Network Effectiveness:

An Interactive Working SessionSeptember 2009

Ed Mazzarella

Chad Nelsen

(Adapted from the Monitor Institute*)

*Network Effectiveness: An Interactive Working Session for Packard Foundation Grantees,Monitor Group. May 27, 2009. Heather Grant & Diana Scearce. On SlideShare: http://bit.ly/GvLJy

Goals

• Understand network thinking• Understand your/our network• Understanding network effectiveness

Session Agenda

• Network Basics – 30 minutes• Mapping Exercise – 45 minutes• Network Effectiveness – 30 minutes• Surfrider Global Network – 15 minutes

Network Basics

Centralized

Connecting ideas and people takes time

Closed and proprietary

Our ability to tap expertise and share knowledge is constrained

Effectiveness is equated with longevity

Decentralized

The pace of connection is fast and getting faster

Open and transparent

Our ability to tap expertise and share knowledge is expanded

Effectiveness is equated with mobilization

Organization-centric modelOrganization-centric modelOrganization-centric modelOrganization-centric model Network-centric modelNetwork-centric modelNetwork-centric modelNetwork-centric model

We are Moving to a More Networked World

Organizations aren’t going away. We need to learn how to balance the interface between organizations and networks.

“You can have the best technology in the world, but if you don’t have a community who wants to use it and who are excited about it, then it has no purpose.”

– Chris Hughes, Obama’s New-Media Campaign

“One of my fundamental beliefs…is that real change comes from the bottom up. And there’s no more powerful tool for grass-roots organizing than the Internet.”

– Barack Obama

Obama Used Networks to Mobilize 13 M Supporters

Networks are one answer for increasing scale, efficiency, coordination, and impact

Many Nonprofits Not at ScaleThe vast majority of nonprofits have annual budgets of under $1 million2

Increasing Number of NonprofitsAs many as 30,000 new nonprofits are formed each year in the U.S.1 – scarcity of organizations is not the problem

More Competition for ResourcesThe proliferation of nonprofits makes competition fierce, and fundraising more costly…especially in an economic downturn

Source: 1 http://www.alliancetrends.org/nonprofits.cfm?id=56; 2 Center for Non-Profits, 2007

Nonprofits Need to Find Ways to Leverage Networks

The Network Mindset

Organization Orientation Network Orientation

Mindset

Strategy

Behaviors

Competition

Grow the organization

Compete for resourcesProtect knowledge

Competitive advantageHoard talent

Collaboration

Grow the network

Share resourcesOpen source IP

Develop competitorsCultivate leadership

Source: Forces for Good by Heather McLeod Grant and Leslie R. Crutchfield (2007)

Networks Have Been Around For A Long Time…

…and new online spaces for building relationships

There are New Technologies for Sharing Content…

“We are living in the Golden Age of network theory, where sociology, math, computer science and software engineering are all combining to allow the average user to visualize, understand, and most importantly, rely on the social and business networks that are part of their lives.”

- Clay Shirky

Source: “Work on Networks” by Clay Shirky (2003)

Our Understanding of Networks is Getting Better

As a Result, the Way Our Work Gets Done is Changing

Networks Can be Used to Address Many Issues

Get to Scale

Mobilize People and Effort

Innovate

Build Community / Strengthen Ties

Develop and Share Knowledge

Increased flow of information/ ideas/ best practices

Stronger, broader connections

Greater media coverage

More participant engagement

Network expansion/ scale

Action on an issue

Enhanced Outcomes from Network Approaches

Collaborative Technologies

Working

Wikily

Collaborative Processes

Low High

GroupProcess

Skills

Low

High

TechnologicalSkills

Network Strategy Integrates Different Tools, Approaches

Understanding Your Network

How are Networks Structured?

Core

Link Node

Cluster Periphery

Hub

A Few Helpful Definitions

Network Structures can Take Many Forms

Centralized / Hierarchical

Decentralized

Note: These categories often overlap. Most of the examples fit in to multiple categories.

Nonprofit organizations (without explicit network structure)

Membership organizations (Organizations with network component)

Nonprofits with explicit network strategy and structure

Coalition / Alliance (network of organizations)

Networks of networks

Ad Hoc Networks

Developed from Multiple Sources: Net Gains by Plastrik and Taylor (‘06); Net Work by Anklam (‘07); Building Smart Communities by Krebs and Holley

A Typology of Organizing Structures

What’s Possible from Network Mapping?

Visualize the network: see connections within the system

Make visible network resources, and see flow of resources

Spark a conversation among participants Assess the “health” of a network, diagnose Assess change in network over time

What’s Possible from Network Mapping?

EXCERCIZE 1: MAP YOUR NETWORK

PART II:

Network Effectiveness

Purpose

Membership

Strategy and Structure

Leadership

Communications & Technology

Resource Management

Assessment

Clearly articulated purpose Delivers value/ outcomes to members

Trust Diversity High engagement

Balance of top-down and bottom-up logic Space for self-organized action

Leadership with “network mindset” Distributed leadership

Strategic IT Ample shared space: on-line and in-person

Ability surface network talent Ability to tap excess capacity

Learning-capture Ability to gather and act on feedback

Governance Governance by a group representative of the network’s diversity Openness

Helpful Sources: M. Kearns and K. Showalter; J. Holley and V. Krebs; P. Plastrik and M. Taylor; J. W. Skillern; C. Shirky

Network Effectiveness: Characteristics of Healthy Networks

Exercise 2:

How healthy is your network?

You’ve diagnosed your network’s areas of strength and weakness.

Now, what do you do?

Answer: It depends…

26

Nine Competencies of ‘Working Wikily’

Systems Thinking

Allocating Resources

Inspiring

Bridging Difference

Connecting

Coordinating

Capacity Building

Building Consensus

Facilitating

Determining the boundaries, size of the network

Communicating the value of networks

Internal organizational resistance

Building trust among participants

Scaling and meeting resource demands

Tracking and evaluating impact

Letting go of control; not worrying about “credit”

Common Challenges Faced by Network Leaders

Eight Lessons We’re Learning About “Working Wikily”

1. Design your experiments around a problem to solve, not the tools

2. Experiment a lot, invest in understanding what works, and make only new mistakes

3. Set appropriate expectations for time and effort required

4. Prioritize human elements like trust and fun

5. Understand your position within networks and act on this knowledge

6. Push power to the edges

7. Balance bottom-up and top-down strategies for organizing people and effort

8. Be open and transparent; share what you are doing and learning as a matter of course

Source: Working Wikily, by Gabriel Kasper and Diana Scearce (2008), Monitor Institute

Network Resources

• http://www.workingwikily.com/• http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/• http://nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com/• http://oceanswavesbeaches.blogspot.com/