New Game-Plan: Networking

Services

About Us

Our services and capabilities:

• Building Networking Capability for sectors, organisations and teams

• Enabling organisations to understand, design and develop Networks

• Transferring and embedding the essential tools and skills for Networking

Why is Networking important?

In all areas of work, achieving exceptional results now depends on effective Networking: the human process that creates and maintains relationships based on trust, shared interests and common objectives. It takes place at all levels (see diagram) and between people working across functional and organisational interfaces.

Networking - critical at all levels from economies to individuals

These interfaces are exciting areas for boosting productivity and innovation, and critical to an organisation's success.  By building trust, Networking uniquely enables the exchange of high-value knowledge. Networking is adaptable, flexible, motivating, and well-suited to rapidly changing, complex environments.

Networking creates and maintains Networks. Valuable Networks are built through the personal energy and skills of rare individuals. Networks take on diverse forms and many operate informally. While this is partly a strength, lack of structure can prevent Networks from realising their full value. Organisations and entire sectors need to harness Networks to achieve their aims, but, until now, they have lacked the necessary models and toolkit.

We explore these themes further in two recent articles. Get connected (Chemistry & Industry) explains how Networking can help to convert exemplary science into profitable business. Innovation by Networking (The View) explains how Networks and Networking are critical to successful innovation across business functions. 

How do we help?

We build Networking Capability for sectors, organisations, groups, and individuals, by helping them to understand, design and develop Structured Networks, and to develop Personal Networking Capability. Our case study provides an example of a comprehensive programme of support for Networking which we recently provided for a world-leading bioscience company.

We understand how Networks differ from, but are complementary to, traditional management structures and project teams. We know how to transform informal Networks into Structured Networks - often the key to maximising value. We transfer and embed the critical tools, skills, and behaviours which are essential for Networking - yet often lacking in organisations today.

Doesn't Networking just happen?

Everyone is Networking to some degree, and we all recognise 'natural' Networkers. However, relying on innate capabilities:

• Fails to take Networking outside personal 'comfort zones'

• Does not engage all the individuals required for success

• Misses opportunities to create Networks of strategic value to a organisation

• Fails to maximise the value and effectiveness of existing Networks

• Can lead to 'natural' Networkers being overloaded with

• Networking responsibilities

Developing Networks is a particular challenge where individuals and groups have different reporting lines, working styles, values or cultures. Simply designing a Network is not enough. Success also depends on key individuals acquiring the skills to develop trusting relationships, and adopting and embedding practical working processes.

Where is Networking most critical?

Critical applications for sectors and organisations include:   

• Clusters: developing a common agenda from diverse organisational interests, priorities and values

• External stakeholders: ensuring productive dialogue with customers, suppliers, business partners, regulators, or policy-makers

• Business strategies: shaping or managing business transformation programmes, or campaigns for strategic influencing

• Innovation: bringing diverse groups together to develop innovative product concepts

Critical applications for groups and individuals include:

• Team performance: improving effectiveness across different media and formats, linking disparate parts of complex organisations and cutting across 'silos'

• Personal effectiveness: helping individuals to understand how best to get things done and with whom

• Career development and change: enabling individuals to extend their skill base and horizons

Face-to-face meetings are important but require travel and are only part of the Networker's toolkit.  The telephone is still a key tool; but is increasingly supplemented by other technologies.  Effective networking requires more than making contacts. That's just the start.  Value depends on building lasting relationships and commitments.  The diversity and reach of networks that are developing globally is transforming economies and societies.  Today, advanced mobile devices make it easier to keep in touch with information while on the move.  But this has resulted in 'information overload' and the neglect of interactive discussion.

How do we build Networking Capability?

A well-designed Network will fail if the members lack the necessary personal capabilities; equally, staff may possess the capabilities but lack the structure needed to exploit the benefits of Networking. Our integrated service builds Networking Capability in both areas, by:

• Building, animating and sustaining Structured Networks

• Building Personal Networking Capability

We use our own specially-developed Toolkit to build Networking Capability, selecting those relevant to the specific needs of the assignment. The Toolkit comprises:

• Models: practical constructs from varied sectors and academia

• Processes: descriptions of staged actions

• Guidelines: best-practice tips on how to do something

• Templates: forms to be filled in as presented e.g. a Network Charter

• Definitions: to clarify key terms

• Exercises: to design and test aspects of the network

• Look-up Resources: reference materials

• Communication Formats: to simplify and aid communication

• Thinking Prompts: to aid discussion

• Benchmarks: from exemplar sources

• Measures: to help assess and track progress

The benefits for participants from our Networking Capability Workshops include:

• Appreciating why Networking is today a critical capability

• Learning and applying a set of practical tools to develop Structured Networks

• Understanding the processes needed to make Networks work

• Networking across different working styles, values and cultures

• Harnessing collaboration technology e.g. web technology, to support Networking

• Learning practical hints and behaviours to slay networking ‘demons’

• Understanding and appreciating personal Networking styles and those of others

• Developing a personal Business Plan for Networking linked to real Networks

• Applying learning ‘on the job’ and receiving coaching feedback

We use practical activities to animate networks - building trust among Network members and producing outputs which are valuable in themselves. For example:   

• Who's who: to visualise exactly who is who, who knows what, and who can do what

• Roadmapping: to characterise the present, consider trends, assess their implications, and develop strategies

• Lessons Learned: to identify and share lessons honestly and accurately, and to develop corrective plans

• Best Practice Identification and Sharing: to raise standards and performance, especially in disparate groups

• Capability Analysis and Development: to map and rate capabilities, and explore and plan options for improvement

Brain-Pool Workshops

Our innovative Workshops are particularly well-suited to support our Networking services. They offer a 'step-change' in collaborative working over conventional workshops.

Training - Developing Networking Skills

Our Training Workshop has been widely deployed to build the skills and confidence needed for effective Networking, both within and between organisations. We also run training courses in 'Partnerships for Corporate Success' and 'Developing Effective Working Relationships', in collaboration with the Learning Partnership LLC.

Knowledge-sharing

To succeed, Networks need ready access to up-to-date, easily-accessible, openly-shared information. Key elements are determining the processes and responsibilities necessary to ensure information is timely and of the correct (or known) quality.

We are experienced in using systems technology in organisations in general and to support Networking in particular. For example, web sites and e-mail systems can readily be used to support Networks. We are always exploring opportunities from new technology. Importantly, we do not focus only on the technology - a system which is perfect technically is useless if no-one uses it. Our approach incorporates both the hard technology and the soft skills - including cultural changes - which are critical for success.

We take an objective approach in sourcing appropriate technology and are not tied in any way to specific vendors. Examples of some of the applications which we have used with our clients include:

• Web-based tools to aid various aspects of organisational development. These allow people to contribute their perceptions - e.g. 'Where are Network relationships strong?' The results can then be displayed in easy-to-understand graphs.

• Tools to create a knowledge base of networks and communications based on e-mail traffic. This system shows what internal Networks exist, their activity and how they are linked to external organisations. It also creates a taxonomy of subjects being discussed. As the system is continuously updated the reporting is dynamic and current. Tracking emerging Networks, and monitoring activity, is easy. The system displays this information via a web site and helps to answer important questions - e.g. 'Who is dealing most with an external organisation?' 'Who is interested in a particular topic?'

• Advanced tools, linked to those above, for organisation process analysis and development.

• Web-based survey tools to collect and share knowledge. These are particularly effective with highly-dispersed populations.

Once the firm was the unit of Innovation: 3M, Pilkington, Ford, Hewlett Packard. Today...successful innovations increasingly depend on combining technology and know-how from disparate functions and geographies. It is not viable for a single organisation to own all of these. Even if it were possible initially, there is a never-ending need to add capabilities. Also, skills wither. Inter-organisational Networking is a solution. It is enabled by the advances in ICT. Nevertheless, making it work is a significant challenge.

From Tidd, Bessant & Pavitt (2002) 'Managing Innovation' (Wiley)