Organizational graph with implicitly and explicitly defined edges

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022284362-A1
Application number	US-202117190230-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 2, 2021
Priority date	Mar 2, 2021
Publication date	Sep 8, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

In non-limiting examples of the present disclosure, systems, methods and devices for maintaining and interacting with organizational graphs are presented. An organizational graph comprised of nodes including relationship edges may be maintained. The edges may be traversable from one node to another via the relationship data they are defined by. New relationships may be automatically identified amongst organizational entities, and an organizational graph may be automatically updated to reflect those new relationships. An organizational graph may also be updated to reflect organizational relationships that are determined to have been modified and organizational relationships that are determined to no longer exist. User queries may be processed against an organizational graph to identify relevant nodes and their corresponding organizational relationship data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
maintaining an organizational graph comprising:
a first user node comprising an identity of a first user account of a first member of an organization, and a first plurality of edges, wherein each of the first plurality of edges provides a traversable relationship between the first user node and at least one other node of the organizational graph; and
a second user node comprising an identity of a second user account of a second member of the organization, and a second plurality of edges, wherein each of the second plurality of edges provides a traversable relationship between the second user node and at least one other node of the organizational graph;
analyzing a plurality of electronic communications between the first user account and the second user account; determining, based on the analysis, that a threshold relationship value has been met for a specific organizational relationship type of a plurality of organizational relationship types; and generating, in the first user node based at least on the determination, a new edge of the organizational graph, wherein the new edge is associated with the specific organizational relationship type and is traversable to the second user node.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
each of the first plurality of edges and each of the second plurality of edges is associated with at least one of the plurality of organizational relationship types.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication to traverse the new edge; and causing, based on the received indication, data from the first user node and data from the second user node to be displayed.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein receiving the indication to traverse the new edge comprises:
receiving a natural language query; processing the natural language query with a natural language processing engine; and determining that the natural language query exceeds a threshold match score for the new edge.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising:
causing the first user node to be displayed in an organizational graph application user interface, and wherein receiving the indication to traverse the new edge comprises receiving a selection of a display element corresponding to the new edge.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the specific organizational relationship type is non-hierarchical; and the specific organizational relationship type relates to a specific team of the organization.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein:
prior to the determination being made that the threshold relationship value has been met, the organizational graph further included a group node for the specific team of the organization; and the group node is updated, upon the determination being made that the threshold relationship value has been met, to include information from the first user node and the second user node.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining that the organizational graph does not include a first group node for the specific team of the organization; and adding, upon determining that the relationship value has been met, a group node including information from the first user node and the second user node to the organizational graph.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the plurality of electronic communications between the first user account and the second user account comprises analyzing at least one of: a duration of time of electronic meetings attended jointly by the first user account and the second user account; a number of electronic communications jointly including the first user account and the second user account; and a frequency of electronic communications jointly including the first user account and the second user account.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the plurality of electronic communications comprises applying a content classification machine learning model to content of at least one of the plurality of communications.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the content classification machine learning model has been trained to classify textual content as being related to one or more teams of the organization.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the content classification machine learning model has been trained to classify textual content as being related to one or more projects of the organization.

13 . A system for generating a new edge in an organizational graph, comprising:
a memory for storing executable program code; and a processor, functionally coupled to the memory, the processor being responsive to computer-executable instructions contained in the program code and operative to:
maintain the organizational graph, the organizational graph comprising:
a first user node comprising an identity of a first user account of a first member of an organization, and a first plurality of edges, wherein each of the first plurality of edges provides a traversable relationship between the first user node and at least one other node of the organizational graph; and
a second user node comprising an identity of a second user account of a second member of the organization, and a second plurality of edges, wherein each of the second plurality of edges provides a traversable relationship between the second user node and at least one other node of the organizational graph;

analyze a plurality of electronic communications between the first user account and the second user account;
determine, based on the analysis, that a threshold relationship value has been met for a specific organizational relationship type of a plurality of organizational relationship types; and
generate, in the first user node based at least on the determination, a new edge of the organizational graph, wherein the new edge is associated with the specific organizational relationship type and is traversable to the second user node.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further responsive to the computer-executable instructions contained in the program code and operative to:
cause a notification to be surfaced to the first and second user accounts to confirm the specific organizational relationship type exists between the first member of the organization and the second member of the organization; receive confirmation from the first and second user accounts; and generate the new edge of the specific organizational relationship upon receiving the confirmation.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further responsive to the computer-executable instructions contained in the program code and operative to:
generate, in the second user node based at least on the determination, a new edge of the specific organizational relationship type that is traversable to the first user node.

16 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further responsive to the computer-executable instructions contained in the program code and operative to:
receive an indication to traverse the new edge; and cause, based on the received indication, data from the first user node and data from the second user node to be displayed.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein in receiving the indication to traverse the new edge, the processor is further responsive to the computer-executable i

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Bellinger Kevin David
• Bergstrand Kjetil Krogvig
• Lervik Bernt

Classifications

• G06Q10/06311 Primary

  Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group · CPC title

• G06Q10/063 Primary

  Operations research, analysis or management · CPC title