Networking Skills for Managers – 4 Key Ways to Improve Your Networking
Networking skills for managers and professionals are important both for internally networking within your business and external networking. All of us prefer to give work to people we know and trust. We prefer to buy from people we like. We prefer to employ people we are confident we can get on with.
Building personal and professional relationships with a wider range of people within your own organisation and external to it, will help you have a better and more successful career. You will also have a stronger support network, get more interesting work and have more fun. There are a lot of positives.
Once you know what to do and put in a bit of effort, networking is enjoyable and relatively easy for most people, whatever stage you are in your career.
4 ways to build your networking skills for managers:
- Aim to Build Genuine Long-Term Friendships
- Focus on Giving before Asking
- Plan to Follow-up and Nurture Relationships
- Tips to approach complete strangers when networking
I will be sharing practical tips to make networking easier and more fun for you.
In the last section I talk through the best tips given to me so you can confidently approach complete strangers when networking at any event.
Watch on YouTube
Listen on Podcast
Aim to Build Genuine Long-Term Friendships – Networking Skills for Managers Action 1
Networking is about building relationships that are mutually beneficial over the long term. Don’t expect to start networking and then the following week have lots of new work or job opportunities. Relationships, just like networking, don’t work that way.
To really benefit from professional networking as a manager or professional, you must view networking as a longer-term activity. Think about when you build friends socially, you start as strangers, then become casual acquaintances before you become friends. A few of those friends may become close friends.
In networking both parties go through similar stages of getting to know each other, liking each other and then trusting each other. Only then will you get business opportunities, job openings etc.
Approach networking with the aim of finding interesting people that you like and are happy to get to know while finding out what they do. Think how you are going create multiple contact points over time and use these to build professional and personal friendships that will be mutually beneficial.
When networking externally to your company, be selective in the early stages of networking. Successful networking takes work and persistence so don’t build relationships with those that you are unlikely to be able to help and who are less likely to be able to help you. Focus on people that meet your professional criteria and who you have a connection with and enjoy spending time with.
When building networking skills for employees, I always thought it useful to get to know as many people as practical within a business at least as professional acquaintances. You never know when you might need to ask for a favour or help, and people are quicker to help those they like.
Start within your organisation
What I view as important networking tips for managers – start networking within your organisation and be targeted in your internal networking. Any professional networking with those above you in the organisation will be a very good investment of your time. Building relationships with those that decide on who gets what work and who gets promoted will absolutely help your career progress. I started networking in a targeted way after learning the hard way that not doing so will hold you back.
Aim to build long term friendships that are mutually beneficial for both parties within your company first and then external to your company.
Focus on Giving Before Asking – Networking Skills for Managers Action 2
Most people start networking focused on themselves – thinking about what they want and need. While it is important to know your goals and what you are offering, focusing on yourself is the wrong mindset to have.
To be successful with professional networking for managers and building relationships with others – focus on how you can help the other person. What knowledge, skills and contacts do you have that might be useful and beneficial for the other person.
Only when you have found ways to help the other person and ideally does so more than once, should you start asking for what you want. This approach utilises the social law of reciprocity. When you have helped others, they feel obliged to help you in return.
Focus on giving before asking and you will be a lot more successful in getting what you want.
Find out what they want and need by asking them. Or ask others already working with them. Or research their business and market.
- Ask them what are they working on?
- Talk through the challenges are they facing?
- Find out what resources are they missing?
- Ask them what is keeping them up at night?
- Find out what you have that will help them?
When networking, helping others first will build up goodwill and favours that you can call upon in the future when you need help. Aiming to help first is great to improve your networking skills and a great way to build good relationships quickly.
Be as helpful as you practically can within the time you have available.
Plan to Follow-up and Nurture Relationships – Networking Skills for Managers Action 3
Focus the initial meeting on finding common ground and connecting and then asking questions and listening to understand what the other person is looking for.
If you achieve this in 5-10 minutes of chatting to a person at an event or after an internal meeting at work, you will have done well.
Now comes the harder part that many people don’t do or don’t do very well – the following up and nurturing of the relationship. This does take effort but not as much as you might think, and following up should be enjoyable, so it won’t feel like work.
Diarise time each week or month to devote to following up on your initial connections and nurturing more established relationships.
Networking Externally
When networking externally, after initially meeting an interesting connection, organise a 20-30 minute video call or phone call. Your goal of this call is to find out as much as possible about the other person and what they want rather, than pitching what you offer. Be clear about your criteria for what makes a good connection for you. Just remember, great opportunities can come from unlikely sources so focus on connections that you get on well with as much as what they might potentially be able to do for you.
You will also need to cover what you offer and who you offer it to as clearly, concisely and memorably as possible.
Networking Internally
When networking within your organisation, focus on getting to know what the other person does, where they fit in within the organisation and what their current challenges are. This should give you enough so you can follow up with some research, analysis, insights, connections, help etc – anything that will help the person in overcoming their current challenges. Then you have a great opportunity to follow up with the other person.
Being helpful in a proactive way will be a great starting point to establishing a professional relationship with that person. During your follow-ups get them talking about their hobbies, interests and personal life too, so you are building a relationship at a professional and personal level with them.
With any networking, work out how you are going to regularly contact the person and give yourself further opportunities to be helpful. Then you can start working into the conversations what you want.
How frequently you contact the person depends on the time you make available for networking. Aim to speak to your contacts at least quarterly and send them something useful to them each month such as articles, posts, journals, analysis etc.
Keep up regular contact with all of your contacts so they don’t forget about you and this allows you to remind them what you are looking for too. Keep your requests consistent and ideally memorable.
Many people find approaching complete strangers at networking events the most intimidating part of the networking process. To help you overcome this difficult barrier, lets go through some
Tips to approach complete strangers when networking – Networking Skills for Managers Action 4
The first of my tips for networking in your company, is do your homework before approaching your target person. Find out enough information to give you talking points with the person you want to build a relationship with. Ask around, look at their social profiles, and find out what projects they are working on or in charge of.
Build up a few questions that will encourage them to talk about areas that they are interested in. Then create opportunities to ask your questions naturally and start the conversation. It might be at the end of a meeting you are both attending, or you could pop round to their desk and introduce yourself, or you could speak to them at an office social. When you have done your homework and have a few areas to talk about, the initial approach becomes a minor step rather than a big deal.
When you are networking externally, and you are in a room full of people, and you are wondering who you should approach – look for small groups of twos and threes. You are looking for small groups that are partially facing outwards rather than forming a closed circle. If you are not sure, the direction their feet are facing is an easy sign to check. With two people, look for feet that are facing partially outwards creating v shapes rather than feet facing toe to toe towards each other. People who feet are creating v shapes are effectively leaving space for others to join the group.
What To Say
Go up to people showing body language open to others joining and say – while smiling and in a confident voice – “please can I join you?” or “Would you mind if I joined you?”. Introduce yourself, listen for their name and then ask them a question relevant for the event you are at. For example – “I was really impressed with x speaker. Who did you most like?”
Once you get used to spotting people that are open to others joining, external networking becomes a lot easier and much less intimidating.
Enjoy your networking.
in summary
Networking becomes a more and more important skill as you rise through the ranks at work. Developing networking skills for managers is a very good investment of your time and I would say is an expected skill once you get into middle manage ranks and above.
Start networking within your own organisation before networking outside of your organisation. Get to know as many people as sensible and certainly those above you.
Internal networking within your organisation, in my view, is easier than external networking – you have many more reasons to contact individuals and it is easier to stay in contact.
As a reminder, we have been through these 4 ways to build your networking skills for managers:
- Aim to Build Genuine Long-Term Friendships
- Focus on Giving before Asking
- How to Follow-up and Nurture Relationships
- How to approach strangers when networking
Networking is a really enjoyable way to build useful contacts and a support network. Building networking skills for managers, in my view, is a must do when you enter middle management ranks and beyond.
Starting networking earlier within your company will definitely help you, your team and your career progress. Start with your boss and then expand your networking to your boss’ peer group and then expand from there. Enjoy your networking!
