Herding Cats: Choosing a Governance Structure for Your Communities of Practice

Many organizations grapple with the challenge of connecting their organizational silos. Both organizational and geographical boundaries often slow down or block the flows of knowledge and experience that are needed to make full use of the organization's capabilities. There is a high cost to the duplication of effort, inconsistencies and inefficiencies that result. A number of organisations have pioneered new ways of working in order to address this strategic challenge. One of the most promising approaches is the development of what is commonly referred to as 'communities of practice'. This article highlights the experiences of four global organisations - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Oracle, Shell and Schlumberger - in terms of how they have approached the governance of their communities, at both a strategic and an operational level.