Get to know your #GCComms Communities of Practice

By: Communications Community Office

One of the best perks of being a #GCComms communicator is the wide range of Communities of Practice (CoPs) (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) on offer. CoPs are grassroots initiatives driven by federal communicators with expertise and a passion in a particular realm of communications.

The community-led structure of CoPs offers members a place to share information, best practices, tools and resources, and to discuss common challenges and develop new approaches. CoPs can also provide opportunities to network and learn about different areas of federal communications. From storytelling to media relations to internal communications, there’s a CoP for virtually everyone!

Communities of Practice are also an important tool in advancing key government priorities like reconciliation, anti-racism, and accessibility. CoPs like the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Communications Network, the Indigenous Communications Subgroup, the Plain Language Community of Practice, and the Community of Practice on Accessible Communications meet regularly to help colleagues across the government bring an inclusive and accessible lens to their work.

#GCComms Communities of Practice create an equal opportunity for all communicators to participate in initiatives spearheaded across communications and in all departments and agencies. Through these efforts, we increase knowledge, information sharing, and cross-pollination of ideas while building a sense of community. 

We asked a few of our #GCComms CoPs to share more about their community and the services they offer federal communicators.

Community of Practice on Accessible Communications

“Our CoP was born out of a combination of circumstances. Prior to its creation, I had been thinking for a long time of the need for a mechanism to share and innovate when it comes to accessible communications outside of web. In addition, two years ago, Treasury Board Secretariat held consultations on their guidelines for accessible communications. When I participated, I thought it would be just a few of us. During the sessions, I saw the enthusiasm of dozens of colleagues with various expertise on the subject.

That's all it took for me to say to myself: wow, by joining forces, we could really make progress! So I called my friend Martine Bareil, who answered right away: "When do we start?”

A few months later, with a few partners on our side, our CoP was born. In 18 months, we recruited 300 members.

Since its inception, we have featured many experts and offered a variety of trainings on various topics related to accessible communications.

During the meetings, we answer all the questions from members, and we offer them:

• many resources,
• interpretation in both languages,
• captions in both languages, and
• interpretation in Langue des signes québécoise and American Sign Language.

Among other topics, we have discussed the importance of:

• images and words when talking about accessibility and people with disabilities; and
• communicating effectively with the Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing communities.

What makes me the proudest is our last meeting on this exact theme. We featured a panel of 3 deaf experts who all expressed themselves in sign language. To my knowledge, this was the first event of its kind in the history of the GC. Imagine the experience of participants who were going through the exact opposite of the experience of people whose first language is sign language! Since these communities are so often forgotten, I was very touched to be able to open minds to the issue.”

 – Christina Richard, Co-Chair

Digital Analytics Community of Practice

“The Digital Analytics Community of Practice (DACoP) (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) was created in January 2015. Our community is made up of 600+ digital analytics practitioners who use analytics data to enhance the government’s web presence and their clients’ online experience.

DACoP offers Adobe Analytics (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) and Introduction to Web Analytics (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) training to help increase the analytics literacy across the GC.

The community also holds two regular meetings specifically for Adobe Analytics users, as well a meeting open to everyone on how to get value out of analytics data.

From 2020 to 2023, the community hosted a quarterly international analytics forum with representatives from Australia, Belgium, Ireland, the UK and the US.

In 2022, DACoP launched the first-ever GC Digital Analytics Awards (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) to recognize exemplary analytics work that led to results and made an impact in the community.”

– Digital Analytics Community of Practice

Communications Evaluation Community of Practice

“We met each other while participating in a Results Map communication evaluation bootcamp in 2018. We realized we were interested in evaluation and looking at it from varied perspectives. Together, we merged our vision and brought insight/practical tools to launch the CoP.

As co-chairs, we regularly host Office Hours – an opportunity for any government communicator to sign up for a one-on-one mentoring session on implementing evaluation in their communications plans (now open for sign up). Our CoP has hosted multiple Virtual Learning Events and has put together some great online resources (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) on comms evaluation, including some excellent examples/templates.

If you’re looking to launch your own CoP, before you get started it’s a great idea to see what CoP’s are out there and if there are ways to work with existing groups. It’s also important to network at Communications Community Office events and find others working toward the same goals. Varied and diverse perspectives will ensure a rich and valuable CoP.”

– Jessica Jones and Nancy Fowler

Consider joining a #GCComms Community of Practice

Check out the list of #GCComms Communities of Practice (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) and stay tuned! New CoPs are constantly being formed in response to a rapidly evolving communications landscape. In the last year, new CoPs have been created for government emergency communications, informal marketing, and more!

Do you see a need that could be filled with a new Community of Practice? The good news is that as peer-based networks, Communities of Practice can be as informal or as structured as needed. Get in touch with us! The Communications Community Office is here to help you with resources to get started on your CoP journey.