Many small business owners and nonprofit leaders have no one quite like them in the building. Your staff report to you. Your board oversees you. Your family supports you, but they have heard about the payroll question enough times already.

So the hardest decisions often get made alone, late at night, with a spreadsheet and a cup of something.

It does not have to work that way. A community of practice gives you peers who understand the work, and a steady way to get better at it together.

Isolation is common, and costly

The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 advisory, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, describes social connection as a public health priority. Leaders are not exempt. In Harvard Business Review, Boris Groysberg and Robert Russman Halperin describe how peer support groups, usually four to ten people meeting regularly in confidence, give leaders a place to share problems they cannot share at work.

For owners and nonprofit directors, that kind of group is often the missing piece. Not more advice, but a place to think out loud with people who have been there.

What a community of practice is

Etienne Wenger and William Snyder introduced many business readers to the idea in “Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier” in HBR. They describe groups of people bound together by shared expertise and a passion for a joint enterprise, who learn by sharing experience and knowledge in free-flowing, creative ways.

At a glance

Three parts of a community of practice

Based on the work of Etienne Wenger and colleagues.

DomainThe shared concern or craft that brings people together
CommunityThe relationships and trust that make it safe to share
PracticeThe tools, stories, and methods members build together

A community of practice is different from a committee or a team. A team delivers a project. A community of practice builds the capability of its members over time. It can form among peers from different organizations, or inside your own organization among staff, volunteers, or members who do similar work.

What I learned building one

My doctoral research looked at this directly. In a one-semester study, four first-year special education teachers met regularly to review videos of each other’s teaching. I was both facilitator and participant. It was a small study, and I treat it as a set of lessons rather than proof that the model works everywhere.

Three themes came through clearly. The teachers described breaking out of isolation and building real cohesion. They grew professionally by reflecting on their own work. And they connected that growth to better learning for their students.

The lessons that carried over to every group I have facilitated since:

  • Start from a real need. The group formed because the teachers described feeling isolated, not because a program called for it.
  • Value every member’s insight. The newest person often asks the question that unlocks everyone else.
  • Ask before advising. Good questions help a member see their own situation more clearly.
  • Build trust with care. Caring words and consistency matter more than a clever agenda.
  • Make room for food and fun. A line from education scholar Christopher M. Clark stayed with me: “Community is impossible among strangers.”

Not every group becomes a community

Wenger and colleagues are clear that communities of practice tend to be self-organizing. You cannot order one into existence. You can create conditions for one. A peer group that meets once and fades was probably missing a clear shared concern, a steady rhythm, or someone who kept it moving.

The Wenger-Trayner introduction to communities of practice is a helpful, short primer if you want the underlying ideas.

Where a community of practice helps

  • Peer groups for owners and executive directors who want a confidential place to work through decisions.
  • Staff communities inside a growing business, so knowledge does not live in one person’s head.
  • Volunteer or member communities in a nonprofit, so people stay connected and keep improving.
  • Partner networks where several small organizations serve the same people and learn from each other.

How StrideForward helps you build one

StrideForward designs and facilitates communities of practice for small businesses and nonprofits. That usually includes defining the shared concern with you, recruiting the right members, setting a format and rhythm that fit busy schedules, facilitating the first sessions, and handing over tools so the group can run on its own. The goal is a community that lasts after we step back.

My research recommended embedding communities of practice into structures that already exist, rather than adding one more meeting. That is how we approach it: fit the group into how your people already work.

Apply it

Design your first peer group

  • Name the shared concern in one sentence, such as “growing without burning out.”
  • Invite four to eight people who face it, from outside your chain of command if possible.
  • Set a rhythm: 60 to 90 minutes, every two to four weeks.
  • Use one simple format: one member brings a real challenge, the group asks questions before giving advice.
  • Agree on confidentiality, and keep food and a little fun on the agenda.

Tip: print this page or take a screenshot of this checklist to use later.

If you are building skills on your own, NextReady Studio explains how a small peer group speeds up your skills. And Thrive Vibes writes about why we learn better together, with food, fun, and trust built in.

Common questions

What is a community of practice?

A community of practice is a group of people who share a concern or craft, interact regularly, and improve their work by learning from each other. Etienne Wenger and colleagues describe three parts: a shared domain, a community of relationships, and a shared practice.

How is a community of practice different from a team?

A team is formed to deliver a specific project or result. A community of practice exists to build its members’ capability over time, and it often includes people from different teams or organizations.

How do I start a peer group for small business owners or nonprofit leaders?

Name a shared concern, invite four to eight people who face it, set a steady rhythm, and use a simple format in which one member brings a real challenge and the group asks questions before giving advice. Agree on confidentiality from the start.

Can a consultant help build a community of practice?

Yes. A facilitator can help define the shared concern, recruit members, design the format, and run early sessions, then hand over tools so the group can continue on its own.

Sources and further reading

Three perspectives. One shared idea.

The same topic, written for three different ways of moving forward: done with you, learned yourself, or lived together.

Keep going with StrideForward

Want a community around your work?

We can help you design and launch a peer group or community of practice that fits how your people already work.

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