Communities of Practice
Comradery in the workplace is an essential aspect as people spend most of their waking hours at work; hence they need to be comfortable in their work environment. This comfort will, in turn, yield productivity and achievement of company goals.
When I was reading the assigned paper, I was astounded by how much the Communities of Practice sound like those high school cliques where to get admission, especially in the popular clique, could cost you your entire persona. As Mladkova (2015, 1) states, one of the disadvantages to such groups is the exclusivity as they find a way of making everyone else feel like they are unworthy. The same way these cliques would make others hate being in school because they feel unwelcome, so can the Communities of practice leading to employee dissatisfaction and a drop in productivity.
On the other hand, these groups have their benefits as well. They facilitate teamwork; hence the quality of work will improve, leading to increased productivity of the employees (Mladkova, 2015, 1). By joining a group where you can be yourself and be appreciated for it, people can speak more openly and share ideas or raise a concern about something. As a result, the employees will feel heard, and it will motivate them to share in the goals of the company. Notably, this openness can lead to another disadvantage that Mladkova did not mention. The eagerness to join groups can lead to the loss of individuality, where some employees may prefer to lie about their ideas so that they match the rest of the group. As such, their innovation will be hindered.
Ultimately, there is a way for the organization to resolve some of these disadvantages. They could host team-building activities, which will allow more employees to find common ground with others; hence no one will feel left out. Likewise, during decision making or idea-generating ideas, employees should be encouraged to personalize their ideas aside from the group presentations.