A well-oiled network can take you places
No matter how you look at it, your success in business depends on your ability to network. Some people consider networking “office politics” and
avoid it, but there is much more to it. Networking is how you make the business connections you need to get your job done. You may not like office politics, but you must master networking.
“The importance of networking both within your organisation and outside cannot be underestimated. Internally, it is important that you are respected and seen as being helpful in your peer group and it also helps if you are liked,” says Mohit Deshpande, a business head with a local corporate, stressing on the point that networking both within and outside the organisation is the key to success.
What then is successful networking? To me, it means being able to communicate effectively with your peers and bosses and with your subordinates, the latter being the easiest.
“Your peers are critical to your success. The higher you go in your career, the more your success will depend on your ability to work with peers across functional lines. That means you need to establish good working relationships with your peers. Whether your peers help you out of friendship, self-interest, or fear doesn’t really matter, but guess which one is the most dependable,” says Mohit.
“And networking with peers is probably the hardest because they are the ones competing with you for that elusive promotion, bonuses and senior management attention.”
Vishnu Sharma, an HR consultant who has seen the way corporates work for over three decades, tries to rationalise this. “People network with four key motives in mind: gaining information, development and furthering of career, moral and professional support, and a derived ability to influence the happenings around them in their professional life,” he says.
“Each of these has a direct bearing on your professional growth and success. And hence, in career, nothing works better than networking,” he adds.
If it is mission critical in one’s career why then are many people unable to develop the skill sets required for effective networking? “The problem lies in the fact that networking is often confused with politicking, which has negative connotations. Networking built on the backbone of malice, backstabbing, fear, suspicion and exploitation can be construed as politics, but the benefits that an effective and positive networking can offer you will be there to stay,” claims Sharmila Banerjee, a software professional based in Bangalore.
How does one build effective networking behaviour? Behaviour that is positive and does not give the impression of being exploited is necessary for successful networking. Always be open-minded and keep commitments.
Get to know your peers well. Help them be more successful and deliver in their jobs. Do to others as you would be done by, recognise problems in relationships and deal with them directly, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and most important, be professional and collegiate.
Do not back bite, or say negative things about issues that do not relate to you. Word travels faster than you think it does, in any organisation. And lastly, if anyone in your network has helped you, thank generously. Nothing peeves one off more than a good deed gone unacknowledged.
Networking is emerging as one of the most crucial tools for corporate success. Invest time and effort in it, albeit not at the cost of delivery in your current job.
You cannot get ahead in the rat race on your own. Figure out what part you would want others to play in your life and career and go for it.
Happy networking.
DISCLOSURE : Source of this article is https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5744905.cms
CAclubindia
