Know your networking purpose
Application: to encounter others committed to enhancing Employee Engagement.
Networking can be more than swapping business cards, planting job seeds, finding prospects. Networking serves a valuable professional development purpose. Strong communicating/sharing relationships with people in your industry, in related industries, and in complete diverse industries provide the richest resource for building and boosting your business’s employee engagement plans and projects.
Here are the first 3 of 10.5 networking tips to help you find and grow those relationships.
Know your networking purpose. Your purpose combines why you are networking and what you will do with the information, contacts, relationships you develop. It’s easy to think, “My purpose is obvious: I’m networking to meet people … .†You’re more likely to build a network faster and more easily if you specifically state and frequently review your purpose for networking.
Know your networking goal. Beyond your purpose, what do you intend to gain from networking. Specifically, what outcomes, results, projects, and successes does your networking contribute to? Are you looking for management training based on employee engagement principles? Do you hope to initiate a discussion group among like-minded “employee engagers�
Know your follow-through action(s). Networking only begins when you meet another individual. Given how much there is already on your plate, follow-up actions may easily become “back burner.†Outline a series of action items:
- Nice-to-meet-you e-mail,
- Invitation to coffee,
- Quick call to share/ask about engagement resources,
- Invitation to association meeting,
- Suggestion to build a monthly discussion group.
