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Three Key Network Concepts Nodes: things to be connected e.g., people Links: relationships or flows Communicates with Trusts Clique: subset of nodes in the network that are highly linked Social Networks Who communicates with whom? It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Example: How can I get in touch with person X? Social Network Map Nodes represent people. Links represent who communicates with whom. Steps to Identify Social Networks First, decide what communication links to map, such as individual, work team, department, etc. e.g., if you want maps of interdepartmental links, people must report links from the point of view of the department Second, survey people about who they... talk to regularly go to for help or advice would recruit to support a proposal that could be unpopular would trust to keep something confidential Third, cross check the replies to the survey e.g., when Johnson says he talks to Hecht each day--does she agree that he talks to her that frequently? To create a consensus map, ignore links that are not reported by both persons To look for specific areas where there might be problems, pay attention to links that are not reported by both persons e.g., a supervisor reports communicating frequently with subordinates but they report only sporadic communications with him To identify internal communication problems, examine the differences in who people report communicating with. Are there natural differences in peoples’ perceptions of communication based on division of labor or differential access to restricted information? Is there inadequate information sharing? Do communication differences point to a structural problem in the organization? Are unusual patterns a means for coping with a personnel problem? Fourth, analyze the data via computer programs that translate the survey data into graphical network maps. Fifth, examine the maps for patterns that hold important information, e.g., Departments that don’t have many communication links to other departments, when they should Departments that have many external links but don’t communicate within the department Structural Holes: places in the map where you would expect to find links, but there are none Isolated Department Externally Oriented Department Bottleneck and Gatekeeper Structural Hole between Two Cliques Using Network Maps When you find unusual patterns, look for reasons grounded in: work design workflow organization design personnel procedures reward systems strategic understanding differences in subcultures Some unusual patterns may not be dysfunctional Action Steps Feedback the consensus maps to the people in the organization. Ask for their assistance in identifying and removing communication problems. After an interval, map the networks again to see what changes and improvements have been made. Repeat as necessary.
