Monika Pitonak
When thinking about networking, most people tend to focus on going to events and meeting new people. While new introductions are definitely important, as they grow your professional social circle and offer new opportunities, maintaining a connection past the first introduction is just as, if not more, important. After all, people are unlikely to offer support or job offers to people that they just met and that they barely know. Deepening connections and maintaining them over longer periods of time will ensure that you truly reap the benefits that networking offers, such as providing support and advice for particularly difficult projects, offering improved job opportunities, offering open positions or references during a job or career change, improving your knowledge of your particular field, and even developing lasting friendships.
Prioritize who you want to stay in touch with
It is impossible to stay in touch with and develop a genuine connection with every single person that you meet or that you are introduced to. While a wide professional network is beneficial, it is important to not overextend yourself in terms of how many people you can realistically maintain connections with, as this will jeopardize the quality of those connections. (Knight) Prioritizing the quality of your connections within your network will ensure that those connections are meaningful and that they will be valuable for you as well as for other people. You might choose to prioritize certain connections for a variety of reasons: they might offer options for career advancement, they might be colleagues who are at a similar place in their career and could provide support or advice, or they might simply be colleagues that you enjoy spending time with. These are all good reasons for wanting to maintain a connection with somebody, and it is best to prioritize these connections that you consider to be of value, whether professional or personal.
Participate in professional organizations, events, and development opportunities
Being part of a professional organization as a member, or even serving on committees or boards, or holding an elected position will allow you to have regular contact with colleagues that are part of the same field or industry but that also have positions in different companies. (White 703) Organization meetings, events, or professional development seminars are environments that are typically considered spaces where you can develop new connections, but they are also spaces where you can connect with colleagues you see and work with regularly or reconnect with colleagues that you have not seen or talked to in a while. It can be beneficial to arrange to meet or call with your peers either before or after meetings or events in order to catch up or discuss items that are on the agenda or itinerary.
Use social media
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram are great ways to maintain connections in a casual manner. Regularly interacting with other people by liking, sharing, or commenting on their posts and regularly posting about updates in your personal and professional life will ensure that you are maintaining regular contact, that people within your network will have a positive connection with you, and that they will be more likely to think of you when a new opportunity comes up. However, social media contact is not a replacement for individual meetings or phone calls, as it does not allow for in-depth conversation and discussion and does not allow you to develop a more personal connection. (Knight) For this reason, it is important to remember that social media is just one way of staying in touch that should be used in tandem with other strategies such as emails, phone calls, or lunch meetings.
Pass along items of interest
Items of interest such as articles, news updates, or event invitations can be passed along to people within your network via email, text, or through social media, where you can either share interesting posts on your own feed or tag a specific person that would find that post interesting. You can pass along content that relates to your field of work or content that relates to a colleague’s personal interests. This is a great way to maintain a positive and more personalized connection, as it demonstrates that you are invested in your colleague’s professional development, or that you are attentive and interested in who they are as an individual. That being said, make sure that the content you are passing along or sending would truly be of interest, as sending lots of irrelevant content could get in the way of developing a positive connection, as it could be seen as annoying or a waste of time.
Offer congratulations
Congratulating professional or personal successes such as promotions, company milestones, buying a new house, or having a new baby will show the people who are a part of your network that you care about and support them. Offering congratulations can be done in person or through social media, a phone call, or an email, depending on how close you are with a particular person and how you heard about their achievement. For example, if a promotion or milestone is announced at an in-person meeting, it would be best to offer congratulations in person after the meeting has ended. If you see that a close friend has posted about an achievement on Facebook, it would be best to send a text or give them a phone call in order to congratulate them more personally. However, if a colleague who you have only talked to a handful of times posts about buying a new house, it would be best to simply like their post and leave a congratulatory comment.
Remember special occasions
Sending cards or messages on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, or other holidays that are important to you or to people within your network is an easy way to maintain positive connections. You can make them as personal or as general as you would like, depending on the specific closeness that you have with certain people. For example, you might send a work acquaintance a fairly general birthday message on social media, but you might send a card with a personal note and a gift to a closer friend. The holiday season at the end of the year is a particularly good time to reconnect with colleagues you have not been in contact with for a while as well as provide updates about yourself and your own achievements. For example, you could create a letter or a card summarizing some of your year’s personal or professional highlights and share it through email, physical mail, or social media. (sheCareer) Additionally, social gatherings, parties, and events happening in and around the holidays are a perfect time to reconnect face-to-face with contacts in your network. Having said that, make sure that you are being Covid-safe when attending in-person events!
Offer help and support
While networks are often seen as a tool to receive help or support, it is also important to reciprocate and offer help or support to others whenever you can. (Knight) This can be as simple and general as making it clear that colleagues can come to you for help or advice whenever they need, or it can be as specific and personal as offering a solution to a particular issue you heard that somebody was having. For example, if you hear that someone within your network is looking for a new position, you could offer to refer them to a manager in your company. Being open to helping others and accommodating their needs is necessary, as it nurtures an environment of mutual support, where you will be welcomed to ask for help if you would need to in the future. As well, it provides a way for you to demonstrate your gratitude for the support that others have given you in the past and ensures mutual growth and success.
Be specific and personal
The most important element to maintaining genuine and positive connections is to make your interactions with others specific and personal. When you are planning to meet somebody in person, consider their preferences to pick a space that would make both of you comfortable. For example, if you would like to meet for coffee but you know that the other person is not a coffee drinker, you might pick a café that has a good selection of teas and other drinks. Additionally, when wanting to meet with someone, it is helpful to include more detailed information about what you would like to discuss instead of just saying you “would like to catch up.” If they have recently gotten a new job, you might mention that you would like to hear about how they are enjoying it, or if they recently went on a trip, you might say that you would love to hear about their experience. Furthermore, it is also important to consider individual lifestyles and experiences. For example, if you are sending out holiday cards, you might consider religious differences and send a more general winter holidays card, or send out specific Christmas, Hanukkah, and Diwali cards depending on what each individual person celebrates. Whether you are planning to meet in person, passing along some interesting content, or sending a seasonal greeting, considering individual preferences, lifestyle, and experiences will ensure that your attentiveness and consideration will be appreciated. In this way, you will be able to maintain deeper personal connections and successfully stay in touch with your network.
Sources
“5 Meaningful Ways to Stay in Touch With Your Network in 2021.” sheCareer, 5 May 2021, www.shecareerblog.com/5-meaningful-ways-to-stay-in-touch-with-your-network-in-2021/.
Knight, Rebecca. “How to Maintain Your Professional Network Over the Years.” Harvard Business Review, 20 Sep. 2016, hbr.org/2016/09/how-to-maintain-your-professional-network-over-the-years.
Lastoe, Stacy. “5 Smart Ways to Stay in Touch With Your Network (That Take Less Than 3 Minutes).” The Muse, www.themuse.com/advice/5-smart-ways-to-stay-in-touch-with-your-network-that-take- less-than-3-minutes.
Perry, Chris. “5 Ways to Stay in Touch with Your Extended Network.” Social Media Today, 29 July 2010, www.socialmediatoday.com/content/5-ways-stay-touch-your-extended-network.
White, Sara J. “Building and maintaining a professional network.” American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, vol. 64, no. 7, 2007, pp. 700-3.