Ready for a glimmer of good news amid the general gloom? How about this: Even if you’re one of those outgoing types who’s used to growing your professional network face-to-face, at the kinds of events and gatherings now called off for the duration, you can still maintain your connections—and cultivate new ones—at a safe distance.
“Networking remotely isn’t difficult at all,” notes Rosina Racioppi, CEO of Women Unlimited, whose leadership-development training and consulting is focused on advancing women at companies like American Express, Google, Cisco Systems, and Microsoft. Adds Racioppi, who wrote a forthcoming book about networking called Relationships Matter, “The only obstacle to building a great network virtually is that so many people working at home, especially for the first time, forget to do it.”
That’s understandable, considering the barrage of pressures and distractions we’re enduring now, but strengthening professional ties and seeking out new ones could pay dividends after the pandemic has receded into history. In the meantime, here are four ways you can keep networking.
You ended up with some time instead of a long daily trek to the office? One constructive use for it: Think creatively about new contacts you could add to your current network—but, says what can you do with a computer science degree at Women Unlimited, make sure they’re the right ones. The networking mistake most people make, by her lights, is gravitating toward “connecting to what’s comfortable for us, validating our own views, and confirming what we already know.”
By contrast, Racioppi’s research shows the most successful businesspeople get where they are by building a broad network of knowledgeable connections, both inside and outside their own fields and industries. “You need people who can be sounding boards for your ideas and plans, and who will challenge your thinking and question your assumptions,” she says. “Without a wide variety of points of view, it’s too easy to get stuck in ‘silo thinking,’ where everyone in your network sees things the same way you do. That drastically limits what you can learn—and how far you can go.”
“Networking remotely isn’t difficult at all,” notes Rosina Racioppi, CEO of Women Unlimited, whose leadership-development training and consulting is focused on advancing women at companies like American Express, Google, Cisco Systems, and Microsoft. Adds Racioppi, who wrote a forthcoming book about networking called Relationships Matter, “The only obstacle to building a great network virtually is that so many people working at home, especially for the first time, forget to do it.”
That’s understandable, considering the barrage of pressures and distractions we’re enduring now, but strengthening professional ties and seeking out new ones could pay dividends after the pandemic has receded into history. In the meantime, here are four ways you can keep networking.
You ended up with some time instead of a long daily trek to the office? One constructive use for it: Think creatively about new contacts you could add to your current network—but, says what can you do with a computer science degree at Women Unlimited, make sure they’re the right ones. The networking mistake most people make, by her lights, is gravitating toward “connecting to what’s comfortable for us, validating our own views, and confirming what we already know.”
By contrast, Racioppi’s research shows the most successful businesspeople get where they are by building a broad network of knowledgeable connections, both inside and outside their own fields and industries. “You need people who can be sounding boards for your ideas and plans, and who will challenge your thinking and question your assumptions,” she says. “Without a wide variety of points of view, it’s too easy to get stuck in ‘silo thinking,’ where everyone in your network sees things the same way you do. That drastically limits what you can learn—and how far you can go.”
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