managing your social capital priscilla arling university of minnesota, carlson school of management...
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Managing Your Social CapitalPriscilla Arling University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management – AWCTC March 2005
Agenda
Getting knowledge work done
What is Social Capital?
What impact does it have on my job?
What role does technology play?
Action items
Knowledge Work
Knowledge What, where, when, how, why
Who
Networks of relationships• Coworkers• Bosses• People in other departments• People in other companies• Friends
Our wide variety of networks Not just Who, but Why the network exists
Types of networks• Kinship• Friendship• Work flow• Work advice• Knowledge
Benefits of relationships
Access to Information
Shared understanding
Trust
Obligations
Norms of reciprocity
Social Capital
Connections between individuals
Value of those connections
Can have individuals each who are highly• Trustworthy, knowledgeable, have understanding
Social capital exists only when those resources are not isolated
Activity
Think about your own social capital• What networks do you have?
• What value do you received due to having in those networks?
• Can you think of any social capital that you have that may have negative consequences or connotations?
Analyzing Social Capital
Social Network Analysis• Way to diagram and quantify social capital
• Simple diagrams
• Intuitive assessment
• Mathematical assessment
Social Networks
Tom
Lin
Beth
Joe
Smita
Harry
Social Networks
Jon
Sue
Centrality, range
Yan
Cohesion
Structural Hole
Social Networks and Work Mark Granovetter
Weak ties Getting a Job (1974)
Ronald Burt Structural Holes (1992)
• Competition for jobs• Early promotion• Fast promotion
Getting a Job - Granovetter Study of how 282 men found their jobs Networking is the key link between job contacts and
social structures Casual acquaintances (weak ties) more important than
close friends (strong ties) Results
We all need to extend our social circles Some circles contain info we lack in our own circles
Promotion - Ronald Burt
Studied 3,303 managers in a single firm Fast promotion - time in job category Early promotion - age Spanning structural holes
• Important• More important for some than others
Promotions - Results
Spanning networks more important for• People on frontier
– New job categories– Physically not co-located with others
Effect was stronger for women than men
Early Promotion - Results
Results differ between• High ranking men• Women and entry level men
High ranking men• Dense, constrained networks delayed promotion• Competition
Women and entry level• Constrained networks improved early promotion• Being known, having key contacts
Activity
Personal examples of networking and jobs
Yourself, friend, relative How did they get their job? Did networking play a role in their promotion What was the company or group like?
• Large/small• Dense/sparse• Highly communicative/not
Technology and Social Networks Relationships are built on communication
Knowledge work todayNot co-located with co-workersMuch of our communication is done electronically
rather than face-to-face• Telephone• E-mail• Video conferencing• Instant messaging
Effects of Electronic Communication
Electronic vs. face-to-face communicationSynchronous - at same time
Phone, video (depending upon speed)Asynchronous - one at a time
Email, chatReduced cues
Nonverbal cues, intonation, contextual
Effects of Electronic Communication
Research on Electronic Communication
• De-personalized, fewer restrictions on behavior
• Missing context, message can be misinterpreted
• Quality of relationship can be affected
• When mode of communication is altered, more effort is required to maintain relationship
Effects of Not Being Co-located
Reduces opportunities for informal contact
Groups using only electronic communication had lower amount of total communication
Benefits of Electronic Communication
Increases participation
Increases access to information
Increases lateral communication
Increases idea generation
Research Study
Study electronic vs. face-to-face networks
In conjunction with distributed teams
Two types of networks• Workflow• Advice
How does your position in the social capital structure influence your access to resources, performance and job satisfaction?
Preliminary Results
Distance affects your position in the Network
Your position in the network influences your relational social capital (trust, access to info) but in general, NOT your performance
Your relational social capital influences your performance and job satisfaction
Distance alone does not affect your relational social capital
Preliminary Results
As distance increases Frequency of both Face-to-face and electronic
communication drops Prominence in both structures drop, but more so in
Face-to-face structures More likely to use one person as your link to others
Distance directly influences position in structure, BUT NOT trust, access to information, knowledge And NOT job performance and satisfaction
Preliminary Results
Frequency of communication alone does not affect relational social capital
Emotional closeness with others must be considered as well
Being central in the Work Flow increases relational social capital
Preliminary Results
Gender specific Influences for Women but not Men
Distance influenced Electronic ProminenceDistance influenced how tightly knit women’s
structures areBeing in a tightly knit group improved job
satisfactionIn general electronic networks influence women
outcomes more than men’s
Preliminary Results
Gender specific Influences for Men, not Women
Having novel electronic links to others is linked to performance
Being central in the work flow is linked to performance
Distance IMPROVED job satisfaction for men
Immediate Action Items
Maintain diverse social networks
Include both strong and weak ties
Maintain links with upper management• Both in your group• Outside your group
Immediate Action Items
Mix electronic and face-to-face communication
Be aware of limitations of electronic communicationMisconstrued messagesLack of context and cuesProactively seek to support electronic-only relationships
Go beyond frequency – make an emotional connection