteria –
1. Creative or innovative model/solution/strategy utilized to adapt to changing environment or
solve an issue faced by the organization or Veteran Families
2. Exemplary effort in partnering or assisting other organizations to address a compelling
problem/issue in serving Veteran Families
3. Exceptional commitment to improving the lives of Veteran Families through demonstrated
ethical integrity, organizational productivity and effective service delivery
Selection Process & Timeline –
• Nominations due October 1st - form available online by June 1st
Annual Recognition – ICE Award (Innovation, Collaboration & Excellence)
Award Recipients Will Receive:
 Honor & distinction of being recognized as leader among SSVF Providers
 One of kind engraved glass art award
 Featured article on the organization on the CoP Website
 A $1,000 unrestricted grant
Questions?