The Brief
When done right, networking can bring immense value to all parties involved. A diverse relationship capital pool helps you add new perspectives, resources, and of course, happy hour opportunities. But often, we overestimate how well we do at networking and relationship management. Here are three articles from the RelSci blog to help you brush up on your “interpersonal skills” (right before wedding season, too).
When done right, networking can bring immense value to all parties involved. A diverse relationship capital pool helps you add new perspectives, resources, and of course, happy hour opportunities. But often, we overestimate how well we do at networking and relationship management. Here are three articles from the RelSci blog to help you brush up on your “interpersonal skills” (right before wedding season, too).
1. Timing is everything when it comes to tapping your business network.
There’s a lot of advice to be had about the best ways to develop your business networks, but not much at all about the best times to take advantage of that accumulated relationship capital. But timing may matter more than most people think when reaching out to contacts for help or guidance. There might very well be an ideal time—in the calendar and on the clock—to ask for a favor, especially a professional one.
2. Dissed Connections: Busting the 5 biggest myths of networking.
Few business concepts are as misunderstood as networking. What it is, how it works, why it matters—each of these basic notions comes loaded with a host of unfortunate misconceptions. Let’s put a few of the most egregious among them to rest.
3. Networking isn’t dirty. You’re just doing it wrong.
In a recent RelSci 5 newsletter, we linked to a story about why people associate networking with feelings of actual dirtiness or grime. It’s easy to see how that could be the case; networking has gotten a reputation as an opportunist’s activity, a way to make connections for the sole purpose of landing jobs or client referrals. But that sort of perspective on networking is all wrong. Real networking is about creating an ecosystem in which all parties benefit.
RelSci provides a relationship capital platform that helps create competitive advantage for organizations through a crucial yet vastly underutilized asset: relationship capital with influential decision makers.
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