Some of us will never enjoy walking into a room of strangers and making connections. Does that mean we’re doomed professionally? Not at all!
In this webinar, participants learned about the science behind networking and how that science can help engineers, technologists, and introverts make connections successfully and strategically.
We drew on insights from researchers and practitioners in the social sciences and business to learn about the networking practices of high performers.
We dispelled the myth that people who want strong networks should “never eat alone” and participants learned about the simple actions that significantly contribute to the health of a network.
Presented September 20, 2012 for Women in Technology International (WITI):
http://www.witi.com/users/teleclass/media/
http://partneringresources.com/event/networking-basics-for-introverts-2/
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Networking for Introverts
1. The Antidote to the 10,000 Name
Contact List
Networks for Introverts
WITI Webinar
September 20, 2012
Maya Townsend
Partnering Resources
http://partneringresources.com
maya@partneringresources.com
617.395.8396
3. The Point
The top 20% of
performers in
organizations are more
likely to cultivate and
leverage their networks
in ways anyone can
replicate.
3
4. Learning Objectives
• Understand the science behind networking
• Identify networking practices of high performers
• Conduct a first pass at an analysis of your
network’s strengths and gaps
• Understand which network traps they are most
likely to imitate and how to remedy those
tendencies
4
5. Agenda
• What is a network?
• How networks operate
• Q&A Session #1
• How high performers use networks
• How to network
• How people get stuck in network traps
• Q&A Session #2
5
6. What is a Network?
Public transportation networks
help people travel in cities
Computer networks move data from
location to location
The circulatory system
Networks are about movement carries oxygen and carbon
dioxide to and from our cells
6
7. The Simplest Network
Human networks are also all about movement:
The movement of information
Sam knows how
to answer the
question so Mary
connects you to
Sam
You have a You ask your She doesn’t know
question friend Mary the answer and calls
Sam for advice
Problem solved!
7
8. All In All…
• A network consists of the
trusted relationships
created in order to…
► Exchange information
► Complete work
► Get advice
► Solve problems
► Socialize
8
Image: TouchGraph.
9. Companies like Org Charts…
Jane is at the individual contributor
level on the org chart
9
11. Quick Case: Critical Connector Lost
• Technology organization
• $75M operating budget
• Annual trade show was a
major revenue generation
vehicle
• The company let go of a low-
level administrator citing the
need to reduce overhead.
• They realized afterwards that
she was single-handedly
responsible for securing
millions of dollars each year
for the trade show.
11
12. • What is a network?
• How networks operate
• Q&A Session #1
• How high performers use networks
• How to network
• How people get stuck in network traps
• Q&A Session #2
12
13. Quick Quiz
Question #1
Using the poll feature, click YES if you can answer YES to the following question:
• Do you interact on a 1:1 basis with more than 25 colleagues each day?
• Do you enjoy collecting information about your organization or its people?
Question #2
Click YES if you can answer YES to BOTH of the following questions:
• Will your work suffer if you are absent because only you can make certain decisions or only
you have certain knowledge?
• Are most of your acquaintances unknown to each other?
Question #3
Click YES if you can answer YES to BOTH of the following questions:
• Do you have a range of interests and belong to very different organizations (sports
clubs, art groups, volunteer organizations, etc.)?
• Are most of your friends different from you in terms of their careers, tastes in social
activities, and lifestyles?
13
15. The Hub
Cathy
Harry Gary
Chris
• Highly and directly connected with many people
• Communicate and disseminate knowledge through the organization
15
16. The Gatekeeper
Cathy
Harry Gary
Chris
• Serve as links between departments, functions, and groups
• Act as information gateways
• Broker knowledge between critical parts of the organization
16
17. The Pulsetaker
Cathy
Harry Gary
Chris
• Have maximum influence using minimum number of direct contacts
• Work through indirect means
17
19. Q & A Session #1
What are your burning
questions?
19
20. • What is a network?
• How networks operate
• Q&A Session #1
• How high performers use networks
• How to network
• How people get stuck in network traps
• Q&A Session #2
20
21. Network Knowledge & High Performance
41%
• 36 - 42% more
34%
likely to exceed
30%
expectations
24%
• 43 – 72% more
likely to be 15%
promoted 11% 12% 11%
5%
• 42 – 74% more
likely to stay with "Far Exceeds" Promoted to Higher Left Company
Expectations Rank
the company
BLP Graduates Control Group Others in Top 5 Job Ranks
21
From Burt & Ronchi, ―Teaching Executives to See Social Capital: Results from a Field Experiment.‖
22. High Performers are More Likely to…
• Build high-quality
relationships
• Invest in relationships to
extend expertise, balance
biases, and prevent career
traps
• Position selves at key network
points and leverage people
The top 20% of employees are more around them
likely to build and maintain personal
networks
• Cultivate select ties with
external experts
22
From Cross, Thomas, & Light, How Top Talent Uses Networks and Where Rising Stars Get Trapped.
23. Quick Assignment
Jot down the ten people
you interact with most
frequently on the job
23
25. Operational Networking
• People who can help you…
► Get work done
► Fulfill your work responsibilities
• Contacts are usually internal and
focused on current demands
• Your job: build strong working
relationships
• Who do you need in order to get
things done?
25
Three types of networking from Ibarra & Hunter, Harvard Business Review.
26. Personal Networking
• People who can help you…
► Grow personally and professionally
► Provide referrals to useful
information and contacts
► Give honest, caring feedback
• Contacts are usually external and
share current interests or future
potential interests
• Your job: Reach out to people who
can make referrals or give advice
• Who do you need in order to
develop professionally?
26
Three types of networking from Ibarra & Hunter, Harvard Business Review. Image by Wonderlane on flickr.
27. Strategic Networking
• People who can help you…
► Figure out future priorities and
challenges
► Get stakeholder support for
the future you want to create
• Contacts are future-oriented
and can be internal or external
• Your job: Create leverage—
draw on resources from one
area to achieve results in
another
• Who do you need to build
the future you want?
27
Three types of networking from Ibarra & Hunter, Harvard Business Review. Image: Aussie Gal on flickr.
28. • What is a network?
• How networks operate
• Q&A Session #1
• How high performers use networks
• How to network
• How people get stuck in network traps
• Q&A Session #2
28
30. The Power of the Tribe
• Weak links outperform
strong links when
attempting to connect
to a different world
• 25% of jobs secured
through contacts who
were hardly ever seen
(Granovetter study)
30
Data: Koch & Lockwood, Superconnect.
32. The Minimalist Approach
Identify the critical connectors and gaps in
your network. Then…
1. Schedule two coffee meetings per month
2. Forward two emails per week
3. Walk around the office and talk with
people two times per day
32
33. The Key to Building Your Network
33
Photo: Sizumaru’s Photo Stream, Flickr.
34. • What is a network?
• How networks operate
• Q&A Session #1
• How high performers use networks
• How to network
• How people get stuck in network traps
• Q&A Session #2
34
35. Watch out for network traps…
The bottleneck The formalist The biased learner
The disconnected
expert
The surface networker
35
Images: Gijs van Kooten et al. Traps: Cross, Thomas, & Light, How Top Talent Uses Networks and Where Rising Stars Get Trapped
36. Quick Quiz: Network Traps
Which network trap are you most likely to fall into?
(A) Bottleneck – Has too much on their plate or has a tendency
to be controlling
(B) Formalist – Relies too much on the formal structure and
misses the nuances
(C) Disconnected expert – Knows what they know… but
doesn’t keep up with new learning
(D) Biased learner – Draws too much on old relationships or
―like‖ individuals
(E) Surface networker – Knows a lot of people superficially but
hasn’t built trust
36
37. What can you do if you’ve fallen into
a networking trap?
Bottleneck Biased learner
Formalist Identify areas of
Find
Identify brokers, informal overinvestment and
information, decisions, and
decision makers, and other underinvestment and take
tasks that can be
key network players and steps to balance the
reallocated and/or mentor
align with the formal system network
others to provide backup
Surface networker
Disconnected Expert Refocus attention on what
Identify skill gaps and build can be offered, not just
ties to those who can help what can be received, and
fill gaps build relationships with
critical individuals
37
38. Q & A Session #2
What are your burning
questions?
38
39. About the Presenter
• Founder of Partnering Resources, a management consulting
company.
• Specializes in helping companies meet complex change and
collaboration challenges using network knowledge.
• Client list includes Alcatel-Lucent, Andover / Phillips Academy,
eCopy, eTeck, Fidelity Investments, Financial Profiles, Hanover
Insurance Group, MIT, and Merrimack Pharmaceutical,
National Air and Space Administration, and the National Braille
Press.
• Teaches leadership, strategy, collaboration, and alignment through Boston
University Corporate Education Center.
• Published by CIO.Com, Mass High Tech, Chief Learning Officer, Talent
Management, and other magazines and journals.
• Serves on the Editorial Review Board for OD Practitioner, the premier
organization development practitioner journal in the US.
• Blogs at http://partneringresources.com and http://www.futureofworkenabled.com
• Likes chocolate a lot.
maya@partneringresources.com |617.395.8396|http://partneringresources.com
Editor's Notes
MESSAGE: Networking experts give advice that I disagree with.Keith Ferrazzi says “Never Eat Alone.” For an introvert, this is torture.However, it’s not the quantity that matters. It’s the quality: breadth across operational, strategic and personal; and diversity in geography, hierarchy, knowledge; and network position.So, you don’t have to spend every waking moment networking to have the network of a high performer!
MESSAGE: The top 20% of performers in organizations are more likely to cultivate and leverage their networks in ways anyone can replicate.We can learn from their practices and replicate them even if we’re not raging extroverts.
MESSAGE: We have 4 learning objectives.
MESSAGE: Our agenda includes 2 Q&A sessions.XX will moderate. Send in your questions; we’ll get to them during the Q&As.
MESSAGE: Networks are about movement.
MESSAGE: Human networks are about movement of information.
MESSAGE: Networks consist of the trusted relationships created in order to get things done at work.
MESSAGE: Organization charts are important, but don’t tell the whole story.
MESSAGE: Networks can show you the people who keep the company running.
MESSAGE: Not knowing people in the network can cost millions.In one such example, a software company let go of a low-level administrator citing the need to reduce overhead in the organization. Little did they know that this woman was single-handedly responsible for securing millions of dollars each year by nagging companies until they finally sent in sponsorship checks for the annual trade conference. Once she left, the leaders realized their error, but the damage was already done. Her expertise about the sponsors, and how best to influence them, left with her.
MESSAGE: Our agenda includes 2 Q&A sessions.XX will moderate. Send in your questions; we’ll get to them during the Q&As.
MESSAGE: Take the quiz!
Can be positive or negative:+ Center of expertise- Over-dependency or negative influence From Karen: “The first archetype, the Hub, is the most intuitive as in a hub and spoke system. This pattern rapidly disseminates information and centralizes work processes. Hubs can be highly social (although they don’t have to be) and know how to directly connect one on one with the most people. By force of habit, they are excellent multi-taskers and often connect people for the sheer joy of connecting.” Rob Cross: “More apt to be interested than interesting.” To communicate a message to 500 employees, task Hubs with deploying the message
Can be positive or negative:+ Shield organization from abrasive CEO- Control staff interactions From Karen: “The second archetype, the Gatekeeper, pops up on critical pathways because it can either create or loosen bottlenecks. Gatekeepers live by the rule “less is more.” Very strategic, they make it their business to know the “right” people and only the “right” people. They are judicious, circumspect, and judgmental. In a healthy organization, they are extremely useful in making sure the right people are connected to move projects and objectives along.” To communicate a message to 500 employees, engage Gatekeepers to make sure the message gets through
Find only through algorithms – can’t see from the maps From Karen: “The third archetype, the Pulsetaker, is someone who is connected to almost everyone via indirect routes. This is the most abstract of the three positions. Pulsetakers are the Machiavellis of the world, behind-the-scenes, in-between, and unseen persons. They know how to get to the right people using indirect means. In this way, their influence is hard to detect and often overlooked.” Quality, not quantity To communicate a message to 500 employees, check in with Pulsetakers after 3 months to confirm that the message travelled accurately and successfully. If you haven’t sent the message to them, but they get it, you’ll know it was successful
MESSAGE: The Pulsetaker takes fewer hops than the average person to make a connection. Possible video: http://youtu.be/-EI36P9Wfh0
MESSAGE: Our agenda includes 2 Q&A sessions.XX will moderate. Send in your questions; we’ll get to them during the Q&As.
MESSAGE: It pays to help people develop high performer networks.Burt & Ronchi “Teaching Executives to See Social Capital” in Social Science ResearchBusiness Leadership Program at Raytheon.24 – 28 executives spend 5 days at U Chicago Grad School of BizTeaches executives about networks: how people grow orgs by building bridges & increase trust and efficiency by solidifying linksIncluded written and video cases, application, active learningProgram goals: (1) Improve Director & VP alignment with company strategy (2) Enhance market-driven collaborations among senior staff Chose group of similarly rated / performing staff as a control. Included invited participants who could not attend and uninvited people. Participation was voluntary. People often enrolled after being invited before. Compared to peers in a control group, participants were:Executives active in a network learning course were over 2 times more likely to far exceed expectations on performance reviews than the control group Active executives were 3 times more likely to be promoted to a higher rank than the control group Active executives were less likely to leave the company
MESSAGE: We can use network knowledge to help people become high performers.High performers use networks in specific ways that help them be successfulCritical connectors have specific attributes that help them develop others more successfully
MESSAGE: Three considerations when building networks: operational, personal, strategic.Operational: Members of the value chain, project team members, other stakeholders.Personal: Mentors, coaches, truth tellers, those with expertise you don’t have.Strategic: Alliance partners, innovators, implementers.
MESSAGE: Three considerations when building networks: operational, personal, strategic.Operational: Members of the value chain, project team members, other stakeholders.Personal: Mentors, coaches, truth tellers, those with expertise you don’t have.Strategic: Alliance partners, innovators, implementers.
MESSAGE: Three considerations when building networks: operational, personal, strategic.Operational: Members of the value chain, project team members, other stakeholders.Personal: Mentors, coaches, truth tellers, those with expertise you don’t have.Strategic: Alliance partners, innovators, implementers.
MESSAGE: Our agenda includes 2 Q&A sessions.XX will moderate. Send in your questions; we’ll get to them during the Q&As.
MESSAGE: Our network habits are based on thousands of years of human behavior. Dunbar’s definition of group: Maximum number of humans in which ever member knows every other member Number of people whom you recognized and with whom you can maintain stable, coherent relationships Informal definition : “number of people you would feel comfortable joining, uninvited, at a chance meeting in a bar”Dunbar’s Number 2 – 6 Core group38 – Overnight camp 148 – Band / village / group 1155 – TribeCore Group: The average American has four close social contacts Range: 2 – 6 people 12% had 0 while 5% had 8 50% are friends 50% don’t fall into a specific group (they include spouse, partner, family, coworker, adviser, consultant) Core discussion group size decreases with age No overall difference between women and men College graduates have core networks nearly 50% larger than those without a HS diploma The average Facebook user has 110 friends, 6.6 close Facebook friendsThe magic number 150: Hutterites, a fundamentalist communal group, limits communities to 150 members Gore limits to 150 The basic unit in the Roman army was 120 Neolithic villages in Mesopotamia from 6500 – 5500 BCE: 150 – 200 Connected by Christakis & Fowler
Granovetter (1995, 1974): White-collar workers find jobs faster through weak ties that bridge otherwise disconnected social groupsBurt (1992, 1995, 1997a) & Polodny & Baron (1997): Senior managers with networks richer in structural holes are more likely to be promoted early (study in high tech orgs)Mizruchi & Stearns (2000): Loan officers whose networks span structural holes are more likely to be successful bringing deals to closure
MESSAGE: Relationships develop in specific ways and we have choice in how we build them. We start not knowing a person. We’re disconnected.We meet someone at a networking event, a company meeting, in the hall. We now have a weak tie. We evaluate whether we want to have a stronger relationship with that person. If so, we do work to build and maintain the relationship. Otherwise, the person remains a weak tie.Remember, weak ties are important! Not everyone can and should be a strong relationship. If we do want that strong relationship, how do we do it? Let’s start with how NOT to do it.
MESSAGE: Here’s the minimalist approach to building your network.ALSO, pay attention to who. Top 20% of performers:Structural: Position themselves at key points in a network, and leverage network around them better when implementing their plansRelational: Invest in relationships that extend expertise and bridge aspects of formal structure: level, function, geography. Behavioral: Value networks and engage in behaviors that lead to high-quality relationships
MESSAGE: The key to building you network is GIVING.Don’t think about what you can get from your network. It will be there when you need it if you do a good job giving to your network. Example: Constantly thinking about how to give to my network. A few months ago, I had an unexpected and critical problem. A former boyfriend of my cousin, who is currently living with us, was upset by the breakup and decided to hack into our home computer network. I sent out an urgent SOS to a few key people in my network. They responded immediately with step-by-step instructions about how to lock down the network and keep it safe. I could have lost all of my information. They saved me.I had never known that I would need IT security experts until I did – they were there when I needed them.
MESSAGE: Our agenda includes 2 Q&A sessions.XX will moderate. Send in your questions; we’ll get to them during the Q&As.
MESSAGE: There are networking traps that can prevent you from being successful. The bottleneck – has too much on their plate or has a tendency to be controllingThe formalist – relies too much on the formal structure and misses the nuancesThe disconnected expert – knows that they know… but doesn’t keep up with new learningThe biased learner – draws too much on old relationships or “like” individualsThe surface networker – knows a lot of people superficially but hasn’t built trust
MESSAGE: Take the quiz!
MESSAGE: You can get yourself out of networking traps.