Communities of Practice
I have been reflecting on conferences that I have attended in the past and they have largely been internal corporate conferences and networking events. I find networking in a formal setting quite challenging; I prefer to meet people in more informal events like post-conference drinks or beer and pizza evenings as I find the conversation can be more natural. This has highlighted that my professional and academic development I should participate in conferences relating to User Experience and Project Management. I have identified a few conferences I would like to attend, and as soon as I have my new work schedule I intend to register.
I enjoyed learning about the online communities of practice the only one that I had any knowledge of before this week was the Agile Community. As I develop my skills through the course of this degree, I would like to get involved with a project in the Open-Source Community. I love the idea that I could be making a contribution that will benefit society.
I am a member of the Scrum Alliance community, but I have not been active. To remedy this, I have signed up for my first conference Launch your Agile Career Beyond the classroom taking place on the 22nd of April. This conference is an opportunity to learn and to network with other practitioners.
In my career, I have organised and facilitated small networking events and workshops. I have also established communities of practice with Ways of Working forums for the Project Management community. I have found this to be a great way to network and share best practice and learn from peers.
The Challenge Brief
“Social anthropologists conduct their research in many ways, but the method most characteristic of the discipline is that of fieldwork based on ‘participant observation’. This usually means spending a long period (a year or more) living as closely as possible with the community being studied; learning the language if necessary; sharing the activities of daily life; observing and participating in the texture of social interactions, and identifying underlying patterns. Through analysing this experience and exchanging ideas with members of the community, the anthropologist aims to gain a deep understanding of how society works, including its inherent tensions and contradictions. Social anthropologists usually report their research in the form of ‘ethnographies’, which are detailed descriptions of the society in question.”
1. Identify a community of practitioners that aligns with your interests and aspirations for the future.
I have chosen the UX Mastery Community because this communities aim is to help people starting their career in UX which I think fits perfectly with my level of experience.
2. Create an ethnography report, no more than 800 words long, that is based on ‘participation observation.’
The Enography Report
Subjects: The forum covers a wide breadth of subjects relating to UX Practice, Tools, Education, Professional development with over 1000 posts and articles from guest bloggers.
The Tone: The language in the posts is informal but the content is focused on educational and professional development.
The posts are incredibly positive with people giving constructive feedback and suggesting how to approach problems or useful tools.
The posts to introduce yourself to the community is friendly and there is some humour which makes doing an introduction less intimidating.
The Language: The posts are largely in English, but the members are global.
Activities: The community members post nearly every day. Sometimes there are a few days between posts and getting feedback from the community.
There are guest bloggers and contributors who write articles for the community.
The community is also a place for you to make connections with other members and can enable private messaging so that the members can establish relationships outside of the public forum.
Social Interactions: The feeds tend to be short with a question followed by a few responses from the community.
How does the Society Work: New users are placed in a sandbox environment when they join. Over time when they have illustrated that they are trustworthy and will comply with discourse trust levels, they are given more privileges. Five levels require the user to undertake training and provide additional information.
The information about the civilised community behaviour provides more of an insight into how the society works. They want members to be respectful of themselves and others. Posts should be meaningful and improve the discussion. They ask members to be kind, patient and polite.
Sources
- BAUMGARTEN, Robin. (2018). ‘Wobble Garden’. [online] Available at: https://wobblylabs.com/projects/wobblegarden (Links to an external site.). [Accessed 14 April 2021].
- CALLAN, H. Social and Cultural Anthropology [online]. Available at: https://www.discoveranthropology.org.uk/about-anthropology/what-is-anthropology/social-and-cultural-anthropology.html (Links to an external site.). [Accessed 14 April 2021].
2021. [image] Available at: <https://www.pexels.com/photo/focus-photo-of-4-wooden-pawn-figurine-209728/> [Accessed 14 April 2021].
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