Evaluation of networks and collaborative projects.
We evaluate and benchmark networks and collaborative projects. Assessing a variety of aspects critical to the success of networks and collaborative projects - such as structures, shared benefits, collaborative culture, network glue and effectiveness - we help our clients to better understand their networks. We generally work with the network and the people involved in those collaborative projects to determine what works and which areas require changes.
One innovative method that can be particularly suitable for evaluating networks and collaborative projects is Organizational Network Analysis (ONA). ONA is a data-driven approach to map and diagnose social relations of all kinds in your organization. Who interacts with whom, why and how well? How does knowledge flow within and across units? How strong are the connections and how could they be strategically strengthened? For a few people, this is easy to uncover through interviews. For organizations of 100 or more people, however, interviews are no choice. ONA is made for large numbers and for these purposes, no other approach offers the same rigor and depth of analysis in this area. Used with care, ONA is an excellent tool for both collaboration snapshots and for before-after analyses.
Specialized services: community management and post-merger integration.
Foundations, universities and other not-for-profits maintain large communities of high-profile personalities and alumni. But they are often just a community in name and lack a real "glue" that binds them together. Without strategic community management, those communities will never realize their full potential and develop into vital, self-sustained networks of leaders and changemakers.Our network analysis reveals an objective status quo of the social interactions within the community and the #networkglue that is critical for successful communities. It shows you the influencers and networkers in the community who can serve as multipliers for your messages. Furthermore, our network analysis can also be embedded in an evaluation strategy to monitor the success of your community management over time.
A merger between two companies – often competitors – is highly complex and risky. Making one cohesive organization out of two is the most underestimated challenge of post-merger integration and a main reason for failed M&As. It is not as easy as setting up new rulebooks and hoping for the best: organizations need a process of understanding organizational cultures and fostering connections within the formal and informal networks that can drive change. We help you improve and accelerate your post-merger integration by better managing the formal and informal networks in your organization. We uncover connections, information flows and the glue that connects the people in your new organization. We can also establish benchmarks to determine how well integration moves along.
Advisory service for improving networks and collaboration.
How to improve an existing network? How to ensure that the initiated collaboration achieves the intended benefits? These questions are at the heart of our advisory service for improving networks and collaboration. Following a detailed analysis of the network or collaborative project, we use participatory methods such as workshops to develop together with stakeholders concrete and actionable recommendations that help improve their specific network or collaboration project.