7 Timeless Secrets for Successful Networking
Networking has become a lost art
There has been a significant shift in the way we communicate over the last few years as a growing number of people now actively avoid face-to-face or telephone communication in favour of email, texts and messaging. The problem – and it is a problem – is the corresponding lack of confidence many of us have with the prospect of a live conversation.
The result has been a serious impact on the quality of customer service – and on our ability to network.
Networking matters now more than ever
Networking is the single most powerful personal and professional development skill we can nurture – and it matters now more than ever. Opportunities, support, and collaboration come through people—and the ability to connect with others will impact your future in every aspect of your life.
Here are seven simple practices that make networking easier and more comfortable:
1. Help
Be on constant lookout for opportunities to help the people around you. Make their needs a priority, and don’t expect quid pro quo. Be there for people because it’s the right thing to do, not because you expect a payback. (Because generosity always circles back).
2. Listen
Okay, so you’ve heard this a million times. Well, here it is once again. But don’t just be willing to listen, be eager to listen. Be interested. Care.
3. Laugh
Be someone people can turn to to cheer them up when things are going sideways. The greatest enemies of misery are hope and laughter. People will always appreciate the effort.
4. Be a source of information
Become an insatiable reader and gatherer of knowledge in your subject area or your industry. Become the “go-to” person when people have a question.
5. Be a connector
Be a business matchmaker. Look for opportunities to help the people around you network more effectively. If you know someone who is an HR generalist, and meet someone who is looking to hire an HR generalist, pass the name along. Everybody wins.
6. Be involved
Get involved in charities, volunteer organizations and not-for-profit events. Position yourself as someone who is involved and engaged.
7. Put your phone away
We’ve become conditioned to bury ourselves in our phone when we are uncomfortable in public. If you’re at an event, however, that’s a horrible thing to do. There is zero upside, and it has a negative impact on how people perceive you.
Put it away, and don’t look at it until the event is over!
Despite how it may seem, networking is not just an innate character trait that some people have and some don’t. The ability to engage and connect with people involves a series of skills. And, like all skills, your success and comfort level increases in proportion to how much you work on them.
Take it from an introvert who used to be profoundly uncomfortable in groups and meeting new people. The payoff is gigantic.
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