Build Your Own Business Networks Course

Recently I attended this course and i thought of writing a post summarizing just 2 of the many lessons that i learnt in that course that will be of interest to the team.

Personally, I thought this course was somewhat timely given that we are now in the era of Social Network sites (facebook, linkedin, orkut, myspace, etc.). However, this course was probably written in ancient times (about 5 years ago) although the concepts taught here are very general and timeless.

Despite the title sounding somewhat like a jargon, the course is about how to build communication and relationships with the community of people that you work with and how to maintain them. If you draw a Network diagram and plot yourself and the teams and people you work with, as nodes in that diagram, that is your Business Network diagram.

So, Lesson 1. People networks and Business Networks are very similar to Computer networks. First, you need to establish connection. Then you need to keep the connection alive (periodic pings?). In order to derive value out of your network, you need to be ready to provide value yourself. And often, like good karma or a savings account, you may have to pay your dues to the network before reaping benefits.

These concepts apply to everyone. All of us have colleagues and other teams we work with. That is our internal business network. And our business networks are often larger than the slice that we interact with everyday(external network, previous colleagues, classmates, etc. etc.).

I related these ideas also to the Metcalfe’s law of networking: (which i think very much applies to the people networks as well) The value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system (n²).

But the important thing is to start today and set forth some time every week to nurture your network. Like gardening this is a job that never stops. Perhaps it is time for me to schedule that lunch meeting with a colleague that i haven’t met with in years.

Lesson 2: What do we get out of these networks?

Information, knowledge, knowhow and best practices, support among others. Often these will make the crucial input to turn a so-so performance into fantastic success. I saw that first hand in some of the simulated activities or group exercises in the course. We had 3 teams working together as a (virtual) corporation and our mission was to develop technology to manufacture a product (using rubber tubes, cans, buckets, water, etc.), transport it (after building bridges using blocks and wood) and deliver to the customer.

No team was able to work successfully all on its own. When the teams passed on information back and forth, they transferred knowhow and best practices and all teams gained very rapidly.

Project planning and execution

I am taking a class and they had an assignment where they gave the following list in a jumbled order and asked participants to order it as they see fit. This is how i ordered it. I thought it was an interesting exercise. Im sure different people can have a slightly different take on this based on how they see the world.

I also thought the list captured fairly completely a manager's responsibilities.


1 Set project objectives (desired results).
2 Develop strategies (priorities, sequence, timing of major steps).
3 Develop possible alternative courses of action.
4 Identify the negative consequences of each course of action.
5 Decide on a basic course of action.
6 Determine when and how overall progress will be measured.
7 Determine the allocation of resources (including budget,facilities, etc.).
8 Establish qualifications for new positions.
9 Define scope of relationships, responsibilities and authority of new positions.
10 Find qualified people to fill positions.
11 Identify and analyze the various job tasks necessary to implement the project.
12 Assign responsibility / accountibility / authority.
13 Develop individual performance objectives which are mutually agreeable to the individual and his / her manager.
14 Train and develop personnel for new responsibilities / authority.
15 Coordinate day-to-day activities.
16 Measure individual performance against performance objectives and standards.
17 Measure progress toward and/or deviation from the project's goal.
18 Deliver appropropriate consequences for individual performance.
19 Gather and analyze the facts of the current project situation.
20 Take corrective action action on the project (recycle project plans).