From the course: Management Tips

Networking within your organization

From the course: Management Tips

Networking within your organization

I wish I could tell you that the smartest, hardest working people always win, but it doesn't always work out that way. You know who usually wins? The person with the biggest and highest quality network. They get the great assignments and they learn of opportunities before others do. Networking is a big topic and includes many activities you should pursue outside of your organization. Interestingly, these outside activities like attending business conferences or volunteering on-boards are often the main focus of networking discussions. That's too bad since the number one place for you to grow your professional network is inside your current organization. Here are five sure fire ways to step up your networking game inside the company. First one's a classic. Volunteer for service committees. There are always a handful of committees or projects dedicated to revamping up policy, fixing something in the company or in the community, organizing people for a charity event or planning an upcoming company event. Sign up. You get to help others while also helping yourself. Next, consider creating a brown bag group. A brown bag group is a collection of professionals who voluntarily meet, usually over lunch, once a week or sometimes once a month, to discuss an agreed upon topic. Exactly how work related the topic is, that's up to you. Sometimes it's merely a chance to build cross functional bridges, by having people from different areas of the company explain their piece of the puzzle. One of my favorite networking tactics involves lunch. Your goal, always find new lunch partners. We all have to spend downtime eating which makes lunch a great time for networking. If you're a little shy, try scheduling lunch with two or three new people and also invite someone you already know to join the group. Next, think about starting a book club. There are thousands of fun and interesting business related books published every year. Check out the bestseller list, choose a good book, involve a few managers to generate support and interest, recruit a few more people, and then start reading. Once a month or once every other month, the group meets to discuss what they liked or disliked about the book and how the book's ideas apply to life inside your organization. Finally, be a connector. Don't think of networking in terms of how many folks you can meet. Instead, adopt a service mentality about networking. When you meet new folks, think about who you know that they might enjoy knowing or benefit from knowing. Ask them, hey, do you know Louis Johnson? If they don't, make the connection. The more people you connect, the bigger your network becomes. Networking is a core skill for any savvy business person. Conferences in coffee shops outside of the company are great but start where you dwell everyday. Use this five guidelines to give your network the attention it deserves.

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