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Source : http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com
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last activity : 07 06 2010 20:18:04 +0000
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Formalizing a company's ad hoc peer groups can spur collaboration and unlock value. For me, the following topics are key:
These investments might include:
* infrastructure, both human and technological, to support network interactions;
* codified knowledge in forms such as documents
* internal blogs, and networks
* training for members
* activities such as conferences to build a social community
But the real measure of the network’s success would be qualitative assessments, made by members and senior leaders, of its effectiveness in realizing its mission. By participating in more than one network at a time, talented workers would gain the ability to integrate knowledge and access to talent across a number of communities.
The various informal networks and the way they work are listed below
In any professional setting, networks flourish spontaneously: human nature, including mutual self-interest, leads people to share ideas and work together even when no one requires them to do so.
If a company is looking for growth it has to develop its informal networks. But the question is how it going to adapt to the change in the external enviroment? And how they are going to sustain in the long run?
- Companies need to build infrastructures to create and support formal networks. Such well-designed and well-supported formal networks remove bottlenecks and take much of the effort out of networking.
- To formalize a network, the company must define who will lead it—that is, the network owner—and make that leader responsible for investing in the network to build its collective capabilities, such as knowledge that is valuable for all members.
- The responsibilities of the formal leader of a network are primarily limited to its activities, such as organizing the infrastructure supporting it, developing an agenda for maintaining its knowledge domain, building a training program, holding conferences, and qualifying members as professionally competent.
- In professional firms, which have long used formal networks called practices
- To undertake the appropriate roles, a formal network’s leader should have a discrete budget to finance network investments, which give the leader the muscle to offer the members added value.
These investments might include:
* infrastructure, both human and technological, to support network interactions;
* codified knowledge in forms such as documents
* internal blogs, and networks
* training for members
* activities such as conferences to build a social community
But the real measure of the network’s success would be qualitative assessments, made by members and senior leaders, of its effectiveness in realizing its mission. By participating in more than one network at a time, talented workers would gain the ability to integrate knowledge and access to talent across a number of communities.
The various informal networks and the way they work are listed below
- Most large corporations have dozens if not hundreds of informal networks, in which human nature, including self-interest, leads people to share ideas and collaborate.
- Informal networks are a powerful source of horizontal collaboration across thick silo walls, but as ad hoc structures their performance depends on serendipity and they can’t be managed.
- By creating formal networks, companies can harness the advantages of informal ones and give management much more control over networking across the organization.
- The steps needed to formalize a network include giving it a “leader,” focusing interactions in it on specific topics, and building an infrastructure that stimulates the ongoing exchange of ideas.
In any professional setting, networks flourish spontaneously: human nature, including mutual self-interest, leads people to share ideas and work together even when no one requires them to do so.
If a company is looking for growth it has to develop its informal networks. But the question is how it going to adapt to the change in the external enviroment? And how they are going to sustain in the long run?
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5 comments on "Harnessing the power of informal employee networks"
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Vinayarajan KV, Head/VP/GM-Sales Tech
| 11 13 2008 05:07:03 +0000
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