What is networking?

Illustration for Knei article about networking: people talking in the room
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Building network of relationships

Hello! In this material, we would like to talk about networking, one of the important skills for a career and life. Why might one need to keep a network of contacts? How to manage the network of various people? And what actually could you consider starting to build your network?

What is networking?

By definition

Networking is a process of establishing contacts and exchanging information with other people for casual or professional purposes [1]. Networking generally implies building relationships with the anticipation of future benefit.

In practice

Professional networking means building shortcuts. The shortcuts to information, tools, or skills of other people. During the networking activities, the person discloses their own information and discovers some facts about the others. In the process, one identifies and sets up shortcuts associated with another person's activities. As a result, maintaining a network of relationships with various people helps you to swiftly access the knowledge and skills that otherwise could take hours, days, or even years to obtain. Or turn out to be very expensive.

The impact of professional networking

There are a lot of reported opinions that building and keeping the network impacts professional activity.

Employment industry representatives believe that professional networking has a significant impact on an individual's career [2, 3]. There are fancy values between 30% and 80% describing the number of jobs that are occupied thanks to personal connection rather than the cold application.
We haven’t obtained experimentally proven data on the impact of networking on one’s career (author note). So, let’s agree that professionals generally consider that building the business network is helpful, but keep in mind that this topic must be studied further.

Business networking means not only peer relationships but also communication with customers. The impact of such relations is clearer to observe.

For example, in a study of 50 manufacturing firms (Florida, USA), authors found out that the customers are the primary information source for competitive issues, such as product development and meeting customer mandates (including improving quality, delivery, and price). [4]

Two strategies of networking.

To discuss how to build a professional network, we would love to share a model from a paper “Dynamic Relationship Building: Exploitation Versus Exploration on a Social Network” [1]. It suggests two strategies of networking.

Exploitation strategy focuses on building relations with people who are already in your network or somehow in proximity. For instance, family, friends, classmates, colleagues, etc.

Exploitation can be helpful when reliability, trust, and quick connectivity are crucial.

Exploration strategy seeks to build relationships with distant or less connected people, thereby exploring new areas of the network. This might mean going to events dedicated to other domains and meeting people there. Having occasional chats works well too.

Exploration is valid when broader knowledge or unexpected opportunities are preferrable, especially in open, dynamic environments.

These strategies can be perceived as mutually exclusive, since one either builds a relationship with people they know, or reaches out further. Although, as with any “antipode” strategies, the true mastery lies in their combination and picking the suitable one at the particular period.

Whom to add to your network?

Deciding to be more mindful about building relationships, one may ask: Whom to invite and keep in the personal network? There can be some general approaches to follow. Let’s speculate about different options for picking your connections.

  • a) Well, the simplest tactic is to choose “(good) people I like." If you are a reasonable, stable person, this shouldn’t get you into trouble. Surround yourself with ones you like to talk to, see, or hang out with, and that can be enough to live a good life.
  • b) The second one is a “profession-oriented” approach. Evaluate your skills and resources, then match them with challenges you encounter in regular and professional life. For example, is there a good lawyer, technician, or analyst you trust and can consult right away? If some crucial expertise is missing in your network, it’s a sure call to fill the gap by knowing people out there.
  • c) Your circle can be built complementary at the activity level. Do you have someone to do sports with, go shopping, or go on a trip? Finding the companion for a hobby might not be difficult, especially if there are groups already. What’s important is to be mindful about your lifestyle and send “signals” outside to attract the fitting people.

Networking is about building relationships

To gain access to another person’s shortcuts when needed, one has to build a relationship. That involves saying or doing something helpful at the moment when the person needs it. Or assuring that you will be around when the person needs you. Then, meeting their expectations accordingly.
The more people expect something from you, the trickier it becomes. This is when the networking becomes the skill of management.

Generally, networking activity is an ever-happening “exercise” you do about other people. It can be represented as a set of questions:

  • What do you have? ←→ What the person needs?
  • What do you need? ←→ What the person offers?
  • Will you be able to meet their expectations? ←→ How likely are they to meet yours?
  • Should this relationship be changed or maintained as it is?

These seem like a lot of aspects to keep in mind, but these are quite natural. So, the most important thing is to remember that a relationship brings something to you and another person, and it can be shaped by your own effort.

Conclusion

Networking can be treated as the exchange of information and ideas with others. The only difference with a casual relationship is that you are more thoughtful about what you look for in people. In other aspects, even professional networking can (and should!) be genuine and intentional. Build your network and stay in touch!

Sources

  1. Oxford Learners Dictionaries - Networking
  2. LinkedIn - Eighty percent of professionals consider networking important
  3. CNBC - Getting a job
  4. Kingsley, G., Malecki, E.J. Networking for Competitiveness. Small Business Economics 23, 71–84 (2004).
  5. Yan, B., Chen, Y., Liu, J. (2017). Dynamic Relationship Building: Exploitation Versus Exploration on a Social Network. In: Bouguettaya, A., et al. Web Information Systems Engineering – WISE 2017. WISE 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10569. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68783-4_6
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