A leader’s in-depth guide to their organization's internal connections and health
People are at the heart of every company. They are its driving force, bringing it to life by enacting the company's mission. The larger such a living entity becomes, the more difficult it can be for the company’s leadership and executive team to have visibility over what happens and who is most active within this dynamic. Understanding who the influencers, energizers, hidden talents, information holders, or decision makers can provide a lot of insight on more effective communication lines and work streams.
What is Organisational Network Analysis (ONA)?
This is where the Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) tool comes in. It grants this visibility by providing an x-ray of the company’s inner workings and revealing its sometimes-inevitable blind spots. The tool analyses a company’s internal relationship dynamics by visualizing the flow of information, communications, and decision-making throughout the organisation and its people. ONA is built on over 50 years of academic research and has proven the significant effects networks have on sales, innovation, production efficiency, and even mergers and acquisitions, especially in times of change.
For CEOs, understanding natural networks between people in the company can transform their business performance by revealing who the real influential leaders are, which obstacles hinder performance, and how different teams can collaborate better to create more value. When used as part of an organisational intervention, the tool can help decision-makers creatively re-think how they operate, their team structure, promotions, or talent retention policies, that could save them the cost of losing high-caliber profiles. These strong connections between teams can drive organisations to make smarter decisions, while reducing costs and achieving a better return on investment (ROI).
CID Consulting has started introducing ONA to Egyptian organisations through a partnership with an international entity that has longstanding expertise in ONA spanning two decades working with thousands of large organisations globally. This partnership creates an offering that supports in building solid people-strategies through identifying cultural strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, we enable them to adjust their strategies accordingly and achieve effective organisational design and performance.
How does Organisational Network Analysis work?
As a survey-based tool, ONA draws from its data-driven insights to create dynamic visualizations that map out an organisation’s informal networks and highlight the interconnected relationships between individuals and across functions. This map uncovers organisational and people strengths as well as problematic areas and inefficiencies across various aspects of an organisation from silo working issues, poor productivity, and cultural wellbeing to hidden talent or communication gaps and informal decision-making processes. With these insights at hand shown in new perspectives, leadership teams are empowered to make better informed, data-driven decisions on where to invest the necessary resources to achieve their goals.
Organisational Network Analysis in practice
A major real-estate developer in Egypt sought to foster a culture that drives innovation in their organisation in an effort to stand out in their highly competitive market. It took this on with an ONA study into their organisation’s three primary networks:
1. Functional network: different departments and how they are connected in the value chain to serve their customers.
2. Strategic network: organisation wide initiatives that deliver to the strategy.
3. Social network: people’s communication within the organisation, whether formal or informal.
By examining the quality of the interactions between team members, primary sources of influence for innovation across networks, and key areas that require interventions for cultural improvement, ONA mapped out critical gaps in communication that hindered innovation and, most importantly, identified the business’s most influential leaders that can enable innovation-driven practice in the workplace.
The team learned that management needed to create mechanisms that encourage team members to stretch their creativity and embrace experimentation. Building on the outcomes of the ONA study, the company rolled out a recognition program that promotes behaviour and actions that nurture a culture of innovation, risk-taking, learning and support, as well as an innovation function within the firm that has its own scope and structure to spearhead processes that drive innovation.
Today, the company has an established innovation process and guidelines in alignment with the company’s organisational structure and culture led by its team of Innovation Managers and Officers. Furthermore,the company has a comprehensive report that serves as a foundation and compilation of other interventions it can implement in the future and as needed.
Adapting to a Fast-Paced and Changing World
Today, more than any time before, work practices are constantly changing and the leadership of many organisations must adapt, stay connected, remain relevant and have a regular and updated understanding of their team dynamics. The more knowledge organisational leaders have on the quality and patterns in their organisation’s communicationnetworks, the better prepared they are to adapt to and withstand the challenges that come with a rapidly changing world.
ONA simplifies this process for us andallows leaders to make better decisions by identifying the critical link between organisational and people development that will fulfil strategic goals and drive growth. This technology is not just a matter of spotting problem areas within organisations, ONA also guides us to find hidden talent oropportunities that would have gone unnoticed without a deeper look. With this knowledge, leaders can feel empowered to intervene to drive desired results while gaining a significant return on investment from the tool.
As a leader of any organisation, you will appreciate how the insights you get through the ONA helps frame a number of organisational development interventions swiftly, successfully, and without standing cost-saving measures.
Learn more about ONA by getting in touch with us at businessdevelopment@cidconsulting.com.