How to set up a Community of Practice ( CoP ) for Nutritionists

1. How to set up a Community of Practice (CoP) for Nutritionists See What is a CoP and how do I use this resource?

2. Introduction • You have decided to set up a COP for nutrition professionals- Great! • The aim of this presentation is to guide you on how to create a successful and sustainable CoP • We hope to offer you practical tips and help you navigate common issues • Plus provide you with useful resources via hyperlinks See Why a Community of Practice?

3. Introduction • Setting up a CoP can be divided into these steps • Inquire • Design • Prototype • Launch • Grow • Sustain • Evaluate

4. Key Definitions • Domain- a particular shared Nutrition interest • Community- a group of people (Nutrition professionals from a specific health field or region) • Practice- practical implications and applications of professional knowledge

5. Inquire • Make a case to employers to allow you to dedicate time to aCoP • Potential benefits to organisations include: • Employee efficiency, in terms of time and cost, in retrieving information • Industry benchmarking capacity • Involvement in key industry and national initiatives • Organisationalreputation as a contributor in building new capabilities • Increase access and use of evidence

6. Inquire Summary of the advantages of a CoP Members Organisation See CoP versus other forms of professional development

7. Design • Draft charter or group guidelines with three to five members including: • Mission • Scope • Goals • Objectives • Participant expectations See CoP Charter Template

8. Design • Identify leaders in your CoP • Find a skilful and reputable coordinator that has an interest in the domain • Allocate two primary roles • Community leader: Takes overall organisational responsibility for the CoP. Helps the group stay focused and aligned with the charter • Community sponsor: encourages member participation and access to technology or resources See Case for Sponsorship Brief

9. Design • Subject Matter (domain) of CoP • Identify topical/controversial/common issues related to the circumstances of the profession • Groups are best for problem solving • Find Subject Matter Expertise (SME). These will be people who are considered knowledgeable and leaders in identified domains See SME Tip Sheet

10. Case Study • Subject matter expertise: • The CoP for PHNs working with remote retail stores aimed to increase access to the evidence base for this unique and newly emerging field • This included access to six experienced professionals who previously and currently work in the field, at different times during the groups existence • Sessions were conversational in nature allowing members to ask questions of such experts where they may not have had access or felt comfortable to do so in another professional development forum

11. Design • Choose a facilitator to keep conversations focused, relevant and inclusive. There are many different ways to do this, some options include: • Most experienced person facilitates/chairs meetings • Facilitators rotate monthly or each session See Facilitation Tip Sheet

12. Design • Consider timing of meetings • Frequency ideally six weekly to ensure no long gap between meets • Duration (depending on size of group ~two hours) • Face-to-face meetings (this can especially be useful for members in rural/remote areas, trying to meet 1x year i.e. at a major national professional conference once per year

13. Design • Communication: consider accessibility, cost, reliability, practicability • Video/audio conferencing e.g. • Google Chat (free) • Adobe (cost) – lets users present documents and screen share • Skype (cost for group conference) • Telephone • Face to face See Technology Tool Comparison

14. Design • Management of knowledge • Record of meetings e.g. allocate a scribe • Inform members who miss sessions • Have a way to follow up on issues raised for future meetings • Prompt dialogue between meetings through chat room or emails • Encourage sharing of reflections whilst they occur in the workplace

15. Prototype • It is time to test the CoP out with the core members • Refine method of communication and technology tools the community will use • Ensure each core member’s role is clear • Go through “case scenarios” to test the functionality of meetings A group of remote Public Health Nutritionists may test out their CoP with a topic like ‘The process of developing a store nutrition policy’

16. Launch • Use the below templates as one example of how to get the word out to potential members • To recruit members try • Emailing past and present colleagues • Social and research network sites such as Facebook, ResearchGate, Linkedin, Twitter • Professional bodies i.e. DAA, PHAA, Nutrition Society of Australia and special interest groups within these bodies See Formation Announcement Template See Invitation Approach

17. Launch • Membership • Consider the size of your group, evidence suggests groups of around ten are most manageable • Use the template below to track membership skills, contact details See Membership Tracking Template

18. Grow • Aim to increase participation and member contribution: • Create subgroups to support emerging group activities • Publicise successes and encourage sharing of stories from the front line • Consider rewards for participation such as CPD points (may need to involve and discuss with professional bodies i.e. DAA) • Involve experts and develop the evidence base with research and university bodies See Maximising group effectiveness

19. Sustain • Value the work of communities • Actively encourage ideas, sharing of knowledge • Create a newsletter to summarise activities of the CoP and to plan for next meetings • Keep stakeholders and your organisation informed of your involvement See Newsletter template See Sustaining a CoP

20. Evaluate • Individual and/or group reflection and evaluation See Evaluation interview guide • Employ the Most significant change technique See MSC guide • Facilitator diaries See Evaluating a CoP

21. Summary • The creation and evolution of a CoP can be broken down into simple steps. • Use the hyperlinks to help you set up your CoP but remember they are just a guide. It is important to just work with what suits the groups needs. • Aim to create a CoP that empowers its nutrition members and encourages them to Collaborate, Apply, Support and Engage for lifelong learning and career development. Go and set up your own CoP