Communities of Practice

What is a Community of Practice (CoP)?

Communities of Practice (CoPs) are groups of people who are connected by a shared expertise, profession, and set of activities. At the University, we already have CoPs with identified practice areas such as Education Administration, HR Operations and Executive/Personal Assistants.
Members of such a community actively support each other through collaboration, knowledge sharing and the fostering of new approaches to mutual problems.
CoPs can play a major part in helping to break down silos, improve work processes, support career development and increase role satisfaction for their members.

Why are we building Communities of Practice at the University of Oxford?

Whilst the University’s devolved structure is part of our success, our Professional Services staff can benefit from being better connected to others working in the same practice area.
Communities of Practice address this and deliver benefits to our Professional Services staff on an individual, team and organisational level:

_{Click image to enlarge}

Does it work?

CoPs have already made a positive impact across the University. In our recent member survey, 84% of participants reported a positive impact on their collaboration with others. Additionally, 62% of participants experienced higher motivation at work.