Networking Skills

Author: Mshahara Kenya   |   Posted on: October 04, 2011

Networking can happen anywhere. At gala dinners, in the workplace, at social and professional events and generally wherever people of a common interest have gathered together. Networking is, at its core, relationship-building. You are making a mutually beneficial connection with someone, for business reasons.

Networking in the workplace has various advantages aside from creating a sort of comradeship with your colleagues. Although there are formal channels of communication, the office grape vine is an efficient way to get information. Getting “in” with people would get you information that would otherwise elude you. Information can be on anything between what new ideas one department has to new positions that are going to be available in the future and this may in turn lead to you taking advantage of opportunities to advance your career. By creating a network in the organization you are assured of support in your ideals. People who have interacted with you with the aim of progressing in the organization understand each others’ objective and support each other to further those goals. You could almost say alliances can be formed through networking.

But what about meeting “new” people? People you meet at trade gatherings and other commercial networking events also have a purpose in your life, either professionally or personally. There you may meet a potential business partner or even a future employee. Talking and listening are the major skills required to have a successful networking session, in the 30-70 ratio respectively. When meeting people for the first time, you need to create rapport and the best way is to listen to what they have to say. Human beings have an inherent need to talk about themselves, so let them speak, but gear the discussion towards what you want to know about them by asking interesting questions.

But before you go to any networking event, you should prepare yourself so that you feel accomplished after. Have a game plan. If you know who will be attending, make a note of who you really want to connect with. If not, decide how many people you want to meet and how much time you want to give each encounter. Also, make sure you carry your business cards. Prepare your elevator speech. This is a little presentation on yourself and what you would say if you were asked to introduce yourself and what you want people to know about you. Put your personality into it, it can be funny with anecdotes and should be interesting. You can write it all down and refer to your notes before you start meeting people.

At the event itself, don’t be a wallflower by talking to one or two people all night. If you are shy, couple up with a friend and work the crowd together. This will boost your confidence and you can then break away and take it on yourself. Start simple, introduce yourself to anyone standing alone and engage them in a conversation about themselves, their jobs, who they know at the party then a little small talk about the party or talk shop. Remember to exchange business cards so you can keep a record of who you’ve met and you can use the back of the card to write what you want to remember about them and what step you want to take next to build that relationship.

After the event, send your new contact an email telling him it was pleasure to meet them at the event and invite them to a coffee meeting where you can learn more about each other.
Networking is simple, it is selling YOU to people, and it is making connections that will further your objectives in life. Put yourself out there, the rewards will be immense.