Why you should do a regular audit of your networking.
You worked on your plan, identified your goal, got some success. But are you sure to get everything you can out of your networking? Regularly auditing your networking can help you to see clearly.
1. How to do your networking audit?
Take your agenda, and check everything. Who you met, where you met them, what you discussed, etc. The purpose here is to identify trends. For example, if you have only been talking with colleagues you have known for years, you might be in a rut of “comfort networking”. This is also the case when you do meet many new faces, but they are clones of who you are: they work in the same industry like you, have a similar profile, etc.
Another trend you might identify is the one where you are actively networking with people from different backgrounds. But you got stuck at a certain level. You want, for instance, to break into a new industry. You thus started talking with people in that new industry. However, once you got the information you wanted, you didn’t act upon this and continued networking with people who are no longer offering you new facts.
2. Why is it important to do a networking audit?
Famililarity in itself is not a bad thing, especially for a beginning networker. It is comfortable to be able to rely on your knowledge of the sector or the job. However, by staying in that situation, you are closing yourself off from new opportunities. Imagine your dream job has become available in another department. How can people let you know if you never even talked to any of them?
You are also losing out on a new perspective. Maybe talking to those same people will make you realise you don’t want that dream job after all. You hadn’t thought about the long working hours that dream job requires for example. Or you figure out that the problem is rather the way your own department is organised and you could potentially flag the issue to get it resolved.
3. What to do with the results of your networking audit?
Time to take action. You can start with looking for way to invite some fresh air into your networking. Remember the memo about the new employee that got onboarded? Why not send an invitation for a chat to him or her? Not only will they appreciate your inititiave, but you are also getting to know someone new who might bring you some new career ideas.
Or what about signing up for an event that has nothing to do with your industry or your job? You could ask your current network if they know someone with an interesting view on things, but they wouldn’t have thought of putting you in contact. The idea is to get you to look out of your traditional networking box.
But it will not be easy. There is a reason you ended up in the comfort zone. We all like that zone and are rarely comfortable with the unknown. However, this is the the key to take your networking to the next level. It is what brings you new ideas. And who knows what can happen when you step towards an uncertain direction?
And now up to you! Did you do a networking audit? What did it reveal to you?
