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