Introduction:
As outlined in the introduction to the portal, the more agile organizations are, more innovative and successful they will be. Given the increasing complexity of the technological infrastructure, there is a critical need to build effective working relationships between various departments within the organization, for various reasons discussed in this section.
Organizational agility requires flexible thinking and creativity that go well beyond process excellence. Building a framework of trust is the only way to retain such a culture. Best-in-class processes will never be sufficient to achieve enterprise leadership without an environment of trust (Grigg & Gomolski, 2001).
Knowledge Based Organizations:
Leveraging worker capabilities requires a framework for collaboration that includes people, knowledge and innovation management systems. Increasingly, when knowledge workers seek an employment opportunity, they bring with them the know-how and expertise to get the job done. The focus for the organization is not as much to impart knowledge and train the workforce, as it is to tap into the knowledge that already exists. Therefore, trust becomes the fuel of knowledge workers because it motivates them and inspires them. Finally, all people are tied together by relationships, and, without trust, our relationships will be less than successful (Grigg & Gomolski, 2001).
In periods of high risk and uncertainty, enterprises can only maintain the status quo - let alone move forward - with the cooperation, trust and confidence of their people. With the right systems, tools, relationships and leadership behaviors, it is possible to accomplish great things with ordinary people, even in the most difficult times and under the most pressing constraints (Young, 2003). In 2003, the remnants of deep economic problems - layoffs, cost containment and stalled innovation - have left most enterprises and their employees wondering if they can rely on each other for their future. It is important to note that by 2005, knowledge workers will spend nearly 70 percent of their time working collaboratively and not necessarily face to face (Grigg & Gomolski, 2001). Recognizing this fact, there are an increasingly large number of organizations emerging that depend on, and promote, relationships that work. Competitive, exploitive and unnecessarily antagonistic relationships are increasingly giving way to more cooperative, long term relationships (Clemons, 1992).
Recommendations:
In order to ensure optimal collaboration, organizations need traits such as community-building skills, communication skills, negotiation skills, coaching skills, dialogue process, effective meeting skills and group interaction skills.
Gartner’s recommendations for building organizations that revolve around relationships:
Focus on building trust with knowledge workers to accelerate organizational agility
Prioritize building trust where innovation is expected
Use output-related metrics where appropriate, not process-related ones
Make employees process owners, and make them accountable for results
Reward trustworthy and ethical behavior in a publicly visible way