Network Inside!

by Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon

No matter where you work (corporation, government agency, non-profit, or institution) networking at work has never been more important. Why?
To keep getting the big picture. Things change fast.

To keep up with what’s going on.

To bolster the bottom line. Understand that your job depends on the success of the organization. Promote your organization's products and services even if you’re not in sales!

To venture into the white spaces. Look at the organization chart. "The organization chart is not the business," caution authors Geary Rummler and Alan Brache in their book, Performance: How To Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart. "The greatest opportunities for improvement often lie in the white spaces between the boxes on the chart in the functional and interpersonal interface those points where the baton is being passed from one department to another or from one individual to another."

To uncork bureaucratic bottlenecks. If you create temporary project teams to tackle problems and launch initiatives, you’ll make a name for yourself. Increase collaboration with other departments. When the corporate communications department at a major telecommunications firm invited the human resources department to lunch, it was the beginning of a rich collaboration. As people got to know each other, they integrated their strategic planning so that a human resources request for the production of a training calendar was on the corporate communications department’s schedule. If you collaborate, you can negotiate to even out workload, so all the projects don’t hit at the same time.

To expand your knowledge base. Figure out what resources you need and put together a network made up of people representing many different interests and areas of expertise. If you introduce your contacts to each other, you can encourage information and skill sharing among all the members of the group. Your networks can be a kind of informal, highly customized personal, business yellow pages. Get out of that rut. If you network, you expose yourself to new ideas and ways of doing things. This “cross pollination” almost always benefits the organization.

To create your safety net. You need to network to

increase your visibility within the corporation, non-profit group, or government agency so that opportunities find you!

take responsibility for your own career self-management. If you network effectively, you’ll create career opportunities for yourself.

To explore options in case your job goes away.

In these days of rightsizing and re-structuring, it's smart to keep your ears open for opportunities within your organization and to make yourself visible. Determine what skills you have that could be used in other areas of the organization. Figure out how to showcase those skills. What can you do so that others become aware of your capabilities? Maria offered to manage the 10-K run for a local charity. Sue noticed how much the community sponsors liked working with her and how well organized she was. When a job opened up in Sue's department, she thought of Maria.

Assess Your Corporate Culture

Is your organization network-friendly? To determine how supportive your workplace is, ask yourself these questions:

Is there recognition at the top that networking is valuable?

Do corporate executives ever mention networking?

Is training offered? (You can suggest networking workshops.)

Is networking during office hours considered not working?

Are you encouraged to belong to professional associations and to attend both monthly meetings and conferences?

Are you encouraged to volunteer in the community, serve on boards, etc.?

Is it easy– and expected – for you to collaborate with people in other departments: to venture out into the white space on the organizational chart?

How much money does your organization spend on professional association dues and conferences? Collateral expenses, such as travel, lodging, etc.? Is anyone tracking whether the organization is getting its money’s worth?

Are networking activities/goals in your annual performance plan?

Are you rewarded when your networking contributes to the success of the organization?

Recognize that in some organizations, networking violates the cultural ground roles. If that's your assessment, talk with your boss and your colleagues about the reasons for encouraging inside networking.

And recognize that in some organizations the word “networking” makes people uncomfortable. Don’t be fooled. A lot of networking is probably going on, but under the alias of “relationship building,” or “teamwork” or “collaboration.”
Some forward-thinking organizations are deliberately working toward creating a more collaborative culture, setting up mentoring programs, sponsoring women's networks and minority networks, providing ways for people to interview others and discuss lateral moves and opportunities for upward mobility.

Even if you've decided that your organization's culture isn't very network-friendly, you'll still find networking ideas that will work for you. Focus, not on self-serving objectives, but on serving customers, streamlining internal processes, getting the job done, and impacting the bottom line.


Sidebar


How Strong Is Your Inside Network?
Use this quiz to rate the strength of your current inside network.


1. Do you know people at all levels of the organization? Do they know your name and what you do?

2. Do you know all the people whose work intersects yours in any way?

3. Do you know people who have jobs you might like to have someday?

4. Are you involved in any cross-functional efforts or interdepartmental activities (temporary assignments, committees, task forces, special projects, volunteer activities)?

5. Are you plugged into the grapevine? Do you find out quickly what's up?

6. Do you take every opportunity to meet face-to-face to define and discuss complex problems, shifting priorities, areas of responsibility?

7. Do you know and talk with others about trends that will impact your job in the future and tools to get the job done today?

8. Do you have effective internal channels through which to send information?

9. When you see a problem that involves people from various areas, do you take the initiative to bring people together to solve it?

10. Do you drop by to see people – even when you don't need anything?


Could you say "Yes" to most of those questions? If not, make building your inside network a priority.


Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon are principals of Contacts Count, a nationwide consulting and training firm that specializes in business and professional networking, and career development. They are co-authors of six books. The most recent is Make Your Contacts Count: Networking Know-How for Business and Career Success (2007, AMACOM). Fortune 500 companies license their training programs. Put the tools of networking to work in the service of business goals. Visit www.ContactsCount.com and www.FireProofYourCareer.com 301-589-8633.

Sue Schnorr, M.S., is President of Training Insights, Inc. where she designs Training that Sticks. She is certified in Instructional Module Development and Criteron Referenced Instruction. She is also an Associate for Contacts Count where she teaches strategic networking workshops, Webinars and keynotes. Visit her at www.training-insights.com and www.contactscount.com/sueschnorr.html. Go to her blog: www.AllLearningMatters.com

Create Your Own Networking Strategy

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback on what you'd like in a networkingprogram. Most folks have concerns about getting organized, finding balance and making sure they are investing their valuable time and money wisely in their networking endeavors.

Lunch and Learn Webinar

Networking Strategy: Create Your Play Book for Success

Thursday, November 19, 2009

12 noon - 1pm, Eastern

As a professional, you need a strategic plan with realistic objectives to develop your skills and make your contacts count consistently. You will learn key factors for developing your unique plan to get the results that make a difference in the bottom line; for you and the company you work for.
Leave the webinar with tools to:
- Assess Your Skills
- Identify and Prioritize Your Contacts
- Establish Your Goals and Set Objectives
- Create an Action Plan
- Assess Your Progress

For more details, to to http://www.training-insights.com/events.htm or contact Sue @ training-insights. com.