/ Agile Accelerator, Results / By

Agility Accelerator Help Guide

Results: Network Diagram

Agility is dependent upon the ability to manage five key points in any given network. This tool allows you to visualize these dimensions to ensure the group is operating for peak performance.

  • Managing the Center: Minimizing collaborative bottlenecks and acknowledging/ developing employees that make their colleagues successful through collaboration.
  • Leveraging the Periphery: Rapidly integrating newcomers, creating inclusive contents for remote employees and reengaging under-connected high-performers.
  • Selectively Bridging Silos: Facilitating effective collaboration at key intersections in the network (such as functions, locations, roles, etc.)
  • Developing Awareness or Network Roles and Expertise: Ensuring that expertise and roles are transparent.
  • Manage External Connections: Obtaining resources (time, talent, funding, etc.), sourcing, shaping, aligning incoming work, influencing decision-makers, innovating across boundaries.

The network diagram provides insight into the state of key network drivers, important to high-performing groups. The concepts are highlighted here:

Network diagram

Examine Your Network

The “Filters” tab allows you to explore your groups networks, manipulating them through the selection of any combination of attributes, as well as the networks of individuals. The “Network Summary” view identifies the people who are most connected, least connected, and who are top integrators.

The “Filters” tab allows complete customization of the diagram:

  • You can label the nodes with name (default) or initials, or completely anonymize them with random numbers.
  • You may view the network as a whole or by any subgroup by peeling back the layers. You can also look at the network of any individual. By selecting “Yes” to draw a particular network, you are showing the relationships that exist as follows:
    • Work – people who are seeking others out for information to be effective in their work
    • Energy – people who find others to be a source of open, energizing interactions
    • Access – people who need greater access to that person to be effective in their work.
    • Expertise – people who are sought for any given expertise.
  • Clicking “Edit” and “New” in the upper right, allows nodes to be moved, and new nodes and connections to be added.
  • Clicking “Settings” in the upper right allows you to change the size of the nodes (in larger networks, the nodes may appear quite small), the arrow size, and the color of the nodes (allowing you to re-combine groups).
  • When viewing the network by a ranking attribute (such as the biggest collaborative challenges), only the items ranked #1 are considered.  However, the export file contains ALL selections.
  • When viewing the network by “Expertise Sought” or “Expertise Possessed”, only the expertise areas ranked #1 are considered. However, the export file contains ALL selections.

A worthwhile exercise is to consider the key points that exist in your network:  the key connectors at the center, those who are on the periphery of the network, those who knit together groups, and clusters of people with little collaboration (i.e. potential silos).

Scroll to Top