Workplace Networking 101 For Scrum Masters
How to create and manage long lasting workplace relationships for career growth?
👋 Hello, I’m Vibhor, and welcome to the 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒 of my newsletter, the “Winning Strategy.” Every week, I answer one reader question about Agile Products / Processes, Role-based Skills, and anything else that you need answered about your Career Growth. You can send me your questions here.
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On to this week’s question!
Q: Hey Vibhor. Every day I encounter events that make me realize that if I need to advance in my career I need to network internally. I am completely on board with the concept but unable to put it into action. There are so many people that I’d like to connect with. I took them out for coffee, too, but this is it. There’s no response back from them. What am I supposed to do? It seems they are not interested.
Thanks for reaching out with such a relatable question.
The age-old puzzle of "networking" effectively.
I've been using a strategy for years that's been a game-changer for me. But like everything else, in order to successfully adopt a concept, you need to first adopt the right mindset.
Speaking about coffee, let’s say networking is like making a cup of coffee.
Sure, the first step is choosing the right beans (or, in our case, the right people) and getting them into the cup. But just pouring hot water over the beans doesn't make the perfect cup. You need to give it time, stir, and maybe even add a splash of milk or a spoonful of sugar.
Coming back to your question.
The first meetings you had, the ones where you took them on coffee, were just the initial pour of hot water.
They were essential, of course!
They set the tone and warmed things up, but that was just the start.
Networking isn't just about collecting business cards or adding connections on LinkedIn.
Far from it!
It's about building “GENUINE” relationships, and for Scrum Masters, it's a crucial part of their job. But how can you do it effectively?