A Paper Presented at the Freedom Avenue Colloquium on "The Nigerian Crisis: Leadership or The People". Le Meridien Uyo. Oct 27, 2012

1. Team Building for Community
Development:
From Conversations to
Collaboration

2. Issues of interest
 What is a ‘Community of Practice’
(CoP)?
 Team versus Group
 Motivation
 CoP Facilitation – the magic ingredient
 Leadership
 Steps to a successful CoP

3. What is a Community of Practice?
? What is a

4. Communities of Practice
communities of practice
– an environment
connecting people and
encouraging the sharing of
ideas and experiences
4

5. Communities of Practice
 network of individuals  allows you to
with common problems
or interests collaborate and achieve
 exploring ways of common outcomes
working together,
identifying common  accelerates your
solutions, and sharing
good practice and ideas. learning
 puts you in touch with  validates and builds on
like-minded colleagues existing knowledge
and peers and good practice
 allows you to share your  provides the opportunity
experiences and learn to innovate and create
from others new ideas

6. Developing Successful
Communities of Practice
Step 1: Establish or identify
? What is a
a purpose

9. Stories That Inspire.....
 Ethical Business Success
 Technology/Web 2.0/Productivity
Boosters
 Reverse Migration/Diaspora-
Naija/Urban-Rural
 Going Green/Waste to Wealth

10. Renewed Interest.......
 Citizen Engagement
 Effective Representation
 Selfless Service
 Curbing Impunity
 Constructive Criticism
 For The Common Good

11. To Uplift The People.....
 Poverty Alleviation
 Healthcare
 Education
 Agriculture
 Jobs

12. What is Team?
What is a Team?
A team is any group of
people organized to work
together interdependently
& cooperatively to
accomplish a common
purpose/goal.
Teams are created for both
long term and short term
interaction.
• Long Term Teams: eg,
Strategic Engagement team,
& Operational Teams.
• Short term teams
example: FA Colloquium
2012 Team

13. What is a Work Group?
What is a Group?
A group interacts primarily
to share information and to
make decisions to help each
group member perform
within his or her area of
responsibility.
A group in itself does not
necessarily constitute a
team.

14. Characteristics of a Team
Common Purpose
A team will always have
1 a common task /
purpose to accomplish.
Clarity of Role & Responsibility
Team members have
2 crystal clear roles &
responsibilities.
Effective Leadership
Leaders have participative
3 style of working and team
members approve of it.
Solid Relationships
Teams have a climate of
4 trust which results in
strong relationships.
Effective Communication
Team members stay
5 connected through a robust
communication process

15. Group Vs Team
GROUP TEAM

16. Stages in Team Formation / Development

17. Stages in Team Formation / Development
Roles & Responsibilities
Initial introductions take
place and hence roles &
responsibilities are unclear
Attitude of Team members
Some are polite while some
are anxious and some are
excited about the task ahead.
Forming Leadership Style
Directing – Since Roles &
responsibilities are not clear,
leader plays a dominant role.

18. Stages in Team Formation / Development
Roles & Responsibilities
Leader discusses roles and
responsibilities. Team members
may or may not agree.
Attitude of Team members
Team members give opinion
about task priorities, roles &
responsibilities, and processes.
Storming Leadership Style
Selling – Leader needs to sell
decisions on roles, and how
the task is to be performed.

19. Stages in Team Formation / Development
Roles & Responsibilities
Roles & Responsibilities are
clear. Hierarchy is established.
Attitude of Team members
Members accept authority of
leader & develop a greater
commitment to goals.
Norming Leadership Style
Supporting – Team members
& leaders follow participative
style and support each other.

20. Stages in Team Formation / Development
Roles & Responsibilities
Team members work as per
given roles & responsibilities.
Performing
Attitude of Team members
Supportive, high level of goal
orientation, communication,
and interpersonal relations.
Leadership Style
Delegating – Team members
expect delegation instead of
instructions.

21. Stages in Team Formation / Development
Roles & Responsibilities
Complete – Task has been
performed.
Attitude of Team members
Members find it difficult to
leave the project and strong
interpersonal relations.
Adjourning Leadership Style
Celebrative – Success is
celebrated and recognized.

22. Stages in Team Formation / Development
[Recap]
Adjourning

23. Dynamics of Different Network
Types
Community of Project Teams Informal networks
Practice
Purpose Learning Accomplish specific Communication
Sharing task flows
Creating Knowledge
Boundary Knowledge domain Assigned project Extent of
charter relationships
Connections Common application Commitment to goal Interpersonal
of a skill acquaintances
Membership Semi - permanent Constant for a fixed Links made based
period on needs of the
individual
Time scale As long as it adds Fixed ends when Long – term, no
value to the project deliverables pre-engineered end
community and its have been 23
members accomplished

24. Step 2: Identify your Community
? What is a

25. Members of an active community
transactional
lurkers
peripheral
occasional
experts
active
beginners
core group
leaders
facilitator outsiders

26. Roles & Responsibilities of a Team
Advisor
Linker – Co-ordinates &
Integerates Maintainer
Creator - Initiates Creative
Controller
Ideas
Promoter – Champions the
ideas once they are initiated Producer
Assesor - Offers insightful
analysis of options Organizer
Organizer – Provides
Structure Assessor
Producer – Provides Promoter
Direction and follow-through Creator
Controller – Examines Linker
details & enforces rules
Maintainer – Fights external
battles
Advisor – Encourages the
search for more information

27. Roles & Responsibilities of a Team
Creating Turning Quality Performa Innovati Motivator
& Individ Managem nce on s
Managing uals ent Enhancer
Diversity into s
Team
Players
Role 1 Role 2 Role 3 Role 4 Role 5 Role 6
Remember
It is not just the team members who have roles & responsibilities,
as a combined unit – Team also has roles to play. A Team is
responsible for its own success or failures.

28. Roles & Responsibilities of a Team [Creating & Managing Diversity]
Respect
Respect each other’s
view points and
include suggestions if
they benefit the team.

29. Roles & Responsibilities of a Team [Turning Individuals into Team Players]
Team Player
Reward &
Motivate
encourage cooperative
efforts rather than
individual.
Continue to recognize
3
individual Reward
contributions while &
emphasizing the Motivate
importance of
teamwork. Training
Train members to
2 become better team
Training players –
communication skills,
interpersonal skills.
Selection
1 Make team skills one
Selection of the interpersonal
skills in the hiring
process.

30. Roles & Responsibilities of a Team [Quality Management]
Support
Does the Team have a ‘Go
To person’ / ‘Champion’ to
go to in case they need
guidance?

31. Roles & Responsibilities of a Team
[Performance Enhancers]
Synergy
People working in a team are able to produce greater output than
would have been produced if each person had worked separately.
Team members should always work with each other to maximize
output.

32. Roles & Responsibilities of a Team [Innovation]
Remember
Team leaders should empower the team and make it accountable
for innovation process. Team members should uncover each other’s
flaws and balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

33. Roles & Responsibilities of a Team [Motivation]
Motivate
Team leaders should provide needed social interaction and help
members cope with stressors. They should recognize and reward
high performance teams.

34. Steps to Self- Motivate Yourself
Step 1 – Get Out of Your Comfort Zone: Step 5 – Self Development:
• Be willing to leave your comfort • Spend at least one hour a
zone. Step 3 – Stop Limiting Yourself: day in self-development.
• The greatest barrier to achieving • Don't indulge in self- • Read good books or listen to
your potential is your comfort zone. limiting thinking. inspiring tapes.
• Great things happen when you make • Think empowering, • Driving to and from work
friends with your discomfort zone. expansive thoughts. provides an excellent
opportunity to listen to self-
improvement tapes.
Step 4 – Be Happy:
Step 2 – Mistakes Happen:
• Choose to be happy.
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes.
• Happy people are easily motivated.
• Wisdom helps us avoid making mistakes
• Happiness is your birthright so don't settle
and comes from making a million of them.
for anything else.

35. Steps to Self- Motivate Yourself
Step 6 – Finish What You Start: Sept 10 – Live Life to the Fullest:
• Train yourself to finish what you • The real tragedy in life is not in
start. Step 8 – Never Give Up: how much we suffer, but rather in
• Many of us become scattered as we • Never quit when you how much we miss, so don't miss a
try to accomplish a task. experience a setback or thing.
• Finish one task before you begin frustration. • Charles Dubois once said, "We
another. • Success could be just must be prepared, at any moment,
around the corner. to sacrifice who we are for who
we are capable of becoming.”
Step 7 – Live in the Present: Step 9 – Dream and Dream Big:
• Live fully in the present moment. • Dare to dream big dreams.
• When you live in the past or the future you • If there is anything to the law of expectation
aren't able to make things happen in the then we are moving in the direction of our
present. dreams, goals and expectations.

36. Step 3: Understand the Culture and
Behaviours

37. Effective Communication [Behaviors to Observe]
Observe
• Who participates - Who doesn’t?
• How do people take turns?
• Who talks to whom - Who responds to
whom?
• How are interruptions handled?
• Is silence O.K.?
• Is anyone dominating the conversation?
• How are decisions made?
• By consensus?
• By voting?
• By one person?

38. Effective Communication [Common Problems in Teams]
Beating Dead
Talking too Horse
much
Dead Buffaloes
tiptoeing around a
contentious issue
Jumping from one
topic to another
Getting stuck on
the issue

39. Effective Communication – Always Remember
In a Team
Never Order /
Command
Never Warn /
Threaten
Never Preach /
Moralize
Never Label / Evaluate
/ Judge
Never Respond with
Sarcasm
Never Assume, instead Ask /
Listen

40. Why does a person engage with
a Community of Practice?
 Attractive purpose grabs and retains
attention
 Perceived benefits:
 Socialisation
 Co-learning, knowledge sharing and co-
production
 Each person chooses to be a member
 Volition
 Joining in – and leaving!

41. Levels of engagement
Become an expert
Become a mentor
Level of engagement
Write a blog
Ask a question
(with attribution)
Comment
(with attribution)
Register
Comment
(Anonymously)
Browse, search, learn
(Anonymously)
Type of engagement
41

42. Patterns of contribution
1% active contributors
9% occasional contributors
Number of contributions
The 1-9-90 rule
90% readers (aka ‘lurkers’)
Number of participants

43. The “1% Rule”
 For every 100 people online only 1 person will
create content and 10 will “interact” with it. The
other 89 will just view it.
 Each day at YouTube there are 100 million
downloads and 65,000 uploads
The important message is: look after your
 50% of all Wikipedia article edits are done by 0.7%
of users, andcontent creators!of all articles have
more than 70%
been written by just 1.8% of all users
 In Yahoo Groups, 1% of the user population might
start a group; 10% of the user population might
participate actively. 100% of the user population
benefits from the activities of the above groups
Source: The Guardian (UK)

44. Community Archetypes
Duelsists
In a perpetual
personal duel.
Generally don’t
menace anyone
except each
other.
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/duelists.htm

45. Community Archetypes
Ego
For Ego, the discussion
forum is all about him,
and he regards
discussions that stray
from that topic as trivial
dalliances.
Ego is one the fiercest of
all the Warriors and will
fight to the death when
attacked
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/ego.htm

46. Community Archetypes
Fillibuster
Attempts to influence
the forum simply by
holding the floor. His
monotonous
hectoring and
prodigious output of
verbiage rapidly
clears the field of
other users
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/filibuster.htm

47. Community Archetypes
Big Dog and MeToo
Big Dog is a bully
who doesn't
hesitate to use his
superior strength
to intimidate other
combatants.
Me-Too will join
the attack. Me-Too
is far too weak and
insecure to engage
in single combat.
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/bigdogmetoo.htm

48. Community Roles and
Responsibilities
On a more serious note…
 Champion/Sponsor is able to envision the services of a
CoP over time, and should have a sense of how the CoP
can interact across the organisation
 Facilitator/Coordinator consulting, connecting,
facilitating, helping, guiding.
 Leader serves an integral role in the community's
success by energising the sharing process and providing
continuous nourishment for the community
 Librarian organises information/data (may be part of
Facilitator/Coordinator role).
 Technical Steward understands business needs and
ensure the appropriate tools are available to meet these
needs.
 Core Group is a working group that initially performs
start-up activities and continues to provide ongoing
organisational support.
 Experts are the subject matter specialist
 Members/Participants without these there is no
community; the essence of a community is its members.

49. Effective Team Behavior
Perioidic Self
Evaluation
Trust & Conflict
Management
Shared
Responsibility
High level of
Communication
Shared Vision &
Goals

50. Step 4: Develop the ‘Practice’

51. Attributes of a successful CoP
Critical Success Seekers Contributors
factors I need someone I am someone
Social Networking
Awareness How do I know who is out How can I become more
there? known?
Competence Is this person competent? How do I advertise my skills?
Benevolence Will this person help me? How do I develop my
reputation as a trusted
member?
Motivation Do I want to work with Why will I cooperate with this
Culture
this person? person?
Access How do I approach this Do I want to be approached?
Collaboration
person?
Skills Does the CoP have the tools to collaborate effectively?
Tools
Mechanism Do we have a method to collaborate? 51
Based on a slide by IBM

52. Your community’s life-cycle
Sustain/Renew
Level of energy
Grow
and visibility
Start-up
Close
Plan
Discover/ Incubate/ Focus/ Ownership/ Let go/ Time
imagine deliver expand openness remember
value
From: Cultivating Communities of Practice by Wenger, McDermot and Snyder

53. What makes a successful community?

54. Facilitation – the magic
ingredient
Facilitating or
Coordinating a
community

55. Facilitators’ (Admins,Coordinators,
Moderators) responsibilities
Facilitation and  producing an action
Coordination of a plan
CoP includes:  reporting CoP
 monitoring activity activity – metrics,
 encouraging evaluations
participation  monitoring success
(facilitation criteria and impact
techniques)  managing CoP
events

56. ACTIVITY:
WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF
A GOOD CO-ORDINATOR?

57. A Good Admin/Facilitator/Coordinator?

58. KEY LEADERSHIP TRAITS
1. CONVICTION
2. INNOVATION
3. PRODUCTIVITY
4. COMPLIANCE
5. RESILIENCE
6. HAVE THE BACKBONE AND INTEGRITY TO BE
STRAIGHT WITH PEOPLE
7. BALANCE HARD AND SOFT SKILLS
8. EMBRACE BOTH RATIONAL AND IRRATIONAL
LEADERSHIP TRAITS
9. STAY GROUNDED
10. STAMINA

59. A Facilitator/Coordinator/Admin
cultivates the community

60. Step 5: Monitor and Measure Everything!

61. Metrics
 Don’t rely on 1. The original purpose and intended
outcomes of the community.
metrics to claim 2. The rhythm or cycle of the
your community
community.
.3. The quality of the interactions
is successful. and/or the viewings it attracts.
4. measure of success is likely to be a
 Use metrics to mix of qualitative and quantitative
understand your
data.
5 Is community successful, or just an
community excuse to waste time chatting
better.
6. traditional command and control
processes do not work for CoPs
7. instilling corporate processes on
communities is likely to stifle and
inhibit innovation and learning.

62. Summary – Conversations to
Collaboration
 Step 1: Establish/identify a purpose
 Step 2: Identify a Community
 Step 3: Understand the culture and
behaviours
 Step 4: Develop/support the ‘Practice’
 Step 5: Monitor and measure
everything!

63. Conclusion: What makes a
successful CoP?
 clear purpose – what will it be used to do?
 creating a safe and trusted environment
 committed core group of active participants
 being motivated
 knowing the needs of participants
 having a clear action plan with activities to
meet needs
 blending face-to-face and online activities
 This can all be achieved by good, active
facilitation/Admin

64. Thank You!
Contact Information:
Remi ADESEUN
Chairman
Rodot Group
.Healthcare
.Water Technology
.Architecture
.Consulting
08057713769/07065156473
r.adeseun@rodot.org
kojere@yahoo.com