NETWORK HEALTH

GUIDE

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About this guide

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You are opening one of six guides of a Network Leadership Toolkit created by Circle Generation in partnership with Danida Fellowship Centre .

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Our intention is for this toolkit to be more than a collection of resources by providing overarching, yet practical, guidance and inspiration for the application of concepts and approaches in your specific context and with your unique network.

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Each guide offers ideas, templates, and examples to help extend the theory and practice shared in Circle Generation’s Network Leadership Series to cultivate healthy impact networks.

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Circle Generation's approach to network practice has been influenced by many years of direct collaboration with networks, partnership in the Converge Network, contributions to the book Impact Networks, and engagement with key leaders who inspired Converge, including June Holley, Margaret J. Wheatley, and The Monitor Institute.

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The guides signpost you to additional places where you can access further inspiration and tips from others working in the broader field of network cultivation.

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We invite you to try things out, experiment, and customise what’s here. Please do share your experiences and feedback with us by emailing�Danida Fellowship Centre’s Network Team.

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We would love to hear from you!

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Network Health Guide

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Introduction to

network health

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�This guide focuses on how coordinators can utilise data to reflect network health, illustrate network evolution and focus limited coordination time to best support the network and its journey toward impact over time.

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Similar to how a healthy garden produces a harvest, a healthy network is capable of collectively shaping change – within and between its members and the systems they seek to influence. By connecting people, coordinating learning and action and catalysing collaboration, healthy networks generate positive intermediate outcomes. For members, their organisations and communities these outcomes often manifest as shifts in perspective, new or deeper relationships and collaborative endeavours. Over time, healthy networks use their relationships and collective intelligence to shape longer-term changes in how our social systems are organised and operated.

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Evaluating your network’s health allows you to identify areas of strength as well as areas of untapped potential. The ongoing collection of member data and feedback is what helps network coordinators assess the network’s current state of health as well as identify what aspects of its leadership, infrastructure or activities might require additional attention and nurturing.

Network Health Guide

SEVEN ASPECTS OF NETWORK HEALTH

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Network Health Guide

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Network Health Guide

Seven Aspects of Network Health

Networks aim to become collectively intelligent, adaptive, and resilient, something like a murmuration of starlings, where each bird is aware of the others and collaborating to thrive together.

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Networks offer a space for participants to re-member themselves as elements of a larger collective, where each one finds ways to participate, giving and receiving, in ways that are mutually beneficial. In coordinating networks, we are continuously reminded that we live in an interconnected world where wellbeing is collective.

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Evaluation in the types of complex and adaptive systems that networks represent is different to evaluation in more fixed, mechanistic, linear systems. Networks have deliberate processes and emergent (rather than predetermined) outcomes.

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This is different to a company producing products and services to pre-determined specifications and performance standards. As living systems that interact, learn, reflect and adapt in continuous cycles, it is rarely meaningful for networks to evaluate against pre-established external benchmarks.

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Top-down organisations tend to work towards pre-determined goals and performance standards, as defined by management and the organisational strategy.

Networks apply deliberate processes for emergent outcomes, as members explore, adapt and coordinate diverse ways to meaningfully participate, in service of a shared purpose.

Network Health Toolkit

Seven Aspects of Network Health

If we move away from predicting outcomes in complex adaptive systems and instead focus on what it takes to enable continuous contextualised learning,

our networks and their members will need to find other ways of assessing “progress”. The question then becomes: If we are not measuring success against pre-defined objectives and outcomes, how then should networks be assessing the extent to which they are creating value within the systems they seek to influence?

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Similar to our own bodies, which are living systems we all know well, networks focus on evaluating their overall health or fitness. If we imagine the work of shaping systems as training for a marathon, our network strategy emphasises that – over time – it must become fit for facing the challenge represented by the network purpose.

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With this in mind, we suggest three key conditions and four domains of health that network coordinators can assess as part of cultivating healthy networks as containers for achieving impact over time.

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Network Health Toolkit

Seven Aspects of Network Health

Key Conditions that Enable Network Health

Returning to the metaphor of the garden, cultivating a healthy harvest relies on factors such as rich soil, consistent water and an attentive, nurturing gardener. We recognise three similar conditions for cultivating a healthy network.

Strong Narrative is the framing, information, and communication of the purpose and the approach. It is important because it creates the context for the network’s activity. For people to co-create change with you, they need to understand the purpose, the process of creating change, the network’s role in the larger ecosystem and how they can engage.

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Reflection prompts:

• How clear and consistent are our network’s messages about its purpose, potential and process when it comes to engaging participants in learning and action?
• Do we collect data on challenges in our ecosystem and aggregate information into a story that makes the case for systemic change?
• How is the quality, timing and cadence of our communications with stakeholders about updates and opportunities to engage with the network?

Consistent Resources is about both the sufficiency and flow of financial and non-financial resources to your network. The consistent flow of sufficient resources affects the level of coordination support, frequency of network convenings, quality of infrastructure, and people’s sense of the network’s longevity and potential.

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Reflection prompts:

• Do you have sufficient resource* stability to inspire participation or is the network’s future highly uncertain?
• Do your projected resource* levels match your network’s aspirations?
• Are the resources* you have to support ongoing activities accessible when you need them?

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*Resources here are not restricted to funding or cash support, but also include essential in-kind contributions, such as volunteer time and commitment, shared expertise and access to physical and virtual spaces etc.

Capable Coordination includes the role design, responsibilities and capacity of network coordinators. This is important because the coordinators are leading the cultivation of the network. Including developing & maintaining collaborative infrastructure, engaging with participants, fostering connectivity and tracking emergent activity and network health.

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Reflection prompts:

• Do we have adequate capacity allocated to coordination?
• Are coordination responsibilities clearly defined? (see Network Leadership Capabilities and the Making the Case guide)
• How capable and confident do coordinators feel in their role?
• Do coordinators feel supported and appreciated?
• Do we have consistency within coordinator roles and continuity of member relationships?

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Network Health Toolkit

Seven Aspects of Network Health

Four Domains of Network Health

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Following from the network theory of change, key evaluation questions for networks are about how connection, coordination, and collaboration are positioning the network to sustain action over time that generates systemic impacts.

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Returning to our gardening metaphor, let's compare the kinds of learning questions we might ask in networks.

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Gardeners ask

Networks ask

Similar to how a healthy garden is a combination of many factors coalescing, network health emerges from carefully cultivating the network in response to members. These four domains represent primary signals of network health.

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Network Health Toolkit

Seven Aspects of Network Health

A healthy network has:

All seven aspects of network health - the four domains (page 10) along with the three key conditions (page 9)- provide a comprehensive view of a network.

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Assessing and monitoring network health is fundamentally about learning. By keeping tabs on what is happening, we can learn from experience, steadily improve our practice, and increase the impact of the network.

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WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH NETWORK DATA FOR EACH DOMAIN?

Network Health Toolkit

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Network Health Toolkit

What can you do with network data for each domain?

Collaborative infrastructure data makes it possible to:

• See who’s in the network. At the most basic level, patterns of participation show who is engaging and how you can get a sense for the network’s capacity.
• Plan for network development conversations. Tracking the last update of network purpose, seeing the date when you created network intentions or adopted a decision-making method can help you know when to bring topics around for a fresh discussion.

Member Experience data makes it possible to:

• Reflect value to network members. Capturing multiple ways value is created through participating in the network can help members understand ways in which they might benefit from engaging with the network.
• Communicate intermediate value to members, their organisations, the community and any funders.

Connectivity data makes it possible to:

• Visualise participation. Seeing the connections makes the network feel real in ways that attending meetings doesn’t. Feeling part of something bigger than yourself can inspire member commitment and contribution.
• Show the evolution of the network. A network map makes it possible to illustrate how connections, information flows and collaborations are growing over time.

Emergent activity data makes it possible to:

• Illustrate system change in action. Just because we don’t predict outcomes in advance, doesn’t mean networks aren’t enabling change. Highlighting what is emerging from the creativity of network members is an important feedback loop giving members a view of what is happening and how they might join activities that are in motion or kick-start a new initiative, inspired by existing endeavours.
• Make the case for investment. Funders, members and their organisations want to know that their time, energy, and effort translate to meaningful contributions toward positively shaping the larger ecosystem the network’s purpose aims to influence.

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Network Health Toolkit

What can you do with network data for each domain?

Tools and Data Points for

Each Network Health Domain

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To improve and strengthen our networks, network coordinators need tools and protocols that support systematic collection of quality data.

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To support the identification of opportunities or challenges across cycles and seasons, the collection of network health data must become routine, not be too cumbersome and be integrated into your regular workflow.

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The data you collect and how you do it will be unique because every network is unique! What follows is guidance, not a one-size-fits-all prescription. To get meaningful results that are relevant in their local context and the stage of network development, coordinators must modify the data collection tools and processes to fit their purpose and circumstances.

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We invite you to do what suits your network, the time you

have available and the technology accessible to you.

The templates in the resource pages of this guide are meant to

serve as inspiration, giving you a place to begin.

IMPORTANT

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Always obtain necessary permissions from your members ahead of collecting, storing and/or sharing their data. Similarly, it is important to be transparent about your processes for data use and storage, as well as to respect any requests for the anonymization or deletion of member data on your platforms or in your tools.

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Network Health Toolkit

What can you do with network data for each domain?

Collaborative Infrastructure

Network Coordinator Evaluation Dashboard

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Data is collected by the coordinator and network members as part of routine coordination related to convening the network in various ways. Data is recorded in the Administrative Information spreadsheets that are in the NC Evaluation Dashboard (resource link below).

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These data collection methods are primarily quantitative, and capture information designed to help you show the basic shape of the network: the size, demographics, activities, platforms and structures that support a network’s potential for impact.

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Collaborative infrastructure data points provide fundamental information about network participation, structure and operations.

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Resource: Network Health Dashboard

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• Network membership: �Names, contacts, number of participants, their affiliations, and membership turnover (i.e. who’s joining, who’s exiting)
• Network convenings: �Dates, attendance, major topics discussed, key decisions made by the network
• Activities between convenings: �Number of meetings, webinars, workgroups, weaving calls
• Weaving actions: �The number of introductions, resource shares, and other follow up tasks generated at each meeting, weaving call, or convening.
• Supporting structures: �Purpose, principles, participant agreements, decision making methods, network charter (when created and when updated)
• Communication platforms: �What is in use, frequency of access and engagement, degree of support/curation

Network Health Toolkit

What can you do with network data for each domain?

Member Experience

Survey

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Data is collected by the coordinator using one or more Member Experience Surveys (resource link below). Data can be collected using paper surveys, online survey tools or in-meeting polls.

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Member experience surveys typically capture a mix of quantitative and qualitative information. Often networks will offer a few questions at the end of a meeting or convening to invite reflection on the quality of the experience and what they would like to see in the future.

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Once a year networks typically seek to gather a broader set of data from network members that aims to understand how they are participating, interacting with others, and receiving value from their participation. An annual survey gives all members an opportunity to provide input about their experience of the network. The data can help network coordinators understand where the network is strong, where members may experience the network differently, and where there is potential for value creation.

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Circle Generation has, over the years, identified seven aspects of member experience. that can help surface the felt sense, tone, and quality of network interactions.

Resource: Member Experience Survey

(by Converge)

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Seven aspects of member experience:

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1. Purpose & Principles. Are members clear about the network’s purpose?
2. Participation. Do members represent a broad cross-section of people and organisations needed to realise the purpose?
3. Relationships & Trust. Are members able to engage with one another and hold tension as they explore different perspectives?
4. Governance. Do members make decisions through a process that is inclusive and transparent?
5. Communication. Is information about network activities timely, effective, and easily accessible?
6. Adaptability. Is the network responsive to changes in membership and the priorities of current participants?
7. Value & Impacts. Are members benefitting personally and professionally from their participation in the network?

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You might want to draw inspiration from these to inform the design of your survey. One or more survey questions may be associated with each aspect and specific questions may vary as the network evolves.

Network Health Toolkit

What can you do with network data for each domain?

Connectivity

Social Network Analysis

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Connectivity data can be collected by network coordinators using a method called Social Network Analysis (SNA). The data collected in an SNA is quantitative data related to levels of connectivity between participants.

SNAs are useful at the launch of a network and could be conducted on a regular basis after that, with the frequency of SNAs depending on the priorities and time availability of network coordinators. A launch SNA establishes a baseline reference point, highlighting existing relationships, especially early connectors who can help cultivate the network. Growing networks may want to orient their SNA toward tracking shifts in engagement, leadership, influence, collaboration, and learning. More established networks can assess long-term patterns of collaboration, sustainability, diffusion of ideas, or systemic changes.

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Usually, an SNA would assess a network in relation to these indicators:

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• Connectivity shows who is connected to whom,
• Density indicates how connected your network is – the proportion of possible connections (%) and average number of connections per participant. You can even unearth who are highly connected nodes, and who act as bridges between member clusters within your network.
• Communicativity reflects how information of various kinds is flowing within the network, defined as percentage of members that share information, resources, and connections. Based on this, potential disconnects, and bottlenecks can be surfaced.
• Collaborativity reflects the proportion of the network actively involved in collaborations, defined as percentage of members who are currently collaborating with each other inside or outside the network.

Social Network Analysis 101: Ultimate Guide by Visible Network Labs

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If you have consent from your network members to use and share their data on third party platforms, you might consider using digital tools to simplify your SNA work.

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For example, Circle Generation has experience of using cloud-based tools like SumApp or Google forms to collect member data, together with a visualization tool such as Kumu to show connections between network members. Based on Circle Generation’s experience, a cloud-based survey tool (such as Google forms) can reduce the clicks required for members to respond compared to other SNA tools.

They have also found that if using an online survey, it is most manageable to invite members to list no more than the top 15 network members with whom they most frequently connect.

Emergent Activities include:

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• Network initiatives, teams and working groups (hosted by the network). �
• Products, research, pilot projects and programs developed by the network.�
• Partnerships and projects and launched by network participants �(occurring outside of the formal network).�
• Speaking invitations for network leaders to share about the network or participate in conferences hosted by others outside the network. �
• Requests to represent the network in initiatives or for network leaders to sit on boards and committees convened by other institutions.

Network Health Toolkit

What can you do with network data for each domain?

Emergent Activity

Network Coordinator Evaluation Dashboard

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Information about collaborations sparked as a result of network participation is collected by coordinators during conversations at convenings and during weaving calls (see more in the guide on Network Weaving). Emergent activity data is a mix of qualitative and quantitative information recorded in the Collaborative Activity Dashboard, which is a spreadsheet bundled in the Evaluation Dashboard.

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Emergent activity data ultimately reflects the number and type of collaborative activities among network participants. These are early signs of the network’s capacity to generate impact through engagement with the large ecosystem in which the network is situated.

Resources:

Data Collection Tips from

Circle Generation

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Telling the Story of your Network

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After collecting and exploring the patterns in your network data, an important next step is to communicate your discoveries.

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By sharing data about our network’s health, we are developing our network’s capacity to see a bigger picture of what’s already happening and think together about what’s possible and how they can act collectively to shape change. This is how assessing network health creates a feedback loop that invites everyone in your network to contribute to the network’s health going forward.

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Here are some suggestions about framing what you share back with network participants:

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• Composition—Do members come from a variety of geographies, sectors, or sizes of organizations? �Which members are most involved, and which are more on the periphery? Are any voices missing?
• Weaving—How are connections shifting overtime?
• Engagement—How is network participation growing, stable, or declining over time?
• Communication—How well is information flowing through the network? �Are events scheduled with enough advance notice and held at times that people can attend?
• Convening Design— What conversations are priorities at the next convening? �What learning topics are network members interested in?
• Project support—What collaborative projects are happening? What support could help them move forward?
• Emergent Activity—What positive ripple effects from the network are reaching participants’ organisations or sectors? �Where is the network currently vibrant and what does it need to become healthier?

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Rather than feature a single hero who has overcome odds, network stories take an ecological approach, shining light on how flows of information and resources support many people and organizations. Network stories focus on how collectively we can be wiser, �more creative, and impactful together than we can ever be alone. (See also the Guide on Making the Case for your Network.)

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Network Health Toolkit

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Resource:

Additional Network Health Resources:

Network Health Toolkit

Telling the Story of your Network

THANK YOU

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Please do share your experiences and feedback with us by emailing Danida Fellowship Centre’s Network Team.

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We would love to hear from you!

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