Networks and KM: Evolving Networking Practices Patti Anklam Relationships are the main activity of business and work. – Theodore Zeldin, Work futurist Mapping Social Networks in Organisations November 29, 2004 London

©2004 Patti Anklam 2 Premises of SNA and KM  Networks matter  Networks are everywhere  Network analysis focuses “net work”  Networks can be managed  Leadership is about leveraging networks  KM becomes “knowledge networking”

©2004 Patti Anklam 3 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  Strong networks are correlated with health: People with stronger personal networks are healthier, happier, and better performers Companies who know how to manage alliances are more flexible, adaptive and resilient

©2004 Patti Anklam 4 Networks are Everywhere VisibleInvisibleVisibleInvisible Formal Organization Hierarchy Team ProcessesAlliances Partnerships Supply chain Consultants Informal COPs Professional associations Personal, “social” ConsortiaExecutives’ “social” networks Boards IndividualsCompanies

©2004 Patti Anklam 5 Network Analysis Focuses Net Work  Team building  Assessing communications and connectivity across groups  Connecting overlooked knowledge assets  Finding key connectors in organizations  Generating leadership networks  Performance benchmarking  Facilitating mergers and acquisitions  Diagnosing patterns in communities of practice  Competency assessment  Addressing the “lost knowledge problem”

©2004 Patti Anklam 6 Networks Can be Managed  What’s the question?  What’s the context?  What is the desired result?  What’s the intervention?

©2004 Patti Anklam 7 Design Matters Scattered Clusters Hub and Spoke Multi-hub Small World Core/Periphery Source: Valdis Krebs

©2004 Patti Anklam 8 Interventions  Act only in context  Be prepared for surprises at every step

©2004 Patti Anklam 9 Leadership is about Network Leverage  Work is conversation. The leader’s work is to create an environment where conversations happen Possibility : Innovation Opportunity : Finding and Mobilizing Resources Action : Ensuring connectivity and clarity of roles Breakdown : Managing the network of support Acknowledgment : Building and Maintaining Trust Closure : Shifting the level of connectivity

©2004 Patti Anklam 10 Patterns Evoke Responses  Overly central people  Outliers  Disconnected networks  Structural holes  Internally focused

©2004 Patti Anklam 11 Knowledge Networking Practices from the KM Repertoire Ways to change patterns in networks Practices from the KM Repertoire Create more connectionsMake 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 connectionsImplement expertise location and/or; discovery systems; social software; social networking applications DecentralizeSocial software; blogs, wikis; shift knowledge to the edge Fill in structural holesEstablish knowledge brokering roles; expand communication channels Strengthen weak tiesAssign people to work on projects together Judiciously balance the use of direct and indirect ties Network goal setting; network analysis Establish roles and responsibilities 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 diversityAdd nodes; connect and create networks; encourage people to bring knowledge in from their networks in the world

©2004 Patti Anklam 12 KM Generations Generation of KM Where Knowledge “Lives” Type of Knowle dge Implications 1 st GenerationArtifactsExplicitCreate the infrastructure for capturing, collecting, refining, reusing artifacts 2 nd GenerationIndividualsTacitFocus on collaborative behaviors and person-to-person knowledge exchange 3 rd GenerationThe networkEmergentProvide the conditions for enabling knowledge and action to emerge

©2004 Patti Anklam 13 Conditions  Businesses cannot survive without networks  Individuals learn how to build, use and sustain personal networks  Work practices bring the network to bear  Technologies come of age  Networked forms of organization take their place along formal structures

©2004 Patti Anklam 14 Personal Networks and PKM  PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) Productivity through faster access to one’s own “captured” environment Includes contact management  Fundamental to personal professional development Mentoring programs Teaching new hires to build networks

©2004 Patti Anklam 15 Work Practices  Conditions for connectivity Physical environment The “white space” of processes  Reflective practices After-action reviews Peer assists Action learning

©2004 Patti Anklam 16 Technology Conditions  Powerful Internet, intranet, and personal search connect people with people through content  Collaboration products are mature  Social software is leap-frogging the technology hype cycle  Internet social networking software is the venture capitalist’s new dream machine

©2004 Patti Anklam 17 Organizational Forms Examples:  Communities of practice  The “Hollywood” model of project staffing  Outsourcing Dimension“Old” Model“New” Structure/ControlHierarchical, designed, command & control Network, emergent, self- managing RelationshipsCompetitiveCooperative RolesFormal, fixedInformal, organic Decision-makingRationalIntuitive, synthesizing Management isDone TO PeopleDone WITH People Top ManagementSets Direction, manages implementation Creates enabling environment Source: Steven P. Borgatti

©2004 Patti Anklam 18 Knowledge Management Becomes Knowledge Networking  Summary: Networks matter Networks are everywhere Network analysis focuses “net work” Networks can be managed Leadership is about leveraging networks KM practitioners have the right repertoire

©2004 Patti Anklam 19 What is the Work You Need to Do?

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