Networks are made up of direct relationships between two nodes. This direct, 1-degree of separation, “family and friends” link is the most intimate in work settings and usually represents a person-to-person relationship operating in complementary roles.
Each position is the hub of one or more roles connected to someone at the other end of the link with a role-defining direction in or out. This is the “personal bubble” of daily working roles played by the person in the position.
Where the team is the unit of analysis, the circle of 1-degree relationships is identified by members with links to people in roles outside the team, e.g., as vendors, customers, matrix bosses, etc.
When the organization is the unit of analysis, then any position inside the organization that has a relationship with someone with a position in another organization identifies one node in the organization’s one-degree of separation network.
Positions have a 1° network of incoming and outgoing links that represent membership and workflow roles
Positions in teams may connect to positions in other teams and thereby establishing a team’s 1° direct network of teams
Positions may connect to positions in other organizations and thereby establishing an organization’s 1° external network of customers, vendors, regulators, etc.