Whether you are a professional, entrepreneur, student, mentor, employer or employee if you are not networking, growth becomes difficult to attain. Experts agree that success has a direct link to your networking skills. Networking is a highly valuable skill that everyone needs to develop because the success of your business, career and education etc. depends on it.

You may be the best in your field or you may be very skilful at what you do, without networking, your growth becomes limited.

In this post, we will look at what is networking, types of networking, the importance of networking, 8 networking skills you must have and ways you can improve your networking skills.

What is networking?

Networking is the sharing of ideas, thoughts and information among people, groups, institutions who have a common interest. Networking often begins with a point of contact.

networking connects people in many ways. For example, through emotional, cultural, ideological, familial or behavioural ties.

Types of networking

There are 3 main types of networking

Personal networking

These are people outside your workspace who share a common interest with you. The driving force of personal networking is to learn and find opportunities for personal growth and achievement

A personal network consists of people you’ve known before you got your job. It can be your friend at the gym, someone you met at your book club, a church member etc. All these people share a common interest with you. For the first, you both value exercise, the second, you both value personal growth through books and the third, you worship in the same place.  Personal networking is important because it exposes us to relevant information and knowledge as well as the necessary referrals.

Operational networking

Operational networking is your relationship with people within your workspace who you need to get the job done. This type of network helps to create coordination and cooperation among people who have a common goal to accomplish a given task. For example, a marketing manager may need to work closely with the content writer, web designer, social media analyst etc. for a common interest which is creating awareness for their product. 

Most operational networking occurs within an organization, and ties are determined in large part by routine and short-term demands.

Strategic networking

Strategic networking is about making a list of people who can help and support you to achieve your strategic business or career goals. For example, a company that is in the business of production and shipping of goods and services to their esteemed customers worldwide may need to work closely with the postal service of each country to get these products to their customers.

Importance of networking

1. Job opportunities

A strong network can be a relevant tool when searching for a job. Someone in your network may know of a job vacancy somewhere before it is announced to the public or you can be referred to a recruitment officer by one of your networks. The more relevant network you have the greater your chances of finding out information about job opportunities first.

2.  Referrals

People tend to trust referrals for business and service providers than engage strangers, that is why the most connected people end up as the most successful people. Someone among your connection can refer a person who needs your services to you. This has a way of boosting your business, how good is it for you to be skilful at what you do with no one knowing about it?

3. Knowledge

Networking provides you with the opportunity to meet great people and talents from different fields of life. This exposes you to knowledge and resources, not just in your area of speciality but also in other areas.

4. Mentorship

Networking exposes you to more experienced individuals in your area of speciality who can offer you career advice from their experiences. This would save you the time you should have wasted on trial and error. Networking also gives you the opportunity to help someone who is going through a challenge you’ve overcome. With Mentortribes, you have the opportunity of finding yourself a suitable mentor that would help boost your career.

5. Self-confidence

Networking provides you with the opportunity to meet more people which forces you to step out of your comfort zone and build skills and self-confidence. By practising networking, you will gain self-confidence through your interaction with people.

6. Meet interesting people

Networking gives you the opportunity to meet people of different social standing who may in the course of time be of impact on your life, career or business.

7. Improves your creative intellect

Our intellectual ability in different areas of life can be improved through networking. Just a conversation with your network can help boost that great idea you’ve had. Likeminded people that have been able to share ideas have strongly developed their intellect to foster growth in their career path and bring out the creative talent within themselves.  

Networking skills you must have

1. Communication

Communication is the process of sharing and exchanging information from one person to another. In networking, communication is key, if you don’t know how to communicate your ideas then it becomes impossible to network.

2. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to share in other people’s feelings. Empathy is an important skill for networking, it makes others feel that you understand and can relate to their emotions and experiences.

3. Active listening

Networking doesn’t mean you should keep talking for hours. Nobody wants to be around someone who does not want to hear their thought on the topic of discussion. To be successful at networking, you have to learn to listen. To be an active listener, you would need to maintain eye contact, nod your head to show you understand and respond when necessary.

4.Focus

Focus is also an important networking skill, as it enables you to give the person with whom you're speaking your full attention. It will help you understand what the person is saying and to be an active listener. It fosters a genuine connection.  

5. Positivity

Nobody loves to be around a negative person. People are drawn to friendly and Jovial expressions. Positivity is important in networking because it helps you develop a strong rapport with others quickly and makes your conversation memorable.

How to improve networking skills

1. Interact face-to-face

In a world full of so much noise and distractions coming from social media and the internet, it is important to keep your phone aside or put it on silent in order to avoid distractions from phone calls and messages. Try to network with people face-to-face. It helps to create a bond and it gives the person with whom you are networking the notion that you are interested in what they are saying.

2. Know your goal

What is your aim and purpose for networking? Answering this question correctly will help you know where and when to connect with the right people. For example, if your goal is to connect with one professional in your field every month then you might need to attend seminars in your field monthly. 

3. Develop your mindset

Before you think of networking, you have to work on your mindset. Having the mindset of networking with a particular professional to gain special favour can ruin your relationship with that person because good networking is developed from a genuine relationship. 

No matter who you’re trying to build a relationship with, treating that person as a friend rather than a business contact will take you much further with the relationship.

Now I’d love to hear from you

What other ways do you think a person can improve his or her networking skills?

Let me know now by leaving a comment below