The Power of Networking: Expanding Opportunities for Your Team

Career success depends on networking opportunities. In fact, it is such a vital facet of career progression that most jobs obtained aren't even facilitated by online job boards and are instead found and offered at, or because of, in-person events where people can interact and gain insights into the person they'll potentially be working with. That's not to say that online networking can't lead to job opportunities.

In fact, regular online networking can lead to long-term job opportunities as well. In Zippia's survey on the power of making connections in the workplace, 78% of startups owe their success to networking, and employee referrals account for 40% of all hires. It goes so far as to state that 70% of people got their current job through networking. That's 70 people out of 100 who went to an event or held a casual conversation that led to a job opportunity for them.

This blog will take a look at the benefits of networking, powerful networking opportunities for your team, and the different places you can look to find these opportunities.

In this blog,

1. Using Networking Opportunities to Your Advantage

2. Powerful Network Expanding Opportunities for Your Team

3. Types of Networking

Using Networking Opportunities to Your Advantage

The benefits of networking for your team are vast.

• Build Your Reputation. Provided you've laid the groundwork for a highly proficient and productive work culture, engaging in networking opportunities can help the team build a positive reputation among clients, peers, and others they'd like to work with.
• Showcase Your Strengths. You have a team of excellent workers who do well with each other and people outside of their wheelhouse. They work well together. They have well-developed communication skills. They have a proven track record of completing jobs thoroughly and consistently. These are all qualities that prospective clients and other professionals are interested in knowing. Networking in various environments allows your team to showcase these quantifiable skills
• Create Awareness and Gain Visibility. Perhaps the biggest purpose behind networking is to create awareness of your brand and gain visibility within your industry.
• Gather Industry Insights. Another facet of networking that can benefit the team now and in the future is to gain industry insights. Learn about growing trends and find marginalized groups that haven't been tapped into for business relationships and opportunities. Learn what's working from people who've tried and failed to do what you're attempting before you attempt it.
• Gain Better Interpersonal Skills. Learning how to communicate with new people on a regular basis can help a person grow in confidence, as well as useful skills such as listening for the sake of understanding a problem rather than finding a band-aid solution. Learning to relate to people at a personal level can take your team far.
• Get Advice from Seasoned Professionals. Whether youre new or a seasoned professional, you're always going to find somebody more skilled or experienced in an area than you are. Humbling yourself enough to listen to advice and cautionary tales from people who've done it is a valuable skill. It may not discourage you from following the same course of action, but it will give you the context of the task within the industry.
• Develop Long-Lasting Relationships. The people you meet aren't solely for one event or one task. Networking among colleagues and industry professionals can help develop lifelong relationships that help with the long-term success of a person's career. Of course, some interactions can end within a year or two, but the great ones will last the length of a person's lifetime and become a valuable tool for your team.
• Develop Useful Soft Skills. Soft skills, as opposed to hard skills that are quantifiable and produce product results within a company, are more personality traits, like leadership and communication, negotiation, etc. These skills will follow a person their entire life, meaning their entire time within your team. Offering them the opportunity to gain these skills can help them manage stressful and unforeseen circumstances.

Powerful Network Expanding Opportunities for Your Team

One question you may ask is, "Where do I go to give my team these opportunities?" There are so many different places to go that you can utilize to your advantage, and some of them may surprise you.

1. Industry-Specific Speaking Engagements. Conferences are a bigger deal for professionals than ComiCon makes it seem. Not only will you find information from various levels within your industry, but you'll also find a jumping-off point for people you may want to work with in the future. For instance, you have an idea for a project you'd like to work on. Attending conferences and panel events gives you a starting point for communication. Slightly less cold than a cold introduction, an email or phone call can begin with, "Hi, I loved your lecture at (insert conference here), and I'd love to ask you a few questions." From there, you'll gain a new contact, with the added benefit that they will know who you are. Soon, you'll be able to discuss your project and make possible offers for working together.
2. College and University Lectures. Lectures can provide you with a professional whose job is connecting people. Professors are there for educational purposes and provide a place for people to get to know each other in a comfortable place; a place that allows them to practice their communication skills and find others whose goals align with their own. Don't discount schools as being a networking tool. Some teams that started in college twenty years ago are still together today.
3. Interviews. Interviews can sometimes seem like they are very one-sided and not for your personal use, but similarly to conferences, they play a powerful role in networking with the added benefit of a personal touch. Conferences are there for a larger audience. That larger audience gets boiled down to you. In contrast, interviews are far more personal. They begin with you and expand to a wider audience. You have the opportunity to add your personal touch to the interaction, no matter what the context.
4. After Hours Casual Meetings. This one is pretty simple. You attended a panel event, which in itself is an excellent networking opportunity. You've met with industry professionals and listened to others talk for hours. You encounter a group of people that you clicked with, and they invite you for drinks or dinner at a local restaurant. This is an excellent form of relationship building and a powerful opportunity for you to expand your reach and build a network of trustworthy, knowledgeable, and dependable people in your industry.

Types of Networking

It is astounding to think about the way that networking has evolved in the last century. Word of mouth is still a big part of gaining new opportunities, but we have the ability to put ourselves into the public eye like never before. For this reason, social media is at the top of this list.

• Social Media Events: Social media offers a greater opportunity to balance the benefits of several types of networking. Its accessibility allows attendees to be present from hundreds of miles away, and due to the difficulties of maintaining conversation with a wider audience, often, the events are smaller and allow for more personal connection than larger conferences.
• Casual Networks: Networking through family and friends is a good way to get your feet wet. Close relationships are a valuable asset in expanding your reach, whether you're a freelancer or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Utilizing the people you know to ask questions or get in touch with somebody who has a specific skill set is a valuable opportunity in itself.
• Professional Associations: Industry-specific clubs like writers' guilds, the American Nurses Association, construction associations, and many others provide a space to find individuals specific to your needs. You can connect with people who understand industry standards and have a proven track record in your field. Using these associations is an easy path to networking because oftentimes, they'll have a directory of people who are already okay with being contacted for specific services and information
• Community Service Clubs: Don't underestimate area-specific community clubs. They provide an excellent opportunity to build friendships with people you may not have met outside of the club. It's a low-key way of finding people who may (or may not) have specific information geared toward your industry, but you'll find valuable skills in other areas, and those relationships can always lead to more.

The opportunities that networking can give your team to expand their reach and create lasting business and personal relationships will affect how their job is done and how the team is seen from an outside perspective. Specifically, sourcing information and gaining insights into industry standards via networking opportunities enables your team to build their reputation, showcase your strengths, and create awareness of the overall efficiency and culture behind your team's success.

Are you interested in professional development and learning opportunities for yourself, your academic institution, or your business? School of PE can help! Get in touch with us today to learn more.

About the Author: Anna Taylor

Anna Taylor is a freelance writer and avid researcher- a jack of all trades, but a master of none. She graduated from the University of Hawai'i with an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts because she had no idea what she wanted to be when she grew up. She has since found her love of Extended Reality and the possibilities it brings to the world, as well as gardening, cooking, and writing. Anna lives in Interior Alaska with her family.