What is relationship mapping

1
What is relationship mapping?

• Charts informal and unspoken relationship
  networks
• Identifies who
• trusts who
• goes to who to get things done
• knows how things work
• Displays emotional networks and system of
  relationships

2
Ask once

• In dynamic organisations, there is a high degree
  of functional interaction amongst people.

3
What will you discover?

• Cohesiveness (mutual relationships) within/across
  teams
• Productive, and isolated, individuals and
  subgroups
• Relationships between formal structure and
  informal action networks
• Unrecognised influencers subgroups and key
  people (both positive and negative)

4
Outcomes

• People know who to go to for what
• Better relationships
• Better information flows
• Better performance

5
Other benefits of relationship mapping

• Valuable data you know who needs to work with
  who
• You take sound decisions after consulting
  relevant opinion leaders
• Complex ideas can be communicated simply
• Pictures of relationships make things clear

6
Relationship mapping tools

• Action Mapping
• Real - time
• Data is graphically displayed
• Perceptions revealed
• Structural Mapping
• Managerial data collected in linear time
• Participants reveal choices interactively
• Relationship Mapping
• Real - time and near time
• Data produced electronically within hours or days
  
• Participants share choices directly

7
Typical criteria

• Who in the group do I trust to
• make decisions that positively affect the
  business and my unit?
• peer review my budget?
• help me get things done?
• Who in the group
• do I go to solve problems?
• listens and helps?

8
Barriers to using relationship mapping

• Emotionally challenging for people not chosen
• Participants wont co-operate if information used
  for performance management
• Questions may be seen as too personal, private or
  unfair
• Open, candid interactions may not be valued (may
  be career limiting)
• Relationship data may be unreliable peoples
  feelings change

9
Background

• Relationship mapping derived from sociometry,
  created by JL Moreno, 1934
• Diana Jones is Sociometrist, and Trainer,
  Educator and Practitioner with ANZPA