Emily WebberHead of Agile DeliveryGovernment Digital Service @ewebber

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Government Digital Service (GDS)

Building a (delivery) community

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What do I know about communities?

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And who are you?

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What is a community?"

Why is it important?"

How we built (and grow) ours

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What is a community?

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“A community is a social unit of any size that shares common values”""

- wikipedia

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Interest!Action!Place!Circumstance !Practice

photo by North Charleston"

Community vs team

photo by chemisti

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools "Working software over comprehensive documentation "Customer collaboration over contract negotiation "Responding to change over following a plan "(while we value things on the left ..etc etc)

agilemanifesto.org

A community of practice:"Share common values "Share a craft or profession

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Why is it important?

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It’s lonely being a delivery manager :(

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Communities of practice can increase personal, professional and organisational learning

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“There are three kinds of knowledge: knowledge as object, knowledge embedded within individuals, and knowledge embedded in a community""

- Wasko and Faraj (2000)

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bit.ly/agiletrainingblog

how did/do we learn to be agile practitioners?

Common themes

People learn through experience & exploration

photo by echiner1

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Shadowing (learning from others)

Formal training (courses, qualifications)

Self initiated learning (networking, reading blogs)"

Sharing ideas (forums, blogging, public speaking)

Small experiments (short projects, trying things out)

Questioning & retrospecting (inspect and adapt)

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Shadowing (learning from others)

Formal training (courses, qualifications)

Self initiated learning (networking, reading blogs)"

Sharing ideas (forums, blogging, public speaking)

Small experiments (short projects, trying things out)

Questioning & retrospecting (inspect and adapt)

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David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model

Concrete Experience

Abstract Conceptualisation

Reflective Observation

Active Experimentation

How we built "(and grow) ours

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Function

Team

s

Communities of practice

Government Digital Service

Function

The GDS Agile Delivery Community

Create a safe environment

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GDSEmily Webber photo by sanfrancisotinkeringschool

Ener

gy le

vel a

nd v

isib

ility

time

stewardship

coalescing

potential

transformation

maturing

discover/ imagine

incubate/deliver immediate value

focus/ expand

ownership/ openness

let go/ live on

Cultivating Communities of Practice – A Guide to Managing Knowledge

Ener

gy le

vel a

nd v

isib

ility

time

stewardship

coalescing

potential

transformation

maturing

discover/ imagine

incubate/deliver immediate value

focus/ expand

ownership/ openness

let go/ live on

We found out who belonged in the community

GDSEmily Webber

Ener

gy le

vel a

nd v

isib

ility

time

stewardship

coalescing

potential

transformation

maturing

discover/ imagine

incubate/deliver immediate value

focus/ expand

ownership/ openness

let go/ live on

Set up the forums to start to talk and learn from each other

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Sharing is caringphoto by laurie cinotto

email groups"face to face meetings

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email groups"face to face meetings

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Let the community behaviour emerge

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Ener

gy le

vel a

nd v

isib

ility

time

stewardship

coalescing

potential

transformation

maturing

discover/ imagine

incubate/deliver immediate value

focus/ expand

ownership/ openness

let go/ live on

We found out what they needed from the community !"

(and what the community needed from them)

photo by Garrett Coakley

Kept the conversation going and kept it relevant

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Encourage people to pair on ideas and problems

photo by Peter Nijenhuis

Ener

gy le

vel a

nd v

isib

ility

time

stewardship

coalescing

potential

transformation

maturing

discover/ imagine

incubate/deliver immediate value

focus/ expand

ownership/ openness

let go/ live on

Identified people in the community that could take an active role

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Let the communities identify it’s values

photo by Jason Schlachet

• We care about creating the best services for citizens"

"• We are open and honest in our approach and

actions""• We create and foster a safe and supportive

environment through trust and respect""• We learn continuously through questioning,

collaboration and sharing""• We welcome people with different skills and

experience and recognise their importance to successful teams

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GDS

Hire people who believe in the same values

A community of practice can exist as long as the members believe they have something to contribute to it, or gain from it

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Summing up!communities are important for learning"create a safe environment"support any online with face to face"let the community emerge"support it through community management"make it meaningful

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Be agile

Emily WebberHead of Agile DeliveryGovernment Digital Service @ewebber