Working in the Connected World -
Managing Connected Assets 

Improving Team Effectiveness by Valdis Krebs

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in a high-tech firm, Morten Hansen of Harvard Business School, had a similar research agenda. The key difference was that Hansen was interested in the productivity and effectiveness of teams. Hansen found very similar results with project teams. Those teams that could easily reach other teams and access the knowledge they needed were more successful than teams with poor network connections. Both Greve and Hansen found that the ability to reach a diverse set of others in the network through very few links was the key to success.

Hansen took his research one step further. He examined the difference between those teams that had many direct connections to other project teams and those that used both direct and indirect ties to reach the resources they needed. Hansen found that those teams that used direct ties to seek and find information were soon overwhelmed with too many connections. The teams that used the power of the indirect tie, while at the same time limiting their direct ties, were more successful -- they did not spend as much time interacting with the network to get what they needed. A sparse, radial network, in which your direct ties are connected to others that you are not connected to, has been shown to provide many benefits and opportunities. A dense, local network, where all of your ties are connected only to each other, is a poor structure for accessing information and knowledge found in distant parts of the organization.

Hansen discovered one other insight that is key for knowledge management. A diverse, radial network, with many unique indirect ties is good for monitoring what is happening in the organization and for discovering pockets of knowledge and expertise. Yet, this type of network may not be useful for transferring knowledge. Although indirect ties help you cast a wide net and see far into the organization (and beyond it), these ties are not always efficient for transferring knowledge once it is discovered. It depends on what type of knowledge needs to be transferred. Explicit knowledge can be easily codified and transferred via many technologies available today such as email, FTP, WWW or documents through interoffice mail. Complex experiential knowledge cannot be easily codified. This tacit knowledge requires direct interaction and sharing of experiences. To transfer tacit knowledge a direct tie with the knowledge source(s) needs to be established. Trust and understanding must be built -- this is similar to apprenticeship. Indirect ties monitor the environment; direct ties mine the environment.

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