{"id":2836708,"date":"2021-09-16T03:00:09","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T08:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/\/"},"modified":"2021-09-14T14:57:01","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T19:57:01","slug":"the-merits-and-drawbacks-of-working-in-a-networked-organisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/the-merits-and-drawbacks-of-working-in-a-networked-organisation\/","title":{"rendered":"The merits and drawbacks of working in a networked organisation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Until recently, I was an associate with On Think Tanks (OTT); like many other associates, I was neither a sole trader operating in a free market, nor a salaried employee working in a conventional hierarchical organisation, but somewhere in the middle. Moreover, OTT, whose founder and director is based in Lima, Peru, with associates primarily dotted across the Americas, Europe and Africa, has no physical premises. Before the pandemic, associates interacted with one another through email, Slack and video meetings, supplemented by one or two in-person events a year (including the annual OTT conference). But since the pandemic, we have been meeting entirely virtually.<\/p>\n
OTT is perhaps a manifestation of Manuel Castell\u2019s networked societ<\/a>y. But what do I think were the merits and drawbacks of working for what I call a \u2018networked organisation\u2019 \u2013 for me and for the organisation?<\/p>\n As I said in an earlier article<\/a>, organisations can be traumatic places to work, where certain difficult dynamics might be projected onto staff, especially those seen as vulnerable. Being freed from having to work in such an environment was a liberating experience and good for my emotional health. I also enjoyed being able to ply my trade in a setting that was not imposed on me \u2018from above\u2019 or dictated to me by an outside authority. And with no senior managers to formally report to, I wasn\u2019t required to undertake annual performance reviews, which in the past created anxiety, especially when they were linked to salary increments. Interestingly, there\u2019s an increasing amount of commentary, such as this on the BBC<\/a>, suggesting that such reviews are in any case pointless.<\/p>\n OTT charged associates an overhead on top of associates\u2019 fees to pay for core services such as business development, project coordination and communication (as well as a profit). These services were delivered by others on a contract basis. This freed up my time to do what I was most interested in: provide research and advisory services for clients and write articles like this. This arrangement also helped me to raise the profile of my work among various audiences.<\/p>\n With no procedures, tasks and roles defined by high-level supervisors that would be managed within an authoritative system to operate under, I and other associates were \u2018lighter on our feet\u2019: we were able to give shape to new ideas, to write for external audiences, to hold events, to set up communities of practice with speed without needing, for instance, multiple approvals. Moreover, project leads were free to manage tasks in a largely unique way, using their discretion, experience and intuition.<\/p>\n Being part of the OTT network provided me a community to connect with, with the potential to recognise others and be recognised and to foster that sense of belonging that we often need as humans. It emphasised lateral rather than vertical forms of communication. It also provided me with a more visible brand and identity through which to sell my consultancy services, as compared to my own personal one. However, there were some associates whose own personal brand was strong enough to win them a steady stream of work who thus did not need to interact as intensely with the OTT network.<\/p>\n However, all this came at somewhat of a cost. As people we need a \u2018good enough\u2019 degree of security and predictability in terms of remuneration and workload. As an associate I personally found this tricky, as one either experienced a feast or a famine in terms of work and pay. Channelling all my contract work through one organisation also risked breaking UK employment regulations that aim to prevent firms from casualising labour.<\/p>\nMore space to create, perform and connect<\/h2>\n
Unclear and porous boundaries \u2013 at an organisational and individual level<\/h2>\n