Let’s Have a Drink! Informal Networking and Socializing

Somewhere behind the formal organization chart at Indsco, lay another shadow structure in which dramas of power were played out.1 Work groups bond and develop their mutual ties in many ways, but one important way is through informal networking and socializing. Kanter’s epic tale of Indsco in her book Men and Women of the Corporation charts the terrain of the informal side of organizational life where alliances are built, reputations managed, and organizational resources traded. Another aspect of an organization’s culture that may appear gender neutral, informal socializing and networking, has been shown to be a barrier to women’s progress in organizations. In their research on women retail managers, Tomlinson, Brockbank, and Traves found that their interviewees highlighted the significant, subjective and political processes at work.2 They (women managers) stressed the need to engage in ‘political maneuvers and game playing.3 The authors said that, despite their equal numbers at entry points, women remained poorly represented at senior levels, suggesting that ‘subjective and informal processes were important determinants of women and men’s progress.’4