Every organisation has a formal structure. But the way people actually work together often tells a very different story. For a FTSE 250 telecommunications company employing 2,000 people, years of mergers, acquisitions and expansion into new markets had created an increasingly complex organisation.
Different parts of the business were operating in silos. Collaboration across teams was difficult, valuable talent was going unnoticed, and the organisation lacked a clear understanding of how effectively its people and resources were connected. The challenge wasn't simply to improve communication. It was to understand how the organisation really worked, and what needed to change to improve performance.
Mergers and acquisitions can create significant opportunities for growth. But bringing businesses together on paper does not automatically mean they become integrated in practice.
For this telecommunications company, different divisions, teams and individuals had developed their own ways of working. Relationships between departments were inconsistent, resources were not always being used effectively, and the leadership team had limited visibility of the informal networks connecting the organisation.
These challenges raised several important questions.
Were different business units collaborating effectively? Was the Executive Team drawing on the knowledge and expertise available across the business? Were the right people being involved in organisational change? And was valuable talent being overlooked?
To answer these questions, the organisation needed to look beyond its formal reporting structures and understand the relationships actually driving its performance.
Complete used Network Analysis to examine how information, ideas, influence and relationships flowed through the organisation.
Rather than relying solely on organisational charts, reporting lines or individual perceptions, the analysis provided a more detailed picture of how people were connected and how those connections influenced performance.
The work explored three interconnected levels of the organisation:
Divisions: Understanding how different business units collaborated, where communication was breaking down, and how Go To Market teams relied on shared resources.
Teams: Examining how effectively the Executive Team worked together, how well it connected with the wider business, and how change management teams could increase their influence.
People: Identifying hidden talent, understanding where employees were over- or underutilised, and exploring how relationship networks contributed to individual performance.
The findings revealed a series of previously hidden challenges, but also opportunities to improve collaboration, strengthen leadership and make better use of existing talent.
The problems weren't always where the organisation expected.
The analysis identified several significant opportunities to improve how the business operated.
Communication gaps between business units
10% of key business units had no communication with one another, while a further 8% relied on a single individual to maintain connections. These gaps represented significant organisational risks and prompted action to strengthen relationships between departments.
Hidden talent outside the succession pipeline
The Network Analysis identified an additional group of influential employees who had been overlooked by the organisation's existing talent identification process. These individuals were subsequently added to the talent pipeline and invited to participate in leadership development.
An opportunity to double the reach of organisational change
A 34-person change management team was reaching just 9% of the organisation. By identifying five additional people with strategically valuable connections, the organisation was able to double its potential reach to 18%.
Uneven demands on key employees
The analysis revealed that the top 20% of talent were receiving almost 80% of requests, contributing to burnout and absenteeism. This prompted changes to team structures and targeted wellbeing interventions.
These findings demonstrated that organisational performance was being influenced by relationships and dependencies that were largely invisible through traditional management information.
Better connections. Better decisions. Better performance.
With a clearer understanding of its organisational networks, the business was able to make targeted changes to how people, teams and resources worked together.
The Executive Team introduced changes to improve its connection with geographically dispersed colleagues, including rotating leadership events across different locations and creating more direct channels for upward feedback.
The organisation also strengthened its approach to talent development, improved the reach of change management activity and identified opportunities to reduce unnecessary pressure on key employees.
Network and utilisation data also revealed previously hidden differences in the demands placed on central resources by Go To Market teams. These insights informed a change in how the business approached its GTM resource strategy.
Across the organisation, Network Analysis provided a more informed basis for decisions about collaboration, leadership, talent and operational efficiency.
The result was a clearer understanding of where the organisation's existing relationships were supporting performance, where they were restricting it, and how those relationships could be developed to unlock greater value.