Communities of Practice Leadership Retreat

On September 20, 2021 a group of our faculty members assembled at  David Braley Centre, downtown Hamilton, to engage in leadership development around the Communities of Practice (COPs) initiative of the McMaster’s Department of Medicine. This was the first face-to-face meeting that the Department of Medicine has sponsored since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The day was full of insights and pearls from leaders at various stages of their career – from assistant professors to administrators to full professors!. They discussed key concepts for establishing a practice of leading teams towards a project end goal. In an engaging afternoon of panel discussions and small group work the attendees were exposed to a superb primer on leadership skills presented by some of McMaster’s most accomplished faculty.

“While the format was carefully constructed to adhere to current COVID-19 in person gathering restrictions, everyone found it to be a great session because it represented the first meeting that many had attended since the start of COVID-19 and because of the exceptional content. We look forward to tracing how learnings from this meeting are applied by our up and coming leadership group as they navigate their communities of practice forward.” – Mark Crowther

“It was a very exciting way to further the development of Communities of Practice,” states Dr. Teresa Chan, who is involved in the Leadership Community of Practice and the Education Innovation Community of Practice. “It was a great way to get to know some of the new and emerging leaders within the Department and learn from each of them. I feel very energized about kicking this initiative off with developing these communities now after yesterday.” – Teresa Chan

“I’m excited to hear about how all of the CoPs will be exploring trust, relationships, and diversity to push forward the vision and next era in the Department of Medicine.  The Department has incredibly deep talent across the spectrum of administration, clinical activities, teaching, research and commercialization – it will be exciting to see how the CoPs work to mobilize this talent in years to come.” – Jay Hirota

“The Community of Practice initiative brings together a unique group of thought leaders across the Department of Medicine around shared areas of interest. It was inspiring to listen, participate, reflect and learn with this group at the “How We Will Lead” retreat. The discussions deeply resonated with my past, present and anticipated future leadership experiences.” – Leslie Martin 

“The Communities of Practice bring together kindred spirits from research, education, and clinical practice. Yes, in some ways, we are very different. However, at our core we share a desire and ability to – regardless of challenges we meet along the way – keep the pace and drive positive change. I am humbled to sit among such forward-thinking individuals. For many of us, it was the first time meeting in-person… and it was, as expected, a very inspiring day! Lots of wisdom, energy, and ideas exchanged. I can’t wait to see what we’re able to accomplish together.” – Sarrah M. Lal 

The Communities of Practice include: Entrepreneurship, Quality and Patient Safety, Leadership, Education and Innovation, Virtual Care and  Clinical Improvement Sciences

The next step for these leaders will be to open up their Communities to allow for interested parties to engage in the shared practices and activities that will galvanize new interdisciplinary and interprofessional activities.

 Recordings will be shared with the rest of the community later on. Stay tuned to your inboxes for more information about the CoPs programs.

This initiative was spearheaded by Dr. Mark Crowther to help break down silos and create a zone for individuals to share knowledge and practices around common interests within the department. 

To find out more about Communities of Practice, please contact Brady Wood.