networkshop: boston facilitators roundtable

NetWorkShop

Patti Anklam Boston Facilitators Roundtable

December 2, 2011

I’ve become convinced that understanding how networks work is an essential 21st

century literacy.

Howard Rheingold

Agenda

• Knowledge-sharing activity

• The language of networks

• Networks in organizations

• Networks and nonprofits

• Value network analysis

• Social media and personal net work

3

Knowledge Flows in Networks

• Something you want to share

• 141 characters or less

• Stand up, find someone to “tweet to”

• Listen to someone else’s tweet

• Retweet

• Repeat

4

The New Language of Networks

http://www.dftdigest.com/images/Spyglass.jpg

We live in networks all the time

6

• We live in networks all the time: communities, organizations, teams

• There is science to support the understanding of network structure

• The structure of a network provides insights into how the network “works”

• Once you understand the structure, you can make decisions about how to manage the network’s context

• Network analysis tools help you understand the structure

The Premise: Networks Matter

• The complexity of work in today’s world is such that no one can understand – let alone complete – a task alone – Individual-individual – Team-team – Company-company – Eco-system to eco-system

• Strong networks are correlated with health: – People with stronger personal networks are more productive, happier,

and better performers – Companies who know how to manage alliances are more flexible,

adaptive and resilient – Our personal health and well-being is often tied to our social networks

7

Networks and Work Performance

8

Networks and Well-Being

• In life: – People with strong

networks have a better chance of full recovery from heart attacks

– We are defined by the networks we are in

• Obesity studies

• Smokers

Source: New York Times, May 22, 2008

9

Networks and Well-Being

10

The new science of networks

• Beginning in the 1990’s computer science made it possible to map and analyze large social networks.

2002

2002

2002

2003

2004

2004

2009

2009

• By 2009, network science and analysis are accepted practice in science and management

• Insights became accessible to the public.

11

Network Perspective

12

• If it’s a network, you can map it: – People-people

– Group-group

– Within organizations

– Across organizations

• A network is a collection of entities linked by a type of relationship

• All networks have common properties and can be analyzed – Information artifacts

– Ideas & issues

Node

Tie

A Classic Case

13 From: The Hidden Power of Social Networks, Rob Cross and Andrew Parker, Harvard Business School Press, 2004

Table Activity (Page 2 of Handouts)

• Take five minutes and discuss at your table

• What do you see in the map on the right that might be dissonant with the organization chart?

• If you were responsible for this organization, what questions would looking at this map raise for you?

14 From: The Hidden Power of Social Networks, Rob Cross and Andrew Parker, Harvard Business School Press, 2004

A Classic Case

From: The Hidden Power of Social Networks, Rob Cross and Andrew Parker, Harvard Business School Press, 2004

15

A Classic Case


16

A Classic Case


17

A Classic Case


18

It’s all about Questions

19

Patterns provide insights that provoke good questions. Full stop.

• Look at the whole network and its components:

– Density of interactions

– Average degree of separation

– Silos or stovepiped organizations

Types of metrics

• Look at positions of individuals in the network:

– Connectors

– Boundary spanners

– Isolates

Centrality Metrics Structural Metrics

20

• Look at the whole network and its components:

– Density of interactions

– Average degree of separation

– Silos / stovepipeds

• Good for comparing groups within networks or for comparing changes in a network over time

Types of metrics

• Look at positions of individuals in the network:

– Connectors

– Boundary spanners

– Isolates

• Good for identifying people who are well positioned to influence the network or to move information around

Centrality Metrics Structural Metrics

For both the network as a whole and individuals, it is also possible to measure the diversity of the network: the extent to which people interact with people outside of their own demographics or areas of expertise. 21

The Unit of Analysis: The Relationship

22

Interpreting Results

23

“I interact with this person twice a month or more”

I understand this person’s knowledge and skills (Agree or Strongly Agree)

Density: 11% Distance: 2.7

Density: 28% Distance: 1.8

Identifying Key People

24

Who are the people who are best positioned to move information through the network?

Table Activity (Page 3 of Handout)

• Based on this data:

• Who should Jerry appoint as his successor?

• Who do you think Jerry actually appointed as his successor? Why?

25

Moving Into Action

Ways to change patterns in

networks

Practices from the KM/OD Repertoire

Create more connections Make introductions through meetings and webinars, face-to-face events (like knowledge fairs); implement social software or social network referral software; social network stimulation

Increase the flow of knowledge Establish collaborative workspaces, install instant messaging systems, make existing knowledge bases more accessible and usable

Discover connections Implement expertise location and/or; discovery systems; social software; social networking applications

Decentralize Social software; blogs, wikis; shift knowledge to the edge

Connect disconnected clusters Establish knowledge brokering roles; expand communication channels

Create more trusted relationships Assign people to work on projects together

Alter the behavior of individual nodes Create awareness of the impact of an individual’s place in a network; educate employees on personal knowledge networking

Increase diversity Add nodes; connect and create networks; encourage people to bring knowledge in from their networks in the world

26

Organizational Networks Summary

27

• The science of networks has brought insights into the structure of organizational networks

• Organizational network analysis lets us map relationships that reveal the informal networks through which work gets done

• Developing and sharing these maps helps organizations improve collaborative capacity, overcome obstacles to effective sharing, and redesign their work relationships

• Results are a guide to asking good questions and should never be interpreted as an “answer”

Break

28

Networks and Nonprofits

29

Source: Catalyzing Networks for Social Change, Monitor Institute + GEO

Traditional and Network Approaches to Grantmaker Challenges

Mapping Task: Find Connections & Alignment

30

Boston Green and Healthy Building Network 2005: How well do you know one another?

From New Directions Collaborative Case Study, http://www.ndcollaborative.com/services/networks/case-studies/68-ghbn

http://www.ndcollaborative.com/services/networks/case-studies/68-ghbn





Network Building Questions

• What are the key tasks of network building?

• What activities would you undertake to “knit this net”?

• What mechanisms might you put in place?

31

Network Progression

Connectivity Alignment Production

Definition Connects people to allow easy flow of and access to information and transactions

Aligns people to develop and spread an identity and collective value proposition

Fosters joint action for specialized outcomes by aligned people

Key task of network “builder”

Weaving – help people meet each other, increase ease of sharing and searching for information

Facilitating – helping people to explore potential shared identity and value propositions

Coordinating – helping people plan and implement collaborative actions

32 From: Net Gains – Version 1.0, Madeleine Taylor and Peter Plastrik (http://www.arborcp.com/articles/NetGainsHandbookVersion1.pdf)

http://www.arborcp.com/articles/NetGainsHandbookVersion1.pdf

Green & Healthy Buildings Network

• Convene

– In person and subsequently with mix of in-person and telecalls

• Connect

– Identify areas of mutual interest

– Share success stories

– Engage in joint problem solving

• Communicate

– Gives & gets – people wanting and having contacts

• Coordinate

– Joint meetings with city hall

• Collaborate

– Look for specific projects engaging multiple of the network’s members

33

Network Building

34

2007: How well do you know one another?

A Design Language: Network Building

• Purpose

• Structure

• Style

• Value-producing mechanisms

35

VALUE NETWORK ANALYSIS

What is a value network?

• A web of relationships that generates economic or social value through complex dynamic exchanges of both tangible and intangible benefits.

• Any purposeful organization or network functions as a value network

- Verna Allee

37

http://www.valuenetworksandcollaboration.com

Mapping the Ecosystem

• How does the work actually get done?

• What is the value that the network or organization creates?

• How efficiently is the work being done?

• Where are opportunities for improving value and efficiency?

38

Basic elements for mapping value

39

Value Network Modeling

Roles

Intangible (Informal)

Interactions

Tangible (Formal)

Deliverables

40

© 1997-2011 Value Networks, LLC All rights reserved.

Shift is to focus on Roles

• A role is not necessarily the same as a group, company, or function

– One person or group might play 2-3 key roles

– Roles are different from job descriptions or job titles

• If people are not clear about their roles, they can miss value-creating opportunities and are vulnerable to competition

41

Tangible Deliverables

Goods, services, revenue (traditional value chain) –

all contractual or mandated activities that directly

generate or deal with revenue or funding.

…and the value exchanges among them

Knowledge and support offerings – strategic information, collaborative design, plans, processes, policy development, etc.

Benefits that go beyond actual service such as exchanging business contacts, image enhancement, recognition, co-branding opportunities, etc.

Intangible Deliverables

42 © 1997-2011 Value Networks, LLC All rights reserved.

Value exchanges and interactions

• What are the deliverables? (Contracted or mandated?)

• How does the deliverable move through the network?

• What are the intangible exchanges that flow through the network? (Informal, extras?)

http://www.valuenetworksandcollaboration.com/mapping/tangiblesandintangibles.html

43

Formal (Tangible) Deliverables

AgResearch Commercialization

AgR Developers

License

Commercializers

AgR Investors

Proof of

ConceptFees

IP

Market

Participants

Orders

Products

AgR

ResearchersContract

Proposals

IP Rights

Ideas

Science

Funders

Proof of

Principal

Research

Outcomes

Investors

Strategic

Direction

Terms of

Referernce

PaymentsStrategic

Direction

Payout

Proof of

Concept

Revenue

Market Research

Market

Research Concept

Can take up

to twelve

years from

idea to

market.

© 1997-2011 Value Networks, LLC All rights reserved. 44

Informal Deliverables Define Collaboration

AgR Developers

License

Commercializers

AgR Investors

Proof of

ConceptFees

IP

Market

Participants

Orders

Products

Market Pull

AgR

ResearchersContract

Proposals

IP Rights

Credibility

ValidationIdeas

Market

Feedback

Science

Funders

Prestige

Credibility

Proof of

Principal

Research

Outcomes

Opportunities

Credibility

Credibility

Experts

Competitive

Advantage

Investors

Strategic

Capability

Strategic

Direction

Purpose

Referrals

Public

Informaiton

Strategic

Capability

Terms of

Referernce

Opportunities

PaymentsStrategic

DirectionMarket

Pull Payout

Expertise

Proof of

Concept

Revenue

Market Research

Market Feedback

Market

Research Concept

Market

FeedbackPurpose

Intangibles

keep the

relationships

alive.




AgR Developers

License

Commercializers

AgR Investors

Proof of

ConceptFees

IP

Market

Participants

Orders

Products

Market Pull

AgR

ResearchersContract

Proposals

IP Rights

Credibility

ValidationIdeas

Market

Feedback

Science

Funders

Prestige

Credibility

Proof of

Principal

Research

Outcomes

Opportunities

Credibility

Credibility

Experts

Competitive

Advantage

Investors

Strategic

Capability

Strategic

Direction

Purpose

Referrals

Public

Informaiton

Strategic

Capability

Terms of

Referernce

Opportunities

PaymentsStrategic

DirectionMarket

Pull Payout

Expertise

Proof of

Concept

Revenue

Market Research

Market Feedback

Market

Research Concept

Market

FeedbackPurpose

Intangibles

keep the

relationships

alive.


46

Expertise



AgR Developers

License

Commercializers

AgR Investors

Proof of

ConceptFees

IP

Market

Participants

Orders

Products

Market Pull

AgR

ResearchersContract

Proposals

IP Rights

Credibility

ValidationIdeas

Market

Feedback

Science

Funders

Prestige

Credibility

Proof of

Principal

Research

Outcomes

Opportunities

Credibility

Credibility

Experts

Competitive

Advantage

Investors

Strategic

Capability

Strategic

Direction

Purpose

Referrals

Public

Informaiton

Strategic

Capability

Terms of

Referernce

Opportunities

PaymentsStrategic

DirectionMarket

Pull Payout

Expertise

Proof of

Concept

Revenue

Market Research

Market Feedback

Market

Research Concept

Market

FeedbackPurpose

Intangibles

keep the

relationships

alive.


47

Credibility



AgR Developers

License

Commercializers

AgR Investors

Proof of

ConceptFees

IP

Market

Participants

Orders

Products

Market Pull

AgR

ResearchersContract

Proposals

IP Rights

Credibility

ValidationIdeas

Market

Feedback

Science

Funders

Prestige

Credibility

Proof of

Principal

Research

Outcomes

Opportunities

Credibility

Credibility

Experts

Competitive

Advantage

Investors

Strategic

Capability

Strategic

Direction

Purpose

Referrals

Public

Informaiton

Strategic

Capability

Terms of

Referernce

Opportunities

PaymentsStrategic

DirectionMarket

Pull Payout

Expertise

Proof of

Concept

Revenue

Market Research

Market Feedback

Market

Research Concept

Market

FeedbackPurpose

Intangibles

keep the

relationships

alive.


48

Competitive Advantage



AgR Developers

License

Commercializers

AgR Investors

Proof of

ConceptFees

IP

Market

Participants

Orders

Products

Market Pull

AgR

ResearchersContract

Proposals

IP Rights

Credibility

ValidationIdeas

Market

Feedback

Science

Funders

Prestige

Credibility

Proof of

Principal

Research

Outcomes

Opportunities

Credibility

Credibility

Experts

Competitive

Advantage

Investors

Strategic

Capability

Strategic

Direction

Purpose

Referrals

Public

Informaiton

Strategic

Capability

Terms of

Referernce

Opportunities

PaymentsStrategic

DirectionMarket

Pull Payout

Expertise

Proof of

Concept

Revenue

Market Research

Market Feedback

Market

Research Concept

Market

FeedbackPurpose

Intangibles

keep the

relationships

alive.


49

Feedback


ValueNet Works™ Methodology

• Purpose

• Boundaries

• Determine the level of detail Scope

• Ecosystem players

• Stakeholders

Roles and participants

• Tangibles

• Intangibles

• Sequence

Transactions and deliverables

• Participants and roles

• Exchange analysis Analysis

50

Analysis

• Insight level

– “Aha’s” that occur through the mapping process

• Exchange analysis

– Looking at the structure of the network

– Redundant and overlooked activities

• Impact analysis/process improvements


A Big “Aha”

52

A senior VP in the professional services arm of a large telecommunications equipment provider looked at this map that his executives had made and said, “That’s scary.” What’s missing?

Unnecessary transactions

53

Activity (Pages 4 and 5)

You are designing a major change initiative for a client. What would be your ideal design for a system to support the organization's change process?

54

Step 1. Identify the Roles

Agree on 4 or 5 major roles in the process. Place the names of the roles on individual sticky-notes Position these on the flip chart, trying to place the roles that will be more “central” toward the middle Allow spacing so that you can draw lines that will not overlap

55

Step 2. Identify the Transactions

Start with the tangible transactions Using one color of marker, draw lines from one role to another and label the line with the name of the deliverable. Then do the intangible transactions using another color pen

56 No two-way arrows!

Summary/DeBrief (Exchange Analysis)

• What is the overall purpose of the network?

• What is the balance between tangible and intangible exchanges? What does the balance (or lack of balance) signify

• Are there places people need to be engaged in exchanges, or offering value, but aren’t?

• What would happen if roles disappeared or were combined?

57

How are companies using VNA?

Developing a business “web”

Identifying the key stakeholders and relationships

Finding gaps or areas needing development

Ensuring that relationships and value exchanges are balanced

Fast Track Process Design

Examine relationship among multiple complex relationships

Reconfiguring the organization

Mergers and acquisitions

Integrating new groups

Process redesign

Develop scorecards

Target exchanges for metrics and measurement

Evolving purposeful communities

Understand transactional relationships

58

VNA and ONA

Value Network Analysis Organizational Network Analysis (ONA)

Focused on interactions among roles and deliverables

Focused on relationships among people

Supports improving the value created in and for the network

Supports improving the structural properties of the network to improve the flow of knowledge and ideas

Nodes are roles Nodes are unique entities

Links are transactions Links are relationships

Can be done in a matter of hours May require survey development, analysis, specialized software

59

Personal Networks

http://quilting.about.com/od/picturesofquilts/ig/Alzheimer-s-Quilts/The-Ties-that-Bind.htm

Networks and Performance

• …develop open networks to minimize insularity

• …maintain balanced ties across organizational lines

• …position themselves at key points in a network

• …tend to invest in relationships that extend their expertise

• …understand the value of networks

Rob Cross, Robert J. Thomas, and David A. Light, “How Top Talent Uses Networks and Where Rising Stars Get Trapped,”

Accenture Institute for High Performance Business, April 2006

Research on Top Performers shows that they:

61

Personal Networks Matter

62

Personal networks: the premise

People who live in the intersection of social worlds are at higher risk of having good ideas. –

Ron Burt

63

AB

DG

KF

KSMK

NM

NS

PM

PP

RC

RR

SK

Diversity

• Organization

• Expertise

• Age, Tenure

64

AB

AL

BG

DC

GP

MB

PM

SA

• Social Ties

• Geographic location

• Hierarchical position

Activity (Page 6)

• Who is more likely to have access to new ideas?

– Tom

– Marion

• Why?

65

Structural Position Matters

66

Source: “How Top Talent Uses Networks and Where Rising Stars Get Trapped”

Personal Network: Purpose

Focus Purpose How to Develop

Operational Getting work done efficiently

Identify people who can block or support a project

Personal Develop and maintain professional skills and reputation

Participate in professional associations, clubs, and physical and online communities

Strategic Figure out and obtain support for future priorities and challenges

Identify lateral and vertical relationships outside your immediate control

Source: “How Leaders Create and Use Networks,” Herminia Ibarra and Mark Hunter, Harvard Business Review January 2007

67

Personal SM

68

Social Media

it’s not who you know, it’s where you know

Stowe Boyd

Finding and making connections

• Research people

• Find connections

• Make yourself findable

•Join groups

Keeping track

•Family, Friends, Colleagues intermixed

• Easy to look up “friends in common”

• Photos and videos engage

• Easy to acknowledge others

Keeping Up

Twitter keeps me in touch with people who are friends of my ideas. I know about their projects and current obsessions; they know about mine. – Jay Rosen

Social Learning : Expanding Your Network

The power of a Hashtag

• Hashtag: any sequence of characters preceded by a #:

– No internet service until Monday? #charter #fail

• Twitter chats

– Scheduled, facilitated conversations

74

Join a Twitter Chat

#acadv A weekly chat for professional academic advisors and all those interested in academic advising. @AcAdvChat Click for info

75

Social Learning : Expanding Your Network

Discover, Find, Follow

We often try to understand problems by taking apart and studying their constituent parts. But emergent problems can’t be understood this way. Emergent systems are ones in which many different elements interact. The pattern of interaction then produces a new element that is greater than the sum of the parts, which then exercises a top-down influence on the constituent elements. Culture is an emergent system. A group of people establishes a pattern of interaction. And once that culture exists, it influences how the individuals in it behave. An economy is an emergent system. So is political polarization, rising health care costs and a bad marriage. Emergent systems are bottom-up and top-down simultaneously. They have to be studied differently, as wholes and as nested networks of relationships. We still try to address problems like poverty and Islamic extremism by trying to tease out individual causes. We might make more headway if we thought emergently. We often try to understand problems by taking apart and studying their constituent parts. But emergent problems can’t be understood this way. Emergent systems are ones in which many different elements interact. The pattern of interaction then produces a new element that is greater than the sum of the parts, which then exercises a top-down influence on the constituent elements. Culture is an emergent system. A group of people establishes a pattern of interaction. And once that culture exists, it influences how the individuals in it behave. An economy is an emergent system. So is political polarization, rising health care costs and a bad marriage. Emergent systems are bottom-up and top-down simultaneously. They have to be studied differently, as wholes and as nested networks of relationships. We still try to address problems like poverty and Islamic extremism by trying to tease out individual causes. We might make more headway if we thought emergently. We often try to understand problems by taking apart and studying their constituent parts. But emergent problems can’t be understood this way. Emergent systems are ones in which many different elements interact. The pattern of interaction then produces a new element that is greater than the sum of the parts, which then exercises a top-down influence on the constituent elements. Culture is an emergent system. A group of people establishes a pattern of interaction. And once that culture exists, it influences how the individuals in it behave. An economy is an emergent system. So is political polarization, rising health care costs and a bad marriage. Emergent systems are bottom-up and top-down simultaneously. They have to be studied differently, as wholes and as nested networks of relationships. We still try to address problems like poverty and Islamic extremism by trying to

You can’t manage a network; you can only manage its context.

Question

• [email protected]

•http://www.pattianklam.com

•http://www.twitter.com/panklam

Thank you.

78

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networkshop: boston facilitators roundtable

Business

emergent systems

rob cross

elements interact

wemight make

emergent problems

social learning

thought emergently

studied differently