Central connectors
People with many direct ties. They are often informal experts, valued for their knowledge and for knowing who knows what, but they can also become bottlenecks.
For organizations
Organizational Network Analysis
Every organization has two structures: the one on the org chart, and the network of relationships through which work actually gets done. Organizational Network Analysis maps the second one, so you can see who people really turn to for information, advice and new ideas, and act on what you find.
Behind the org chart
Much of the information people need to do their job comes from other people: the colleagues they ask for advice, ideas, feedback or support. This network is the first place people look for knowledge, and the place they are most likely to find it. When it is missing the right connections, information stalls and good ideas get lost.
“Knowledge flows along existing pathways in organizations. If we want to understand how to improve the flow of knowledge, we need to understand those pathways.”
Larry Prusak
Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) applies the methods of social network analysis to organizations. An org chart shows how the organization is meant to work. A network map shows how it really works.
What ONA reveals
The hidden network
How work really happens: the patterns of interaction that never appear on the org chart.
Key people
The individuals, teams and units that hold central positions in the informal network.
Bottlenecks and gaps
Breaks in the flow of information, overloaded people, structural holes, and isolated people or teams.
Untapped resources
Expertise and peer support that exist in the network but are not reaching the people who need them.
Flows across boundaries
How information moves within and across functions, locations and hierarchical levels, and where it stops.
Formal versus informal
Where the informal organization matches the formal one, where it differs, and what that means for how work is organized.
The networks we map
Each network is defined by one kind of relationship, within teams, across functions and with contacts outside the organization. Together we choose the ones that matter for your goals.
- Communication: everyday contacts, at work and beyond
- Work communication: who works with whom, day to day
- Workflow: who passes work on to whom
- Advice: who people turn to with a difficult problem
- Innovation: who people develop new ideas with
- Friendship: trust and affinity between colleagues
Key informal roles
Network patterns and individual measures bring out the people who matter most in the informal structure, whatever their formal position.
Boundary spanners
People who link different groups, defined by function, location or level. They bring together different skills and know-how.
Information brokers
People who connect members of the same group who would otherwise not be in touch, keeping the whole network connected.
Peripheral people
People with few or no ties, whose skills may not be fully used. They are often niche experts with important outside contacts.
Focus areas
A project can also go deeper into specific questions, such as:
Silos
Find the functions, teams and locations that rarely talk to each other, and the people who are overloaded or under-used, so information can flow more freely.
Diversity and inclusion
See whether informal networks are open or fragmented, and whether everyone has access to the relationships and information that matter.
Hidden talent
Bring out the informal experts and influencers who drive problem solving and innovation but are not yet recognized by the org chart.
Where it helps
- Integrating processes across functional, hierarchical or geographic boundaries
- Improving collaboration within and between units and core processes
- Supporting large-scale change and restructuring
- Assessing how strategy is being executed
- Fostering innovation
- Managing latent talent, retention and critical knowledge
- Mapping networks of expertise
- Team building and staffing project teams
Who we are
ONA projects are led by researchers of the Network Innovation Lab at SDA Bocconi School of Management and the Department of Management and Technology, Bocconi University, who study how networks shape performance and innovation.
Let's network
Map the networks of your organization
Tell us about your organization and what you would like to understand. We will get back to you to discuss the goals, the scope, the networks to map and the timing.
Contact us about ONAor write to research.sdabocconi@sdabocconi.it