{"id":925,"date":"2017-10-20T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inswwdev.azurewebsites.net\/au\/insights\/uncategorized\/the-seven-rs-of-networking\/"},"modified":"2017-10-20T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T01:00:00","slug":"the-seven-rs-of-networking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/insights\/geek-speak\/modern-workplace\/the-seven-rs-of-networking\/","title":{"rendered":"The Seven Rs of Networking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the next couple of weeks, I\u2019ll be representing #Insentra at the\u00a0Red Hat Forum<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Microsoft Summit<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and so I thought it would be good time to share my take on the\u00a0Seven Rs of Networking<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1 \u2013 Get\u00a0Ready<\/span><\/h3>\n

Not everyone is naturally extroverted and even if you are, entering a room full of strangers and trying to strike up conversations can be daunting. Hopefully, the below will provide a few tips that can help you make the most out of your next industry event.<\/p>\n

2 \u2013 Do your Research<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u00a0I always like to spend a bit of time pre-event checking out the vendors, sponsors and likely attendees, then jotting down a few target companies that I\u2019ll try to connect with. Is there a specific solution you\u2019re looking for? Are you on the hunt for new customers? Partners? Maybe even a new job? Knowing who\u2019s going to be there and who you\u2019re going to try and meet with will give your networking some added purpose, rather than just aimlessly wandering the room.<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Be in the\u00a0Right\u00a0place<\/span><\/h3>\n

Now that you\u2019re at the event, you\u2019ve had your coffee and have a pocket full of business cards \u2013 it\u2019s time to get networking. It\u2019s important that you project an image of availability (no, I don\u2019t mean it like that). It means not being buried in your phone, eyes down, ignoring the room. Or slouching up against the wall, or sitting away from everyone on a couch. To effectively network you need to be in the game and so why not strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to you before the keynote starts? Visit one of the vendors on your target list? I always find I meet more people when I look like I actually want to meet more people \u2013 so being in the right place to do so is important.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

4 and 5 \u2013 Be\u00a0Relevant\u00a0and\u00a0React\u00a0to what they\u2019re saying<\/span><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m putting these two together because for me, this is really the essence of networking \u2013 actually, of engaging with people full stop. Whilst it\u2019s nice to have a chat about the weather and try to ensure you\u2019re getting your point across, you\u2019ll have much more success in connecting with people when you talk about mutually interesting topics and for this, you need to listen. Rather than just waiting until the other person stops talking so you can have your say, take the time to really listen and then respond with a relevant follow-up question that shows that you\u2019re genuinely interested. This could be about their business, why they\u2019re at the event, what they hope to achieve etc. Some of the best connections I\u2019ve made in the industry have started from random conversations with people I\u2019ve met in the coffee queue.<\/p>\n

6 \u2013\u00a0Reflect\u00a0and follow-up post event<\/span><\/h3>\n

The conference is over, you\u2019ve got a pocket full of business cards and a bag full of swag, so now what? How long should you leave it before you follow-up? (and you definitely do need to follow-up). Here I\u2019ll give the age-old consultants\u2019 response of \u201cit depends\u201d. If you really connected with someone and agreed to touch base early next week, then that\u2019s what you do. Phone first if you can, follow-up with an email or LinkedIn request. But again \u2013 be relevant. Why do you feel there might be a mutual fit? Did you discuss a specific angle or opportunity, or was it just \u201cwe should stay in touch\u201d. Whilst the latter is nice, I would much prefer to have 10 specific, directed discussions with new contacts rather than 100 random connections. This is also a good time to reflect upon what you learnt at the event and how you\u2019ll start to make use of the information in your business. Maybe write-up your thoughts in a blog, hold a debriefing session for your team or even invite the new vendors you met to come a give a deep dive into their technology.<\/p>\n

\u00a07 \u2013 if all else fails, there\u2019s always the\u00a0Red\u00a0wine at the cocktail party and a little bit of liquid courage never hurt anyone.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Good luck with your own networking and if you happen to see a middle-aged guy with brown hair, jeans, blue shirt and jacket standing next to you in the queue at your next event, then make sure to say hi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the next couple of weeks, I\u2019ll be representing #Insentra at the\u00a0Red Hat Forum\u00a0and\u00a0Microsoft Summit\u00a0and so I thought it would be good time to share my take on the\u00a0Seven Rs of Networking. 1 \u2013 Get\u00a0Ready Not everyone is naturally extroverted and even if you are, entering a room full of strangers and trying to strike… Continue reading The Seven Rs of Networking<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modern-workplace","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}