Relationship mapping
Exploring and displaying informal networks
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What is relationship mapping?
 Maps of the informal and unspoken relationship
networks – the socio-emotional networks
 An essential tool for people building the maturity of
group networks, establishing knowledge networks and
collaborative relationship behaviour
 A useful means to understand and address the ‘soft’
and ‘unspoken’ aspects of everyday group experience
 Stimulus to develop behaviours to work effectively
with the emotional aspects of group life
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Better relationships – better results
Results from relationship
mapping
 Increased individual and group vitality and
performance
 Increased knowledge and information sharing
 Strengthens team resilience in dealing with ongoing
demanding situations
 Maximises individual and team formal and informal
skills and abilities
 Surfaces and resolves issues of group conflict, trust
and identity
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Better relationships – better results
Where is this method best
applied?
 Where collaborative and healthy team relationships
are critical to business success
 Companies wanting high performing team culture
 In divisions, silos or problem dominated teams
wanting to move to ‘one’ company
 When teams want to work with invisible forces
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Better relationships – better results
Network explorations don’t
work ….
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
With authoritarian or leader dominated
organisation cultures

Where individuals and/or team’s reside
in litigious environments

With performance or redundancy
threats

When maps are withheld from team
members
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Better relationships – better results
Unique aspects
Deals with emotions and passion
INTEGRATES
Other developmental activities
HOLISTIC
Deals with emotions and passion
PRACTICAL
It is in here and now
ADDRESSES
the unspoken and invisible
knowledge gaps
silo cultures
post restructure fragmentation
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Better relationships – better results
The formal structure
- the managerial decision structure Company Directors
CEO
JOHN
Account Manager
JIM
Marketing Assistant
AMANDA
Creative Director
ANDREA
Production Assistant
AMY
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Receptionist
ANGELA
Account Manager
ANNA
Production Assistant
ALISON
Better relationships – better results
the informal network
Creative
Director
ANDREA
Account
Manager
Production
Assistant
ANNA
ANNA
Reception
ANGELA
Production
Assistant
CEO
Marketing
Assistant
AMY
Account
Manager
AMANDA
JOHN
JIM
Criterion for choicel
Who do you discuss your work concerns with?
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Better relationships – better results
Some observations…
 The company creative director is currently isolated from her
manager, her peers and her team
 Account manager Jim is the hub of the strong informal network
(he is the sociometric star on this criteria). He is the link between
the formal and informal networks
 The CEO will be well informed through the formal reporting
relationship with Account Manager Jim
 John and Andrea are currently excluded from the informal
discussions of work concerns
 ……..There is work to be done with the relationships in this
company
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Better relationships – better results
Typical Social Network Analysis
questions/criteria for exploration
Mission and Vision

With whom do you discuss the company vision and business strategy?
With whom do you discuss what is important and valued in the
organisation?

Work Interactions

Who do you rely on to get your job done (exchange information,
documents and other resources)?
Grapevine

Decision Making

Innovation

Expertise

To whom do you go for expert advice in doing your work?
Customer Knowledge

With whom do you discuss customer needs and market demands?
Who do you discuss your responses to what is going on at work?
From whom do you seek inputs, suggestions and feedback before
making a decision?
With whom do you discuss ideas, innovations, and better ways of
getting things done?
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Better relationships – better results
Gains from sociometric
explorations
Benefits
Achieved By
Retaining and using
corporate knowledge.
Connecting key others with those with organisation history,
knowledge and expertise
Increased consistency
productivity, and
responsiveness.
People know who to go to for what and have easy access to one
another : information, expertise, knowledge and experience.
Smarter decisions of who
should work with whom,
Ensuring key people work together, or lead projects rather than
emphasising structural relationships
Redeveloping informal
networks after restructures
Finding ways for individuals and groups to develop or strengthen
relationships with others.
Innovation
Identifying key people to facilitate fresh approaches.
People enjoying their work
more
People contribute more when they are well connected within their
organisation and others know of their contribution
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Better relationships – better results