Communities of practice are not syn

Communities of practice are not synonymous to teams or task forces
that are formed for a specific purpose for a certain period of time. Rather,
they are peers that form groups to learn from one another and improve their
understanding of a particular subject of common interest. What binds them
is their common desire to improve their knowledge and their respective need
to know what the other knows. In other words, a community of practice is
where members share “work stories”. During the process of “story telling” the
exchange of tacit knowledge takes place. This process is particularly important
to new staff members since the sharing of knowledge tends to accelerate their
movement from a mere tangential contact to a fuller involvement with the
older staff members.