Analyzing Networks

This weekend I was at a Social Network Analysis (SNA) conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. I had the fortunate opportunity to sit with Steve Borghati (developer of UCI Net – SNA software) and get the word about Social Network Analysis directly from the creator’s mouth. This was a rare opportunity to consult with the leader in SNA development and it proved to be helpful. My time with Steve Borghati was a lesson in why it is always helpful to get information directly from the source:

The word on the street is that Social Network Analysis is proving to give organizations and companies significant advantages by better understanding their social networks and the way the people within those networks operate. Imagine being able to look at a 3-D map of your organization sorted by who has coffee together on Monday mornings, who the most influential players are in your marketing department, who the most trustful people are in your organization, or even how the organization splits its disgust of football teams – Liverpool or Manchester U. (it is football right? I would say soccer, but for all of you who scoff at American English…) Once this information is mapped out an organization can then identify Key Players so that managers can become more effective by strategically placing productive people together on group projects. In addition, the successful merging of the “information economy” into the “connection economy” will require that information within an organization be managed more efficiently. Knowing the Key Players in an organization who are conducters or blockers of information could significantly impact the productivity of an organization.

Our world is increasingly compartmentalized because of the division of labor. Within organizations this has, at times, negatively affected the ability for people to interact socially. In the connection economy strong social networks are a huge factor for dictating who is successful and who is not. Having a deeper understanding of social networks both on a personal and organizational level is imperative to becoming more productive in the new connection economy. Additionally, understanding our social networks can also be an important factor to finding greater meaning in our lives. (i.e. who am and I talking to and why?) Social Network Analysis is one awesome way to gain greater clarity about our networks.

Have a look at “The Hidden Power of Social Networks” by Rob Cross and re-think your social networks. How can you employ your networks to access the power that is held in them?

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