The lines and dots that every organization needs to nurture
A brief introduction to the importance of social ties in the workplace, and how to support them in your own office environment.
One of my most most-used diagrams for workplace is this one below:
It describes two scenarios for social ties.
On the left you can see an organization that regularly uses an office space for work (hybrid or full).
On the right you can see an organization that has been working from home for a while.
Social ties describe the levels of familiarity and trust between people. On the diagrams you can see the people (grey dots) and social ties between them (lines — either grey or light blue).
The grey lines describe strong social ties. These are likely to exist between people who interact with or see each other frequently, and have a high level of trust between one another, such as work team members. Strong social ties also are more likely to exist between members of families or close friends.
The blue lines describe weak social ties. These are likely to exist between people who interact with or see each other less frequently. They may have worked together in the past, or connected loosely over time. In an organization, weak social ties may exist across teams and departments. People may know each others’ names and faces, and maybe something about what they do at work (what department they below to or what role they play).
Weak ties between people in an organization are:
- Just strong enough for someone to know which person to call when stuck with something
- Just strong enough for someone to respond to the email or meeting invite when the see the other person’s name in their inbox
- Just strong enough for someone to say hello to their colleague at the coffee point, and strike up a conversation them
- Just strong enough for people to know who the news is about when they hear that X person got promoted / is leaving / having a baby or just won the lottery
- Just strong enough to give people a sense of the broader organizational community of which they’re a part
An organization with many weak ties will have numerous and broad internal networks, where almost everyone in the business knows someone who they can call to open a door to help get any work problem they have solved.
(This is even more important in decentralized organisations, where flat hierarchies and self-directed employees are expected to navigate their own problem solving instead of expecting their manager to spend time on it.)
Prolific weak ties are what help businesses to get things done faster, solve problems faster, and innovate faster. This is what keeps businesses competitive and resilient.
“Weak ties have been shown to play an important role in organizational performance, including innovation, raising or maintaining product and service quality, and attaining project milestones.”
- Harvard Business Review Big Idea: The new reality of WFH.
How to support the development of weak social ties
Your physical space is one of the most powerful tools to support the development of social ties across your organization.
While virtual technologies streamline and structure how we work, and make immediate connections more efficient, they simply don’t allow the relaxed visibility and spontaneous connection that being in the same space does.
Here’s how you can use your physical space to support the development and nurturing of more weak social ties in your organization:
1. Create spaces where people have visbility of one another, and have the opportunity to bump into each other
Seeing someone in physical form is the simplest and most direct way to build familiarity, which is where social ties begin. Spaces that people move through as part of their office habits and routines are ideally set for this. Make them welcoming and open.
The spaces between work areas are ideal opportunities for informal encounters and conversations:
- Open spaces where people gather such as foyers, cafes, gardens, balconies
- Pause areas such as kitchenettes, café areas and coffee tables
- Circulation spaces such as entry foyers, walkways and stairwells
Keep these spaces away from areas where quiet focused work happens!
And see at how companies like Discovery (Sandton) and Capitec Stellenbosch) have made circulation such a central and attractive part of their space.
2. Nudge the development of social ties
You can also manage your space and workplace activities to support social ties.
- Make it easy to access different parts of the building where interactions happen, such as café areas, gardens and balconies means that people will use them more.
- Encourage people to linger and interact in common areas through interactive displays (e.g. notice boards or desk-booking systems in the entry foyer). One company I know of has a huge employee-feedback whiteboard their refresh area. It’s a fun and light-hearted plaything that invites people to add their thoughts, and invites. This is a great ice-breaker.
- Hold broad network in-person events that go beyond just the immediate team. Town hall events with a food and gathering element before or after are an easy and effective way to get people to know one another.
3. Make your office a psychologically safe space to be
Nobody will feel relaxed enough to strike up a conversation with someone new, let alone wander from their desk, if they don’t feel that the culture of that place is welcoming them.
Creating a culture that values each individuals’ contribution, and accepts diversity of views and ways of doing things, will go a long way to support an atmosphere of community and open-ness.
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Incorporating spaces and opportunities for the development of both strong and weak social ties in your organisation is a no-brainer way to build resilience as well as support a better employee experience.
Through my work at Space Sense, I assist organisations in setting up their space, and related people practices, to make sure they have the best possible chance of supporting and nurturing those social ties, and thriving.
Learn more:
- Video: The Innovative Workplace Starts with People, Dr Sean Gallagher Director, Centre for the New Workforce, Swinburne University of Technology https://vimeo.com/530347726
- Article: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/figuring-out-social-capital-is-critical-for-the-future-of-hybrid-work/
- Article: https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/employee-engagement/columns/the-fragility-of-informal-interactions-with-hybrid-work
