3 Building network relationships

3.1 What is networking?

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2009, p. 961) defines a ‘network’ as an ‘arrangement of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines.’ This might not immediately seem relevant to networks of people but actually it helps with visualising how people in a network connect up, because the dictionary goes on to suggest that a network can also be ‘a group or system of interconnected people and things’. Figure 6 is an example of what a network of people might look like. It shows clearly the direct connections from one person to another. However, it also shows that the same people are connected indirectly, via other contacts.

Figure 6 Example of a network of people

Show description|Hide description

A digital image displaying people being connected by dotted lines. It shows that everybody is connected through other people.

Figure 6 Example of a network of people

Maximise

Figure 7 A typical organisation chart for a business

Show description|Hide description

A business organisation chart with rows of boxes connected, representing the hierarchy.

At the top there is a box with ‘Managing Director’. There is a line underneath that breaks into strands, leading to four boxes in the below tier. The four boxes each have their own descending lineage.

From left to right, the first box contains the word ‘Marketing Director’, connected with a line to a box reading ‘Marketing Managers’, and a finally a box with ‘Sales Teams.

The next box in the second row reads ‘Finance Director’. This leads down to ‘Finance Supervisors’, then finally ‘Accounts Assistants’.

The third box on the second row reads ‘Operations Director’. The connected box underneath contains ‘Production Team Leaders’, followed by ‘Production Team Members’ at the bottom.

On the far right of the second tier, there is a box reading ‘Human Resources Director’. Connected underneath is a box reading ‘Personnel Manager’. There is no box connected underneath.

Figure 7 A typical organisation chart for a business

Alternatively, Figure 7 is an example of a typical organisation chart for a business. There are vertical lines between people, representing who is more senior and who reports to whom. As well as this vertical arrangement, there are also clear horizontal arrangements for the roles. These indicate which departments are equal to but different from each other. Effectively, the organisation chart shows how the ‘system’, which is the business in this case, is interconnected and meant to function.

However, most people who have worked in organisations know that people do not always communicate in the vertical and horizontal ways which the chart suggests. People talk to the people they know. So a more informal network will exist within any organisation and it will look more like the interconnected web shown in Figure 6.

This is because networks are groups of people with a common interest, one which is not dependent on tasks or work objectives. For instance, your organisation might have a running club, where all the members are interested in running but wouldn’t necessarily work with each other directly.

Networks bring together people with a common interest, they are largely outside formal structures, and any hierarchy which might exist is based on the usefulness of a person to the network.