An Exploration of Leadership in Virtual Communities of Practice

Abstract

Virtual community of practice (VCoP) teams are becoming a typical function in many knowledge-based organizations. VCoP teams can consist of team members located in various cities, states, and countries. The main characteristic of the VCoP is team members' sense of community that allows individuals to share knowledge. Knowledge sharing in a VCoP evokes the same principles as traditional workgroups. Knowledge sharing requires an individual to acquire and share knowledge with a member with like skills. The virtual community of practice aims to develop practices in virtual domains because knowledge is the constant tool for collective success. Despite the increase in VCoPs, traditional leadership methods are used to lead the dynamic attributes of VCoP teams. This qualitative phenomenological research study examined the personal and professional lived experiences of midlevel leaders' effective management of virtual committees of practice (VCoP) in medical device companies in the Atlanta metro area. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 leaders of VCoP from different medical device functional specialties to understand effective leadership attributes of VCoPs. Six emergent themes were identified: (a) empowerment, (b) communication, (c) trust, (d) encouragement/inspiration, (e) integrity, and (f) connecting with individuals. The research findings revealed attributes of a hybrid transformational leadership model able to lead a VCoP effectively.