06/25/2021

A Swimmer’s Guide to Network Cooperation

Understanding how network members interact is crucial to advancing their aims

In the civic and nonprofit sector, we are seeing more and more networks formed to address important issues. These networks occur when groups of nonprofit organizations, government agencies and private sector partners choose to join forces toward a shared purpose. But while the number of networks has increased, one fundamental question is rarely discussed: how—and how much—do network members interact with each other as they work toward their common aims?

The answer to this question will help network organizers to answer a host of other questions:

• How should we organize ourselves for the highest impact?
• How can we manage the tension between members’ individual identities and the identity of the network?
• How do we keep members engaged?
• How do we sustain the network over time?

This article introduces the concept of interaction within a network and illustrates why it’s important to understand it before thinking about network planning and sustainability. Note that our focus here is on networks of organizations, where the members are all working on programs or policy, and network activity results in work product or outcomes. These networks are distinct from peer learning or purely social networks.

Please select this link to read the complete article from SSIR.