The Role of Communities of Practice in a Product-led Organization
Lukkarinen, Tiakaisa (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504247591
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504247591
Tiivistelmä
This thesis was commissioned by an international IT organization that operates in the financial sector. The company initiated an organizational transformation during the thesis to transform into a product-led organization. As part of this transformation, the organization began implementing DevOps processes in its software development. One goal of this thesis was to find out how to improve the communication between product development and customer services teams within the commissioning organization, and more specifically, it seeks to determine how current communities of practice groups can enhance communication during and after organizational changes.
During the thesis research phase, three different user groups were interviewed: customer service representatives, DevOps and Agile coaches, and product development representatives. The interviews were conducted between August 2024 and January 2025. Additionally, a questionnaire was sent out during November 2024 to one customer servicerelated community. The questionnaire was sent out to twelve people. During the three-week response time, five responses to the questionnaire were collected.
The main findings of the interviews were that there is a need for more organized engagement between the customer service and product development teams, as well as more focus on knowledge sharing. Additionally, there is a need to build a culture that prioritizes user feedback and ongoing improvement. The interview results highlighted the importance of communication and collaboration, and that the concept of communities of practice aligns with the new organization’s set up. Both the questionnaire respondents and interviewees identified that the community groups could help improve communication during the transition to a product-led organization, but also that the current community activities needed further development.
Recommendations were given to the commissioning organization on how to improve the organization's communication practices and how to develop the community of practice concept in the organization.
During the thesis research phase, three different user groups were interviewed: customer service representatives, DevOps and Agile coaches, and product development representatives. The interviews were conducted between August 2024 and January 2025. Additionally, a questionnaire was sent out during November 2024 to one customer servicerelated community. The questionnaire was sent out to twelve people. During the three-week response time, five responses to the questionnaire were collected.
The main findings of the interviews were that there is a need for more organized engagement between the customer service and product development teams, as well as more focus on knowledge sharing. Additionally, there is a need to build a culture that prioritizes user feedback and ongoing improvement. The interview results highlighted the importance of communication and collaboration, and that the concept of communities of practice aligns with the new organization’s set up. Both the questionnaire respondents and interviewees identified that the community groups could help improve communication during the transition to a product-led organization, but also that the current community activities needed further development.
Recommendations were given to the commissioning organization on how to improve the organization's communication practices and how to develop the community of practice concept in the organization.