Building Bridges through ONA: How Mapping Informal Networks Can Improve Communication in Your Company

Effective communication is critical in any company, but unfortunately, in many cases, organizations struggle to withhold effective top-down communication.

This can result in decreased employee engagement, low morale, and an increased turnover rate. All very alarming tendencies in a company’s life. Our work with a manufacturing company that was undergoing automation of certain processes represents this pickle quite well: Despite several different forms of formal communication efforts by the company, employees were still unsure about the changes and how they would affect their day to day lives or employment, in general.

To address this issue, the manufacturing company decided to employ OrgMapper|INFLUENCE, our ONA based survey that maps informal networks within an organization to identify key influencers to drive better change initiatives.

Influencers are individuals who have extensive networks and credibility within the organization, making them effective in bridging communication gaps. By involving these key influencers in the communication process, organizations can establish reliable and direct channels of communication, which can lead to improved trust and inclusiveness within the organization.

Middle management can often find themselves in a difficult position, under pressure from both their superiors and their team members. However, by identifying key influencers and creating a community that includes both top management and lower-level employees, organizations can establish regular meetings to discuss changes and address concerns. This allows for a more collaborative and inclusive approach to change management.

In the manufacturing company’s case, we’ve identified a handful of Influencers from different parts of the company who could help them with driving the change initiatives within the company. The survey revealed influencers from high positions and lower positions which is quite a standard result in my experience. One of the more surprising findings, however, was how the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Specialist, a quite obscure person in the eyes of the Management, turned out to be the most connected influencer within the company.

Although leadership was initially surprised, they later discovered that this was due to the fact that the EHS Specialist had gone around to the different factories to meet with physical workers for Health and Safety training and kept information flowing about the changes.

In an effort to bridge the gap between upper management and lower-level employees, a community of influencers was formed to establish a reliable communication channel. These influencers, including the EHS specialist, engaged in regular meetings with top management to discuss changes and provide context to address concerns. By prioritizing open and honest dialogue, the organization was not only able to increase employee engagement and retain valuable talent, but also successfully meet the deadlines of their change project.

In conclusion, effective communication is crucial in any organization, and ONA can be a powerful tool to identify key influencers and establish reliable and direct channels of communication. By involving key influencers in the communication process and prioritizing two-way communication channels, organizations can build trust and inclusiveness within the organization, ultimately leading to improved employee engagement and a more successful change management processes.

#ona #bridgingcommunicationgaps #effectivechangemanagement