The Two-way Relationships report exists at the Personal and Teams levels of analysis. Reciprocity has long been considered a ‘gold standard’ for assessing the strength of personal relationships. The Two-way Relationships report provides the percentage of relationships that are reciprocated. If you think about a group of people who are all connected to each other through reciprocated activity, then the report would show 100%. It would also be reasonable to assume the group is highly cohesive in its operations. This is what we would expect from a high performing team.

Individual/Personal Context

As an individual, you will most likely have engaged in two-way interactions. The more this activity is repeated the higher the levels of trust can be built. You will get a quick ‘visual’ from your personal network map. Look for the proportion of ‘solid’ links you have, as this denotes a two-way relationship. The thicker the link, the stronger it is.

While it is not necessarily a goal to have a 100% score, have a look at your personal network map. Are there some one-way connections that should be two-way connections for you? Look at the Two-way Relationships scores from the teams you belong to. If the team is a small team with finite deliverables, is there a problem with a lack of cohesion? Is the team relying on a single leader to promote activity i.e. be the sole catalyst? Are you playing your part as an effective team member?

Team Context

In the majority of situations, teams should be aiming for 100% two-way relationships within the team. If some members are less engaged with other members, the team is not performing to its potential. Look for those team members that are less engaged and purposefully look to engage them in team conversations. Start tagging them into conversations with an @mention.

There may be some situations where 100% is not reasonable e.g. teams larger than 10 members (breaking the double-digit rule) or for some public teams who are targeting knowledge sharing more so than actions. One might argue these larger public teams are better placed as communities in Viva Engage.

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