Effectively handling corporate and employee relationships is vital for the success of most organizations. Acquiring insights into individuals’ connections and networks can prove valuable for various purposes.
However, the difficulty lies in the fact that most organizational charts are tailored to document formal relationships and reporting structures. Yet, every business relationship holds significance. It’s often beneficial to monitor more than just the formal connections between managers and their teams or colleagues who collaborate closely, thus the need for business relationship management solutions
Why Track and Manage Informal Business Relationships
While these connections may not be readily apparent in your organizational chart, it could be valuable to note instances such as Tim in one department having a mentor-mentee relationship with John in another department, or Mary and Ali having a prior professional or educational association before assuming their current roles. Additionally, recognizing that some employees are close friends outside of work, and may exchange information or seek advice from each other, can also be insightful.
Tracking these informal relationships can serve as a measure of success or cohesion within your company, potentially indicating an increase in social capital. Alternatively, understanding the dynamics of influence among employees or identifying individuals who may impact your projects indirectly can inform strategic employee engagement efforts.
Visualizing Complex Relationships in Large-Scale Businesses
In smaller organizations, you might be able to track both formal and informal relationships with a simple org chart and detailed notes in a spreadsheet. However, in larger organizations, identifying and managing the complex web of relationships among internal stakeholders can seem nearly impossible.
This challenge is particularly significant in larger corporations, where research suggests that management-employee relationships are often less satisfying compared to smaller firms, potentially leading to lower job satisfaction.
Fortunately, we have extensive experience in helping large organizations successfully manage their business relationships. Here are a few tips and best practices that may help.
5 Tips for Business Relationship Management
1. Define Your Relationship Goals
It might not be feasible to map every relationship, so begin by identifying the key business relationships you want to focus on. Consider pinpointing:
- Relationships involving executives
- Relationships involving managers
- Relationships with contractors or suppliers
- Connections within the same department but different areas
- Connections among employees in the same building or area
- Colleagues working on the same shift
- Alumni of the same educational institutions
- Professionals with similar backgrounds
Once you determine which types of relationships to manage, you can start building an interconnected network to strategically plan your engagement.
If you’re unsure where to focus, consider how these relationships could impact your project outcomes or organization. How might these groups influence each other and the results? How can you ensure you’re engaging the right people to achieve the desired outcomes? Additionally, think about how this network could help you locate key individuals when needed.
2. Map Your Stakeholder Relationships
In large organizations with multiple departments and hundreds or even thousands of staff across various locations, identifying informal relationships between individuals can be highly challenging.
Most organizations have an org chart, possibly even using org chart software. However, this method only provides a limited view of relationships. While you can see departmental locations and formal management structures, capturing informal connections outside this hierarchy is nearly impossible.
For effective business relationship management in large organizations, visualize internal connections using a stakeholder map. Business relationship management software, such as Simply Stakeholders, can be invaluable.
Within Simply Stakeholders, the stakeholders tab allows you to easily visualize connections, track communication, interactions, and more.
3. Analyze Your Stakeholders
Understanding your key contacts in depth makes it easier to identify their connections and predict their responses to your communication and engagement efforts. A stakeholder analysis approach can provide richer insights into employees and their relationships.
This involves adding more detailed information to stakeholder records, such as their level of interest, impact, or influence on a project or organization. Including demographic information, personal characteristics, and other relevant data helps create a comprehensive picture of the people you’re tracking, adding valuable context to their relationships.
4. Track Your Communication
Effective business relationship management and internal stakeholder engagement require tracking communication. Utilize your stakeholder software to monitor conversations, feedback, responses, and even interactions between stakeholders.
With all this data centralized, you can generate valuable business intelligence to inform your decisions and enable more strategic engagement.