Inside Social Networks – January 21, 2005

Mark Bonchek, Kate Ehrlich, Peter Gloor, and I continue to refine our KM Cluster session for Cambridge, MA, on January 21, 2005. Here is the latest version of the event and we hope that many of you will find it interesting.

Recent work has identified the importance of social networks for communication, information sharing, decision-making and even innovation. If networks are the way work gets done, how does a network, especially one within an enterprise, get created? Does it happen by chance or by design? Can managers influence the growth of networks and if so should they? How does an individual who has just changed jobs, been part of a corporate merger or started selling to a new company grow their personal network? And how do these new experiences evolve from brief encounters to sustainable connections?

In a series of three interactive panels we will explore what issues affect network growth, the role of personal and corporate responsibility, whether technology can help accelerate the pace of forming new connections and how networks evolve over time in physical and virtual space. The panel moderator for all sessions is Mark Bonchek, Managing Director of Tapestry Networks. Prompted by issues raised by you, the panelist, Mark will facilitate an in-depth discussion of the challenges and opportunities of creating sustainable social networks to meet personal and professional goals.

The focus of this conference will shift organizational perspectives from co-ercive to co-constructive connections from hierarchies to networks, and from transactions to relationships. There are several broad themes.

Co-creation is more effective than co-ercion or intervention – members of Social Enterprises participate in change rather than be the subject of change. Whether the change or innovation involves creating new products, services, processes or simply refining those that exist, success demands that the individuals impacted by the change be involved and engaged in the process. Leaders of Social Enterprises are “guides on the side” rather than “sages on the stage”. It is important to provide people with a framework, a direction and a partial answer and then co-create the solutions.

The is a current movement from hierarchies to networks – hierarchies were designed to reduce risk and uncertainty in repeated processes. In today’s fast-paced business environment characterized by complexity, unpredictability and constant change, networks are much better suited to leverage distributed knowledge for innovation and rapid response. Creating forward movement from events requires conversion from tacit to explicit forms and from discussion to actionable insights.

Social Enterprises are run on relationships rather than transactions – To get the job done Social Enterprises rely on developing trust-based relationships between team members. These relationships also imply a time dimension; if two team members have been previously introduced, they will cooperate much more productively. Why does this matter? Because it makes the work proceed more smoothly and productively.

Tom Davenport will provide the keynote address, followed by the three panels. Each panel member will offer ten minutes on their views to set a context for discussion and the remaining hour for each panel will be devoted to dialog.

Panel 1: Social Context – Team Dynamics: Building Synergy Out Of Diversity. New connections are formed from shared interests and responsibilities. But they are sustained through mutual trust, reciprocity and reputation. In professional settings, it is as important for the enterprise as for the individual that anyone joining the company for the first time or in a new role is quickly assimilated and connected. While there are many books with great stories of “networking”, here we want to consider the social and behavioral implications of building new connections within the enterprise. Who has the responsibility for creating the network? And how are the connections maintained? Is it up to the individual to make connections or does the enterprise through formal programs or leadership initiatives also play a role. What are the social and organizational factors that influence network formation? How do new connections get embedded into existing networks without seeming artificial or imposed?

Panel 1 members: Patti Anklam, Hutchinson Associates, Kate Ehrlich, IBM Research, NN.

Panel 2: Technology Context – What is the Role of Technology in the Social Enterprise? Software tools for social networks have captured the imagination and substantial investment capital. They are intended to help individuals optimize their relationships to achieve favorable business outcomes. Can technology speed the relationship development process? In addition, social media like blogs and wikis extend persona and social reach. Are these individuated social technologies the next big thing in the Social Enterprise? To harness people's knowledge and insight, we need to find people who have the key piece of knowledge or information. How do we find those people? We can use technology, “social software” to connect to new people through the people we already know. Is this technology merely a sophisticated phone book or can it help build community? Is technology enough?

Panel 2 members: Judith Meskill, Social Software Weblog, Dave Newbold, IBM Emerging Technology, Paul Trevithick, SocialPhysics.org.

Panel 3: Environment – Creating Spaces for Connection and Collaboration. The physical and organizational environment provides the larger context for social networks sometimes working with people and sometimes against people. Work takes place in a context that is both physical and virtual. What characteristics of the environment help or hinder collaborative behaviors, what are structural enhancements and barriers? How can we bring the social and technical together under the guise of designing networks into physical and virtual space? Are factors of time and space enablers or barriers to collaboration? What is the right design to enable distributed collaboration?

Panel 3 members: Peter Gloor, MIT Sloan, Bill Ives, Portals and KM, Andrew Laing, DEGW.

Comments

[John T. Maloney]

Wow!

Sounds excellent.

It noteworthy that Valdis Krebs (orgNet) will be leading a seperate session the day before (Jan 20, 2005) at IBM on Organizational Network Analysis (ONA). It is a powerful, practical SNA technique to visualize, optimize and see Inside Social Networks.

http://www.kmcluster.com/bos/bos_Winter_2005.htm

-jtm

John Maloney
T: 415.902.9676
ID: http://public.2idi.com/=john.maloney

[Troy Worman]

Excellent post. Thank you.

[Anne Stanton]

Awesome - I will be in Maryland or I would try and figure out a way to come down and mix and mingle with everyone.