#105 Office Networking

Not a boring blog on how to network at office but an interesting story of how I deciphered it for self and perks I enjoy.

Let me save you some seconds of scrolling and tell you that this is not just another post on network in the office. Though the title is a bit direct and cliched; this blog has good humorous content on how the networking landscape has changed before and after covid. It’s funny that whenever I think about this segmentation; i get hit by how old I am in this jungle (still too young to explore and learn more).

Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.” – Steve Jobs

I have been amused by the fact that networking is such an easy kill which many people find hard to do and usually hide behind their introverted nature. First, let me burst this myth that networking is only for outgoing folks, no it is for everyone and everyone has a niche way to do it (You might not have your knack yet). Still unsure about this fact then, just look around you in the office, you will find that you hang out with the same set of folks and prefer sitting next to them always (So, you also have networked your way till there). Second, this is a skill or an art that need to be garnered over a period and you get better at it.

I have spent close to a year; working from the office (How’s the josh and experience blog coming soon…) and despite joining a known organization and place, I felt like an outsider when I resumed to office. Although people knew me by my name, no one has ever seen me in the office (thanks to Working from Home in the previous stint). As with any office setup, people have set groups of folks they hang out with, team structures further divide them into smaller groups and my batch folks have also moved out leaving me to figure out everything alone. I was not new, so I didn’t have any buddy to help me draw an acquaintance with the place and my role was also mid-level, so I couldn’t easily engage with anyone, since all the faces were new to me. Trust me, it’s difficult to survive a period where you have no one to hang out with for lunches or breaks at a place where you head every day and spend half of your time. Cut to today, where I know everyone on the floor, small talk/ banter happening all around the day and people usually wave a hi, make eye contact and respond to my greetings.

Quite surprisingly, my morning greeting is little weird - I nod via my forehead and brows, mainatin the eye contact and keep a smile on my face and not utter a word. Interestingly, people started responding to that greeting and it just became my way. Even if I want to get through any new person on the floor, I just observe them for a few days as to where they sit, whom they chat with and once I figure them out through a common thread, greetings and small talk begins.

Did my networking happen overnight? No

I have to never force myself to network with people, luckily as new comers, it becomes easy and things happen without much effort. So, it took some extra effort from my end to push myself and let me admit that my FOMO on the floor made me up my networking game. I started engaging with my old team folks with whom I have professionally engaged in the past and started sitting with different set of people every day. This helped me to know more people, what product they look into and further figure out their likes and dislikes.

The icing on the cake that boosted my networking was hosting an award ceremony in June last year. The event was a hit and many folks started recognizing me more on the floor, found out about my past stint and recent work which gave me some popularity for sure. I realized the importance remembering names, since I didn’t know the names, my connect was half hearted but now, I can walk upto anyone and talk about random stuff.

I never fltered my target networking set with the designation folks hold, junior or senior, I always welcomed them to know more about them. If I want to hang out beyond the pantry talks, I started taking them on tea breaks, snack breaks and candid coffee meet-ups with those folks, which strengthened the bond byond the office doors.

All you need is some courage to randomly ask folks around you about their day, how’s work, what’s new and everything just fall in place. You need to make it about them than about yourself to network better and for long run.

For folks, who have come through the ‘How’ but still wondering the ‘Why’ of Networking?

Was that a top-down approach or something that others need to comply with for their benefit? No

Did my role require that enagagement? No

Was I looking for some vested interest from them? No

So many Nos, let’s change the tone of questions a bit!

Did I learn from that networking? Yes

Did that ease out my work or mood? Yes

Will that benefit me in future? Definitely, Yes

Long story short, networking helps you build a rapport around with your folks, you may or may not work with them directly but it spurs the cohesiveness in teams. Culture is more open and you can freely walk upto anyone for help with a high likelihood that your expectations will be met. Ofcourse, you will continue hanging out in smaller groups or similar set of folks everyday, but that doesn’t rip you apart from the rest. If need be, you can engage better professionally once you already spent time informally with them. You learn new things, you grow and also observe on how they do things differently. More so, people will remember you for your candor even if you plan to move out of this place in near future and the links/ guidance and everything remains intact. It’s a liberating experience if done right and with right set of people and maybe a disaster if not done right.

Networking is more about farming than it is about hunting. It’s about cultivating relationships.” – Ivan Misner

Are you now stuck at the last line of my blog that networking can go wrong also…..?

I think it’s enough for today, hope my next blog finds their way to your inboxes to decode the question.