A Community of Practice is:
A group of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion about a topic, that expand their knowledge and expertise in their area of interest through ongoing interaction with each other.
Thermal Community of Practice (Eng CoP) is a group of individuals working to identify, define and develop best practices. Essentially it is a group of professionals, informally or formally bound together through exposure to a common set problems or pursuit of a common set of solutions.
Their focus is to establish a dynamic and collaborative environment to examine topics of interest to the community such as a basic understanding of the role of Engineering in the grand scheme of Power Generation in Ghana.
The rationale for using the CoP approach is that it:
-Will improve service delivery and enhances individual and organizational learning
- Will increase ownership and helps shape policy through sharing knowledge and experiences
CoPs are at the centre to serve as the main facilitator in creating interaction and real-time sharing of ideas, resources and experiences with and between staff of the Authority.
Types of Community
Community Collaboration
What is the role of a CoP member?
Specific roles and responsibilities of a CoP member may include:
Follow the links below to access relevant Engineering resources:
How do you engage CoP members?
The key elements to engaging CoP members include:
Leadership: A leader or leaders who actively work to engage a larger community and guide CoP members
Consensus Building and Seeking Input: Experience has shown that Engaging all of the appropriate disciplines and relevant stakeholders cearly in the process will aid to the success of implementing the end product.
Communication: Keeping open and regular communication with members
(e.g. meetings, emails, and newsletters) may assist in building the CoP’s identity)
Self-Audit through Data Collection: When the CoP is focused on a quality initiative; members have stated that auditing the initiative and providing individual feedback to members in a productive and non-threatening manner is very effective at improving quality.
. Provincial Workshop: In person workshops and web-conferences provide an opportunity for multiple disciplines from across the community to come together and discuss quality improvement initiatives, identify gaps in operations and maintenance, and determine goals for the CoP
List Serv Online Discussion Forum: The Hydro CoP List Servs will provide a multidisciplinary online discussion platform for Engineers/Engineering Technicians./CoP members to improve their knowledge and management of engineering matters.-
Newsletters: Newsletters keep CoP members informed of quality improvement initiatives occurring in the community.
-Data Distribution:Data is an important driver of quality improvement, and both operations and maintenance.
Best Practices to Sustain Communities
Best Practice for Thermal Generation
- Manual on Best Practices in Indian Thermal Power Generating Units