The Organizational Network Fieldbook Best Practices, Techniques and Exercises to Drive Organizational Innovation and Performance

by Cross, Robert L.; Singer, Jean; Colella, Sally; Thomas, Robert J.; Silverstone, Yaarit

• ISBN13: 9780470542200
• ISBN10: 0470542209
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-06
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

"This is the ultimate resource for practitioners who want to implement insights from organizational network analysis and thinking. Dozens of concrete examples, interventions, and practical advice from network experts show you what you can do to strengthen networks and boost performance. This book is essential for anyone in business, government, or consulting who wants to get network thinking from analysis to action in organizations."-Wayne Baker, professor of management and organizations, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan"What a great idea this book is! The Organizational Network Fieldbook will demand to be read by anyone undertaking any social network efforts in their organization. It is not only a unique book, but it is also very well thought-out, finely written, and exceptionally pragmatic. It's a great achievement for the authors and a great boon to all practitioners."-Larry Prusak, researcher and consultant, and the founder and former director of the Institute for Knowledge ManagementIn this practical companion to the best-selling Driving Results Through Social Networks, the authors draw on their network-building activities in organizations such as ConocoPhillips, 3M, and the United States Department of Defense in order to provide a compilation of highly practical approaches to help leaders shift their focus from formal organizational structures to a better understanding of flexible networks.

Author Biography

Rob Cross is an associate professor at the Mclntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, where he specializes in organizational behavior. Professor Cross directs research into social network analysis for The Network Roundtable, a consortium of 100 organizations.
Jean Singer is an organizational consultant specializing in the use of social network principles and techniques to drive performance.
Sally Colella works with leaders and teams to create and leverage networks that support learning, results, and satisfaction.
Robert J. Thomas is the executive director of Accenture's Institute for High Performance and a professor at the Brandeis University International Business School.
Yaarit Silverstone is the managing director responsible for organization effectiveness offerings and capabilities within Accenture's Talent and Organization Performance practice.

Table of Contents

The Authors.

Introduction.

Building Networks for Collaboration and Community.

1. Building a Technical Community (Angelique Finan and Grady Bryant).

2. Networks of Excellence (Peter Gray and Dan Ranta).

3. Driving Business Results through Networked Communities of Practice (Rob Cross and Guillermo Velasquez).

4. Mapping and Engaging Influence Networks (Myra Norton).

Bridging Organizational Silos).

5. Network Analysis for Engineering Small Practice Groups (Barry Dayton).

6. Building Trusted Ties in a New Organization (Joe Blasnales).

7. Forging Global Connections, Christie Dowling (Betsy Smith Redfern, and Victor Gulas).

8. Building Healthy Teams (Kate Ehrlich, Ivan J. Blum, and Inga Carboni).

Driving Organizational Change through Networks.

9. Changing Culture through Networks and Narrative (Steve Denning and Rob Cross).

10. Message Monitoring to Accelerate Change (Terry G. Williams).

11. A Workshop for Aligning Networks with Strategy (Sally Colella).

12. Positioning a New Leader for Success through Network Fine-Tuning (Rob Cross, Robert J. Thomas, Ana Dutra, and Carrie Newberry).

13. Improving Decision Making through Network Reconstruction (Rob Cross and Robert J. Thomas).

Connecting People for Innovation.

14. The Innovation Lab: Building Idea-Sharing Networks (Jean Singer and Kristi Droppers).

15. Building a Collaborative Innovation Network (Wendi Backler).

16. Connecting through Improvisation (Christiane Frischmuth).

17. Helping Leaders Uncover Hidden Assets (Sally Colella).

Developing Talent through Networks.

18. Embedding a Network Perspective into Leadership (Michael Chavez and Mara Green).

19. Improving Leadership Effectiveness through Network Development (Rob Cross).

20. Developing Leaders' Networks through a Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement Workshop (Katy Strei and Sally Colella).

21. The Mentor Marketplace (Christie Dowling and Victor Gulas).

22. Managing External Stakeholders and Stemming Knowledge Loss (Carlota Vollhardt and Brigitte Lippmann).

23. Smart Mentoring to Increase Connectivity (Adrian (Zeke) Wolfberg).

24. Newcomers' Boot Camp (Betsy Hudson).

25. A Network Approach to Onboarding (Michel Buffet, Gregory A. Janicik, Maria Gallegos, Giulio Quaggiotto, and Lauren Ashwell).