192 Improve your Communication Skills Volunteering Networking is a proactive business. Waiting for the phone to ring
is not the way to do it. Get out there and exercise your
communication skills; put yourself about; make yourself known.
Use your organisation’s facilities. Most organisations have
employee networks, and social or activity-based groups that you
can use to make new friends and useful contacts. Be guided by
your interests, and network from your centre. Avoid whatever
seems superficial or uncomfortable.
Start your own network. If an area of interest or a
constituency seems under-represented in your organisation,
start a new network. Think about who might help you run it; look
for sponsorship at senior levels; promote the network boldly. It’s
important that networks should not be seen as divisive or
exclusive. The whole point is to bring people together, not drive
them apart.
Organise a networking event. If you are responsible for
setting up an event where people will be networking, you can do
a great deal to make it easier for people to meet.
Volunteer. Put yourself forward to speak at meetings or
conferences. Offer to chair meetings and to join committees.
Become an author: editors of newsletters and magazines are
often desperate for new providers of copy.
Cross boundaries. Look beyond your organisation, to
cross-industry organisations, and groups with shared intellectual
or professional interests. Look at your network map and think
about organisations linked to people you know – and to your
weak ties, in particular.
• Identify people with whom you are in ‘net credit’. Could
they help you with a ‘net loan’?
Remember that deposits gather ‘net interest’. A small
deposit can quickly garner bigger returns.
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