Bring together practitioners with concrete issues and questions to mobilize and identify the right players.

For management buy-in the CoP should support core organizational function (top management buy-in is a helpful but not sufficient condition for the success of the CoP).

Start demand-driven and with concrete objectives: avoid setting up a CoP around a theoretically deduced topic (you may also want to start with clients’ and partners’ interests, rather than with those defined by your organization).

Mobilise or redirect efforts that are already there: link to or empower existing groups.
Timing is essential: if it simply appears too difficult to mobilise the CoP, “hibernation” may be an option.