This spring, the journal Nature published a report on how Hewlett-Packard maps the company's structure by following the flow of email.
The map shows the teams in which people actually work, as opposed to those they are assigned to. The technique can also reveal who is at the heart of each sub-group. These people often correspond with company-designated leaders such as project managers. But unofficial de facto leaders can also emerge.
Communities of practice and social network theory are nothing new in the business world. But we often neglect to pay attention how information flows within our organizations. Who are the go-to people in your company? Who are the people who pass on queries and act as bridges between departments?
Related Stories: | Topics:Leadership, Nature Publishing Group, Technology Sector, Manufacturing Sector, Information Technology Sector, Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing |
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Recent Comments | 1 Total
October 10, 2003 at 10:11am by James Drogan
This is a powerful idea. I'm reminded of the grandmother's line from Strictly Ballroom; "Listen to the rhythm." We do far too little of that with our customers and within our own companies.
Some years ago, during my IBM career, we were examining such social networking tools with a researcher from one of the California universities. And I've personally used a similar approach to examine the issue of why organization charts mean so little to how things actually get done.
The real issue, of course, is whether the decision makers will listen, understand, and generate real business options on the basis of the mapping.