Come Sail Away
Amongst Community of Practice leaders, there is often a concern about the size and commitment of its membership. We worry about those members who join intermittently or, even more so, those who will join for 4 - 5 sessions and then leave. Have we failed them? Is there something that we were not able to provide them that has meant they’ve abandoned us? The answer for any well managed and inclusive community is usually no - the goal of a Community of Practice is to meet the needs of its members, but not every member’s needs are the same. Some seek the long term belonging of being part of a community, whereas the needs of others may be more short term and can be met within weeks or months. Rather than something we should be fearful of, this is a sign of success and it is important for us as leaders to coach ourselves to anticipate and embrace the transitory nature of a certain percentage of our community.
Imagine your Community of Practice is a harbour - an area of coastline which is partly enclosed from the rough waters of the open sea where boats can be left safely. In any harbour there are a wide variety of boats and users that all have different but equally valid and valuable needs that the harbour needs to meet. But lets start at the beginning - the first boat we see is the Pilot boat. The harbour master uses this boat to guide others into and out of the harbour, to make sure they arrive safely and securely, and to make sure that they are there in a coordinated way. They have expertise and familiarity in the local area to help all those who use the harbour, and keep everything running smoothly and safely. The role of the Pilot boat in this metaphor is, somewhat predictably, representing the role of the community leader, who’s role it is to guide new members in, to make sure that the space is coordinated, structured and (importantly) safe, and ultimately to guide members out and onwards when the time comes to do so.
Elsewhere in the harbour we have those boats which belong to local residents, and are anchored there for the long term. They may be in use every day and return to the harbour every night - perhaps they are a fishing boat that unloads its catch and sells it in the local town, or perhaps they are a pleasure boat that gets used each weekend. Whatever their individual need is, they are committed and co-dependent on and with the harbour and will have strong opinions if any changes are to be made. You may recognise the role in this metaphor as your regular core members, the ones who attend week in week out and help maintain and drive the community forward.
A lot of my childhood was spent in the South Devonshire seaside town of Teignmouth, and overlooking the harbour we would, on a weekly basis, see huge cargo ships enter the harbour to unload lorry loads of what looked like soya. A few days later they would depart, heading off out to sea never to be seen again. In our Communities of Practice we occasionally bring in our guest speakers; experts or experienced members of other communities who have knowledge and insights to share. We don’t expect them to stay as long term members, and once they’ve shared their insights they will leave. They might occasionally come back for future sessions, but we don’t expect them to suddenly become regular attendees simply because they came to share with us once.
In a similar vein, from time to time there will be occasional visitors to the harbour. They may stop and moor there for a few days, whilst the occupants see the local sights, buy whatever supplies they need, and enjoy their time in the local town. Then, once their immediate needs have been met, they set sail again and leave, on to the next destination on their journey. Again, we don’t expect these transient visitors to stay forever, but we welcome them nonetheless and we wish them well when they continue their journeys. This is an important distinction to make - our community members are users that we serve, not commodities to be counted and hoarded. We must recognise that the needs of each user are unique and, whilst some will stay and remain invested for the long term, it is a sign of success that members are having their needs met and are no longer dependent on the community - regardless of how long they are there for.
We all know that headcount is a terrible metric for measuring the success of a Community of Practice, and whilst this example does not provide an alternative, it hopefully illustrates that short term members and attendees are a natural indicator of the community’s usefulness and healthiness, and should be considered as a positive rather than something we should fear.
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