9.1 What is a network?
Net: an open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at regular intervals
Like the string that is woven together to form a basket, a network weaves together different people and organisations.
IMAGE: Basket weaving, Garma Festival, Arnhem Land 2006
A network of individuals
- a connected group of people with similar interests or concerns. They get together to help and support each other, such as a small business network or a fund-raising network.
A network of organisations
- groups that depend on the combined actions, interests, resources, capabilities and knowledge of all members of the network.
Networks are usually flexible, adapting how they work to suit the issue at hand.
Because they create ties and relationships, that means they are accountable to other members of the network and have responsibilities. These may be informal or they may be formally written in agreements and rules.
Why networks and networking are important
Networks and networking can improve your governance in many ways:
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Networks can foster constructive solutions |
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Networks can be a source of information and support |
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Decisions reached by networks can be more legitimate and easier to implement |
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Networks can link the national and regional to the local level |
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Networks encourage the exchange of knowledge and build new skills |
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Networks can benefit from economies of scale |
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Networks can help you improve your reputation |
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See: Resource 9.1 What can we do?—Networking
Indigenous networks
Networks are part of both traditional and contemporary Indigenous systems of governance.
Today, many Indigenous paintings depict networks and tell us a lot about how leaders and groups are related, work together and make decisions.
The two illustrations below were drawn by participants at the Sharing Governance Success Workshops. They both show that governance is about relationships and connections between people, land and representative organisations—i.e. networks.
Governance tree
“Strong tree, strong people, strong culture. The sun, the leaves, the branches, the flowers, the seeds, the water and the bark are all parts of governance.
The trunk of the big tall tree is an elder passing on knowledge and wisdom. The bark covers the trunk and holds it together.
The branches are networks. The yellow leaves are the old people who need to be looked after.
The seedlings in the waterhole are the young people listening to and learning from the elders, who are watching and supporting them.
The sun is looking to see who’s going to be a strong leader in both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. This system provides strong governance—everything’s inter-connected, allowing the tree to provide good fruit”
Governance lake and river
“The organisation is the big blue lake, and the three coloured streams feeding into it are stakeholders such as families, the government and others.
The goal of the lake is to flow down the river to the ocean. It has to find its way through the hills which are barriers to its progress.
Small billabongs may break off on the side and travel in their own direction. These may or may not be successful, but it doesn't affect the flow of the organisation.
The river has lots of bends because as an organisation there's never a straight road. You can be perfect, but there are always leakages.”
Indigenous communities and groups are networks created by location, language group, shared culture, shared interest, friendship, business relationships, kinship and marriage, mutual responsibility and obligation.
Examples of Indigenous networks
- Indigenous leaders are linked together through their knowledge, roles and responsibilities. The more ‘visible’ Indigenous leaders of community organisations are usually those that are part of a wider network of Indigenous leaders and family relationships, often extending well beyond their own community. For example, Indigenous leaders from different communities get together at land council or land claim meetings.
- Locations create networks, as different organisations from a single area can work together for particular reasons. In Shepparton the Aboriginal community and its organisations have created a composite planning council to operate as a network and representative voice for the community as a whole.
- Specialisation or shared interest creates networks, as similarly oriented organisations formally or informally create networks. An example is the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA) hyperlink to http://www.ankaaa.org.au/ a range of Aboriginal art businesses that have joined together in a professional association. Likewise, Indigenous health organizations have formal networks, as do Native Title representative bodies and many other shared interest groups.
- Extended families and clan groups are connected through their kinship and marriage relationships but may live in different locations.
- Community organisations form alliances with regional organisations that represent many different groups.
Mapping your networks
It is useful to identify or map your important networks and relationships. Where are your networks weak and where are they strong? This will help you build them up more.
Mapping shows specific kinds of information by location. It might be a community, governance, service delivery, resources or land ownership. Maps link information to place.
A governance map does the same thing. These are the elements in an organisation’s governance map:
Networks in non-Indigenous society in Australia might be between:
- CEOs and senior managers
- professional associations that represent certain industries and business
- senior bureaucrats, heads of departments and politicians within governments
Some of these networks are involved with Indigenous communities. Many Indigenous leaders and organisations form relationships with non-Indigenous networks, especially funding and political ones.
See: Resource 9.2 Template—Monitoring our governance environment
See: Resource 9.3 Template—Our governance stakeholder influence
See: Resource 9.4 Template—Our culture scan
See: Resource 9.5 Tips—Mapping your governance assets
Read next: 9.2 Networking: problem signs and tips to manage them
Read previous: 9. Networks and relationships