Lattice ways to participate: Creating a culture of collaboration and transparency

Benko, C., & Anderson, M. (2010). Lattice ways to participate: Creating a culture of collaboration and transparency. The Corporate Lattice: Achieving High Performance in the Changing World of Work(pp. 1-25). Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press

Summary

This chapter from the book, The Corporate Lattice: Achieving Performance in the Changing World of Work, goes into depth on the subject of a corporate lattice structure. Further, this chapter discusses at length the ways in which the lattice structure enables ways for employees at all levels to participate and engage in corporate initiatives and decision making. There is a stark line drawn between the traditional ladder structure of an organization where communication is typically one-way, hierarchical level determines how individuals contribute, and information is on a need-to-know basis and that of a lattice organization where information flows in all directions, there are multiple options to participate and contribute to the corporate agenda, and where information is made available for those who need or want to know. In essence, the lattice organization blurs or removes boundaries found in traditional organizational structures. The increased collaboration the lattice structure encourages and supports leads to a more inclusive and engaged workforce. Through examples that demonstrate the use of social media tools, the chapter provides evidence that increased opportunities to collaborate and contribute in a more open and transparent manner lead to increased company performance and employee engagement and retention.

Experience

While I see evidence of a lattice organization at my company, I’m not sure we are completely there. The depth of this chapter makes me start to question how much of a lattice we really are. Information doesn’t flow quite as freely as most would like, and there is still a strong perception that everything flows from the top down in a very one-way direction. As much as our leadership wants to encourage great flow of information ate all levels of the hierarchy, I think we still have a ways to go. This presents a great opportunity to take a critical look at our communication channels and to re-evaluate how we can make better use of them to create a more collaborative and inclusive corporate environment.

KEYWORDS: lattice, participate, inclusion, engagement, communication, transparency, social media, experimentation, boundaries, boundaryless, connectors, connections