Opt for efficient social network software and let the world follow you
Posted by juliabennet on October 19th, 2014
Just like social networking sites Facebook or Twitter, organizations are waking up to the fact that the place where their employees spend the most productive hours of their day is indeed just another platform for social interaction. This interaction can be wisely used to get some crucial information which can be of benefit to the organization as well as employees. Such studies are usually very structured and objective and are managed by social network software. The networking diagrams produced by the social network analysis software can provide higher management with vital clues on who the emerging talent is, who are the critical links within the organization, how team building works and what form of communication works best among the many subgroups.
Social network software can analyze data through a series of algorithms. The raw data is obtained through a survey usually done online. It is crucial to get hold of software like this because subjective interpretation can lead to incorrect conclusions. Social network analysis software can judge how human behavior influences social networking. Human resources are the greatest asset of almost every modern organization and managing and nurturing this asset can generally ensure a positive growth curve.
There are professionals who conduct social surveys or ONA Surveys which measure organizational networking. To conduct the survey you need to acquire a proper skill for setting up the right questions, conducting the survey, extracting the data and interpreting it. Since manual interpretation is difficult it is best avoided. Instead, social network software analyzes the data and the output is in the form of relationship diagrams which show how the networking flows exist within an organization. The social network analysis software perfoms all these interpretations for you.
There are companies which provide you with standard templates for conducting this social research. These companies help you choose the correct social network software so that you generate the right pool of information. You can alter the visual graphics by adjusting the color of nodes or tweaking the edge thickness. The size of the nodes can be changed so as to depend on numerical variables for easy inference. In fact the visual networking diagram produced by the social network analysis software gives an interesting perspective on how communication and interactions flow across an organization.
The networking diagram is represented by nodes, triads, dyads and the edges. Stronger ties are often indicated with increased edge thickness. The individuals ranked as more central would be represented by the dyads or triads while the unconnected individuals are at the fringes of the diagram. You can save the diagram generated by social network analysis software to your computer for future reference. Thus you get multiple communities within a larger group. Giving due attention to these sub-communities, when delegating group projects or assignments, can reap huge benefits for the organization as ideally there should fewer conflicts and more congeniality among the members. The pricing of such social network software is simple and fair and you get free surveys for the first ten respondents or even more for academic or non-profit users. Smart organizations are using this wonderful technique to understand how employees connect and then use that to their advantage and to benefit their employees as well.
Use a smart social network analysis software to discover the upcoming talent pool in your organization. The social network software is easy to understand and provides an interesting and valuable perspective on human behavior.
