Succeeding with Agile

Creating an Environment for Communities to Form and Flourish

The most effective type of community of practice within Scrum organizations seems to be one that forms organically rather than by management request, although both approaches can be used for different purposes. Because self-organization is critical to successful agile teamwork, the formation of self-organizing communities of practice creates a powerful synergy. In this sense it is up to the organization and its leadership to create an environment in which communities of practice can form, flourish, and then fade away as they run their course.

According to Etienne Wenger and his colleagues, “because communities of practice are organic, designing them is more a matter of shepherding ...