Where and how to make useful contacts. How to make and maintain the necessary connections? Terms and Definitions

What is the key skill for a new leader? But it’s not what you thought – first of all, he should be able to make useful connections. You may ask, why waste energy and time on empty troubles? The answer is simple: either you acquire the necessary acquaintances, or they are waiting for you complete failures. An article from the new issue of HBR-Russia will tell you what useful connections are and how to make them correctly.

As a rule, they climb career ladder people who know their business well and know how to achieve results from their subordinates. When one day they go beyond the boundaries of their department and are faced with business problems as a whole, they do not immediately understand that the most important thing is not to master the methods of systems analysis, but to learn how to establish connections and maintain relationships. Meeting with people who are interested in their projects or may be involved in them in the future is not a waste of time that distracts from the “real business”, but the most main job, the essence of their new responsibilities.

Most newly-minted bosses consider building connections with the “right” people to be of little respect, they say, at best, such communication is outwardly the most decent way to use a person in their own interests. It is not surprising that only a few easily make acquaintances; most newcomers have a hard time overcoming this prejudice. But there is nowhere to go: either a person acquires useful connections, or complete failures await him: he either will not be promoted to a leadership position, or he will not fit into it.

As we watched executives take on this daunting task, we realized that there are three types of social networks: workers, personal And strategic. The former help in current affairs, the latter are needed for personal development, third - to reach new areas of business and people who would be good to attract to new projects.

Work connections

Managers must maintain good business relationships with everyone on whom the results of their work depend to some extent - this is their work social network. Many can boast of a huge number of business acquaintances, because the work network includes not only subordinates and bosses, but also colleagues, authoritative employees who can block or, conversely, support the project; clients, etc. People working together need to get used to each other - and then mutual trust will appear between them. This task is not as simple as it seems, but at least it is clear with whom you need to be “friends”. You need to include in your network everyone who can do the work and who is needed for the success of the business - the criterion that determines membership in the work network is completely unambiguous.

The mistake most managers make is to rely on the people they work with day in and day out. It’s good to solve specific problems with them, but not to chart a strategic course. After all, even informal working relationships are tied to short-term goals. The potential of a work network depends on the mutual understanding and mutual trust of its members. But any, even the strongest working relationship is unlikely to help the manager reach a new level - after all, these contacts are focused on current problems.

Personal connections

When a newly minted manager finally realizes that being fixated on his department will not lead to good, he begins to look for like-minded people on the side. And then it becomes clear to him how imperfect his ideas about business are and how undeveloped his social skills are, in particular, that he knows little about other professional fields. Because of this, it is difficult for him to find a common language with people with whom he is not involved in daily work. You definitely need to broaden your horizons; for this you should join a professional association or club, for example. This is how a network of personal acquaintances is formed.

Many managers are perplexed: why waste precious time on all this fuss, since it has no direct relation to work? It's simple: new people can recommend you to someone, open up new horizons for you, teach you something and help with advice. Thanks to personal acquaintances, a person not only develops himself, but also acquires strategic connections.

Most often, we make friends outside of work: we look for those with whom we have something in common. And they can already connect us with the right people, and in this sense, personal social networks have considerable potential. And the value of our contacts is determined by how many people we can reach the one we need.

Strategic connections

When a young manager who previously managed a small department is promoted to a higher position, he has to readjust himself - learn to think strategically. What contribution he personally will make to the common cause largely depends on how he builds relationships with other leaders and what place he takes in the strategic network with its extensive system of connections and information exchange.

Someone who comes up with ideas for the entire company, not just their department, can influence many different people in terms of profession, position, experience, goals, and motivations. In order to “sell” these ideas to management and achieve their goals, you need to join coalitions and press all available levers.

A true leader differs from an ordinary leader in that he knows where to go and knows how to gather the right people under his banner. Winning influential employees over to his side, surrounding himself with loyal followers, feeling the situation in his gut, bringing the right people together - all this is an integral part of his work. But not every beginner understands this. As someone grows in their career, realizing their increasing dependence on others, they try to make others dependent on themselves.

People who masterfully establish strategic connections not only influence their environment, but actively shape it: they select and transfer their subordinates to key positions, find new sources of funding, provide patronage to the right people when hiring, and even reshuffle boards of directors for the sake of success. business. It is not easy for a young leader to acquire strategic connections - it takes a lot of time and effort, and there is barely enough of it anyway. But retribution for such myopia comes at the most inopportune moment - when a malfunction occurs in the work of their unit. This is where they need to call for help from outside, but they, as a rule, try to save the situation on their own, and it is clear that during an emergency they have no time for “idle” communication. The trick is not to isolate yourself in your working network, but to gradually add new links and turn it into a strategic one.

Just do it

Relationships with people need to be nurtured and cherished, otherwise they will wither. It's real work, sometimes quite hard. What can you do to make it bring both pleasure and benefit? Change your settings. Often managers brush off the problem: “I already have enough to do.” Some people think that traveling at the expense of acquaintances is indecent. Be that as it may, if a novice manager does not understand that building relationships with people is one of the key points new job, he does not devote enough time and effort to this and, therefore, chops the branch on which he sits. The ability to make and maintain connections, treating people with respect, and not manipulating them like pawns in your game, is a matter of common sense and intuition. Much can be learned by looking and listening to those who are especially gifted with this talent.

Build connections within the organization through “external” acquaintances. Tie strategically important acquaintances not at all easy, because there is not always a “natural” reason for communicating with a person from another department, if he also occupies a higher position than you. When there is no common task or excuse for meetings, create one yourself.

Take the time to communicate. If a young manager does not learn to delegate part of his responsibilities to his subordinates, he will always find a good reason to evade communication, formal and informal, with colleagues from other departments, because this really takes time away from work. But the less often we train in some activity, the worse it is for us. This creates a vicious circle.

Keep your connections updated. If you have created a large database of business contacts and constantly update your phone book, this does not mean that you have an extensive social network. Many people start with this, but then things stall - it turns out to be difficult to maintain an acquaintance over the phone. Therefore, the majority come to their senses only when thunder strikes and the right person is needed, as they say, desperately. But communication virtuosos act differently. They grab every opportunity to remind themselves, to receive or give advice to friends.

To reap a good harvest, you need to tirelessly cultivate the soil. The same is true in relationships with people. They don’t forget about us as long as we are visible and heard. Don’t be afraid to ask for a small favor once again, take the initiative yourself - bring together people who, in your opinion, can be useful to each other. Do something, no matter what. The main thing is not to let your connections rust, make people believe that getting to know you is useful for them.

To create a reliable social network, you need not so much to be able to do it as to want to do it. When the first efforts do not bring quick results, many give up. Then comes the hasty conclusion: this job is not for them. But in fact, you don’t need any special innate talents, and you don’t have to be an overly sociable extrovert. This is a skill, and it is developed through constant training.

You can't become a true leader without going beyond your work network. The budding leader must weave his own strategic network, including people who are not related to his profession or business and do not work in his company. Such a transition - from work in a specialty that brings quick practical results, to such an ephemeral activity as communication - is easy for few people. You have to rethink your tasks and build relationships in accordance with your new status. The young leader must realize that in new role he is simply obliged to form a wide circle of acquaintances, which means that he must devote as much time and effort to this work as necessary to get a return.

Herminia Ibarra - Professor, Head of the Department of Organizational Behavior international school business INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France); runs a program for managers moving to senior positions leadership positions. Her last book“Finding Self. Extraordinary strategies that change your career” was published in Russian translation in 2005. Mark Hunter is a journalist, a teacher at INSEAD, where he teaches courses in communications, and the author of the book “The Passions of Men. Work and Love in the Age of Stress" (Putnam, 1988).

Alisa Gordeeva, General Director of the BrandHouse group of companies, Rostov-on-Don

What questions will you find answers to in this article?

• Is any contact helpful?
• How to make connections and benefit from personal acquaintances
• How to convert connections into money
• Who should you entrust with establishing contacts?

You will also read

• What networking models does Principium Law Group offer?
• What contact capitalization algorithm does the General Director of Crema & Cioccolato consider effective?

Today, the issue of business connections is one of the key issues in business. It is absolutely clear that now it is not a company that sells a product to a company, but a person to a person. In this article I will tell you, how to make connections and maintain useful contacts. Overall it's not difficult at all.

By the way, initially it was personal relationships and business connections that determined the success of any business. Imagine a merchant at an oriental bazaar or a Russian peddler - their profit depended on the buyer’s affection, that is, ultimately, on the ability to properly build communication with the client. Only in the second half of the 19th century, with the advent of the era of wild entrepreneurship, sales were put on an assembly line and the role of communication noticeably decreased. However, now, at the beginning of the 21st century, everything has changed again.

Sales technologies are still powerful, but they are no longer seen as the main factor for success. Entrepreneurs are returning to the classic, not described in textbooks, but existing for centuries, scheme, which assumes that key role In business, the personal relationship between the seller and the client plays a role. And this way of doing things is the most natural, comfortable, and most importantly, effective.

• Planning your time: step-by-step instructions from a time management guru

How to make business connections and maintain useful contacts: 4 tips

Build relationships with subordinates. First of all, you need to achieve the loyalty of your staff. After all, any employee of an enterprise, even a cleaning lady, is its “agent”. We never know who our employees' relatives, friends and neighbors are. Meanwhile, it may turn out that they belong to the company’s target audience. If you believe the theory of six handshakes, according to which one person is separated from another by only six levels of mutual acquaintances, then it cannot be ruled out that all the necessary people and business connections are already sitting in your office.

How to make connections? Try to interest your interlocutors. Some experts recommend bringing at least seven business cards from each event. However, more is not better. Let's say you collected two dozen business cards, and what to do with them? What do you say to a person who doesn’t remember you at all? It is much better to talk with just two colleagues, but give each half an hour; There’s no point in handing out business cards at all. Don’t forget: for you as a business leader, it’s not quantity, but quality that’s more important.

Remind your friends about yourself. Making business connections is an important task; but it is equally important to maintain contact. Americans have a habit of periodically calling their clients even for no reason. Once a month, a whole day is allocated for calls: how are you? What's new in your company? How is your pet doing? etc. (It is especially useful for top managers to adhere to this line of behavior.) Clients then get the impression that they are constantly communicating with you. And thanks to this, you are known and remembered. Staying silent for three months and then suddenly calling is an ineffective tactic; unless you and the client had a common bright past (say, an army comrade can contact you even after 10 years: you have been through a lot with him and remember each other very well). If we're talking about about dry business connections in which there is no place for emotions, contacts have to be purposefully maintained.

Avoid familiarity. There is always a risk that well-built business connections will develop into friendly relationships - and they only harm the business. A new “friend” may decide that you should provide him with services “just like that,” “in your own way,” and then commercial relations will become impossible (see also: Useful acquaintances.There is contact!).

• How to deal with conflicts and get out of them to your advantage

Useful acquaintances. There is contact!

Take advantage of conferences and forums. Nowhere else can you so easily meet a person occupying a higher position. Unfortunately, often at a conference or seminar, directors, having met some acquaintance, fill all the coffee breaks and pauses with communication with him. This is a grave mistake! So, to build rapport at a conference, start a short conversation with the right person.

During a coffee break, strangers gathered at one table often remain silent. Break the silence. To do this, you should always have a dozen popular opening phrases in stock - this way you will make a positive impression from the very beginning.

Start a conversation with the manager you are interested in about the work of his company. In this case, it’s also a good idea to have prepared questions in your arsenal.

Use the power of social networks. One day the manager needed to contact the manager large company. He called the press service for a month, but to no avail. Then the manager turned to the social network LinkedIn, where he directly contacted the right person without any problems. Here is another example from the practice of a large consulting firm. The consultants did not know how to contact the director of a large company, and suddenly one partner saw that his former classmate was in the circle of friends of this director. The partner contacted a friend who was really on friendly terms with the head of the company, and managed to organize a joint business lunch.

Strengthen your reputation. Of course, it is necessary that the manager you want to contact is also interested in you to some extent. But this is not enough. It is very important that you are known on the good side - as a person who can be trusted. Achieving this is not so difficult - and making contacts will be much easier. Here are some recommendations.

1. During a conversation, listen to the other person, and do not get hung up on your own ideas. This will help you understand what your interlocutor needs, how you could be useful to him, so that he can also become useful to you.
2. Before you make a promise, really assess your capabilities: if you want to promise that you will do it immediately, it is better to say “in a few days.” If you manage to do it faster, you will add extra points to yourself in the eyes of your counterparty.
3. Don't be afraid to tell the truth if you don't like something or don't understand something. Try to conduct business in such a way that everything is as transparent as possible for both you and your partner.
4. Don't allow yourself to be used. If you see that your partner, understanding your interest in him, wants with your help to achieve goals that do not closely correspond to yours, do not follow his lead. Find the right words to make it clear: “anything but this.”
5. Always think about the consequences. Sometimes there is a temptation to make big promises to the right person just to win him over: they say, this way he will remember me better and I can also turn to him. It's a delusion. You will be remembered if you achieve results. And if the result is zero, then an unfavorable opinion will be formed about you. Do you need it? After all, if you think sensibly, it’s better to have an unestablished contact than a lost one.

Establish yourself as an expert in your field. If you are known as an expert in a particular field, then the people you need will contact you. Becoming an expert is not difficult. You only need to take a few steps, and then your fame itself will work for you.

1. Join two or three professional organizations.
2. Read three bestsellers on topics close to you or your company.
3. Take part in round table or a conference on your topic, informing company employees, the press and all contractors about it.
4. Host your own seminar. Notify company employees, the press and all contractors about this. Repeat your seminar several times (possibly in other cities).
5. Register on professional sites (primarily those used by journalists).
6. Submit one or two articles on your topic to industry magazines.
7. Start a blog and constantly publish new posts on it.

Maintain established connections. Once you receive the person's business card, contact them within 24 hours. Remind yourself, agree on further actions (for example, that you will send information about the company, project, etc.).

You don't have to do much to maintain business connections. Congratulate the people you are interested in on their birthdays and holidays, including professional ones (for example, Happy Metallurgist Day, Energy Industry Day, etc.). The person will be pleased that you know about his professional holiday, although you yourself work in a different industry. But don’t overdo it: you don’t need to convey congratulations to wives, children, relatives - this will most likely be perceived as fawning (although if you are dealing with officials, this approach can sometimes be useful). At least once a quarter, send to partners interesting articles and announcements of professional events. It is advisable that your messages contain positive information. Organize joint lunches or dinners (three to four times a year). Prepared by the editors

How to make connections: says practitioner Evgeny Kovalev, Marketing Director of Principium Legal Group, Moscow There are two main models for making useful contacts and establishing necessary business connections. 1. Model "from target to contact". The search for new business contacts should be predetermined strategic goals companies and tactical tasks specific units. We can talk about increasing sales and capturing market share, penetrating new markets, increasing awareness trademark etc. Using the “goal to contact” model, you can search for new groups of clients, business partners, journalists, deputies, as well as representatives of direct competitors. Using the same model, you can search for highly professional managers, as well as promising ideas, expressed by industry experts. It is especially useful to use such a scheme commercial director and the head of the marketing department. For all employees who in one way or another provide or engage external Relations company, it is necessary to formulate clear rules for the use, storage and transfer of contacts. CRM systems will help you organize your work properly. 2. The “necessary contacts will find you themselves” model. Make sure that your company’s specialists become known as experts in certain industries. Then the right people will contact you themselves. To reach representatives of your target groups, you need: participation (yours or your top managers) in major industry events; making reports and presentations at business conferences; Your participation in thematic programs on television and radio; writing and publishing practical articles that can evoke a reader response; participation in professional communities (from industry associations to social networks).

Connections are money

How to benefit from established contacts and business connections? Let's say you have in your hands a business card of a friend to whom you want to offer your product. First of all, you need to talk with him on topics not directly related to your task in order to get to know him a little better. After all, frankly speaking, no one needs your product - people pay either for emotions or for their own benefit. They are interested in everything that the purchase of a product provides you with: satisfaction, peace of mind, confidence, status. You must decide for each specific customer what headache your product can relieve, what needs it can satisfy. Only then offer your product, speaking to the person in his language.

Please note: the higher a person’s income and the more solid his image, the more he receives commercial offers. Such people often do not make contact. Not only can you sell to them, it’s also difficult to get to know them. However, this is precisely why they experience a huge lack of communication - especially with equal people who are interesting to them. This means that becoming a friend of such a person is not as difficult as it might seem, provided that you are not afraid of him, do not depend on him and do not try to impose something on him.

How to sell a product to a person with status? Prepare for a long sale. You will have to communicate with your future client for a very long time, talking about your product or service in between. A person should form their own opinion about your product.

In general, the effectiveness of networking efforts cannot be assessed immediately. One sells quickly, but little by little, while the other builds relationships for a long time and carefully, prepares the groundwork for the future and ultimately receives a large contract. However, not in all cases the key criterion for efficiency is money. There are things that cannot be bought for them - image, reputation, loyalty to the company and personally to its first person. If a person works with dignity and consistently adheres to certain principles in life, sooner or later this will bring results. This strategy may not be effective in the short term, but it ensures success in the long run because it allows the company to find its niche and meet its ideal buyer.

For example, I do not accept aggressive selling, because I believe that before you sell, you need to build a relationship. Both work and communication should be comfortable for me. I still can't communicate with people who are unpleasant to me. I always outline to my employees the company’s position, the key messages that must be conveyed to potential clients during a conversation or correspondence, and our advantages. And I notice how team members change after one or two years of working with us. It is obvious that openness and loyalty to one's beliefs can be as effective and replicable technology as those traditionally used in management.

General Director speaks Elvira Anvarova, General Director of Crema & Cioccolato, Moscow The experience of our company shows that more than 70% of the results are achieved through fruitful communication, including personal ones. For example, after I attended one social event, our company began cooperation with TV presenter and actress Victoria Boney. Subsequently, we jointly created a line women's clothing Crema & Cioccolato by Bonita. Who should do the networking? First of all, the head of the company. I myself control the most important, strategic connections - that is, those on which the achievement of the key objectives of the enterprise depends. It is better to entrust the responsibility for accumulating and maintaining other contacts to the managers of the relevant projects and areas. For example, we have a related project “Cream and Chocolate” - a pop group in which mulatto women sing. This is not my usual circle, and I am not very interested in moving around in it. Therefore, I assigned this responsibility to the project manager. In addition, we often arrange brainstorming with the participation of all employees, trying to find out who and how can be useful to us and what potential acquaintances we have. How not to miss the necessary contacts? We need to understand that in life we ​​meet every person for a reason. And remember: you must act on a “win-win” principle. In other words, always try to find out, firstly, what you can give to this or that person or company, and secondly, how this contact can be useful for you. The algorithm for capitalizing connections is the same as for a standard sale: after all, in essence, you are selling your cooperation. The process of establishing and capitalizing contacts includes five main stages. Getting to know each other, establishing a connection. You find out what a person or company does, and find common topics and the optimal communication format for you and your interlocutor. Identifying needs. You will find out what useful things you can give to your interlocutor. You need to find out why he needs cooperation with you and how he imagines this cooperation. Presentation of yourself, your company and product. Now you, having decided on the goals and needs of a potential client or partner, tell him how you see the proposed cooperation. Finding a compromise. If any disagreements arise, you and your interlocutor need to come to a common opinion on controversial issues. At this stage, you will need the ability to convincingly argue your position. Concluding a contract or developing new ones joint projects. However, the work done can be considered effective even when its result is simply an increase in the number of people loyal to the company. And, of course, even infrequently used connections need to be maintained. And I would recommend taking contacts with the most important partners under personal control. For example, I created my own “golden league”, which includes contacts of people who can help me develop – both career and personal. I regularly evaluate our relationships on a 10-point scale, after which I decide who should be given what attention. You should never forget about such seemingly insignificant little things as holiday greetings, invitations to various events and personal meetings.

Why do you need a PR specialist?

Any company, regardless of its size, must have a person who is involved in PR for your business and you as a leader. He can work both in-house and outsourced. You should not treat a PR specialist as a service personnel - after all, he creates your image. He will speak on your behalf, so hire a bright personality for this position, a person who can talk to you on an equal footing, object and argue with you. You must have common literary and musical tastes, he must understand your humor.

If your company’s PR is carried out systematically, then the problem of how to make connections will be simplified as much as possible. Imagine that the company has an excellent reputation, its owners have an excellent image, not a week goes by without their comments or interviews appearing in the press, their views are clearly stated, well known and shared by many. In such a situation, is it difficult to pick up the phone, call stranger Ivan Petrovich, introduce yourself and ask for a moment of attention?

Reference

Alisa Gordeeva in 1990 she graduated from the Faculty of Philology and Journalism of Rostov state university. Has 15 years of experience in strategic marketing, branding and social research. Member of the American Marketing Association.

BrandHouse
Field of activity: strategic marketing, branding, marketing research, integrated Marketing communications.
Form of organization: LLC.
Territory: head office – in Rostov-on-Don; representative office in Washington.
Number of personnel: 19 full-time employees, 24 freelance.
Quantity completed projects: 716.
Main clients: South-West Bank of Sberbank of Russia, groups of companies "Optifood" (TM "Kuroedov"), "Regatta" (TM "White Birch", "Old Estate"), companies "Aston" (TM "Zateya"), " Molvest" (TM "San Krui").
Experience General Director in position: since 2004.
General Director's participation in the business: owner.
Subscriber of the General Director magazine: since 2009.

Principium
Field of activity: judicial and arbitration practice and legal consulting.
Form of organization: group of companies.
Territory: head office – in Moscow; representative offices in St. Petersburg and Limassol (Cyprus).
Number of staff: 45.
Main clients: the government of the Kaliningrad region, the All-Russian Society of Motorists, the state corporation "Deposit Insurance Agency" (DIA), the companies "Gazprom", "Zapsibgazprom", "Saratovenergo", "Sovtransavto", "Trinfico", "FNK Group", Columbus IT Partner Russia, Ehrmann, Fujitsu Technology Solutions GmbH, Telasi.

Crema & Cioccolato
Field of activity: production of clothing under the C&C brand.
Form of organization: LLC.
Location: Moscow.
Number of personnel: 50.
Length of tenure of the General Director: since 2005.
Participation of the General Director in the business: co-owner.

Many famous people who have achieved success in their professional field have a wide circle of useful acquaintances. Business coaches and entrepreneurs of all ranks constantly talk about the importance of business connections for developing a career and their business. The art of making useful connections can be mastered. In the article, read about how to make and maintain useful connections and acquaintances.

From the article you will learn:

If you are interested in career growth, development own business, promoting your company’s products and services, or looking for investors for a startup, then you need to constantly look for new useful connections. The ability to make and maintain useful contacts is highly valued in the business sphere. In order to become a successful leader and bring real benefit to your company, it is important to be able to easily meet the right people, support and develop your circle useful contacts through the connections of their friends.

Finding useful connections should be permanent job which needs to be given enough time. Costs for attending important business events and popular resorts among businessmen are converted into real profits. As you work to expand your business contacts, pay attention to mutually beneficial connections. Only taking without giving anything useful in return in this area is fraught with loss of trust and interest in your person.

Don’t think that only the HR director needs to look for useful connections. With the help of connections, an HR specialist will easily and quickly fill a burning vacancy without opening a search, and select a reliable person for the post financial director, will find the best assistant manager in the city. It is important to exchange contacts with useful people as often as possible, maintain your book of business contacts, and update your contacts at least 2-3 times a year.

How to determine which people will be useful to you?

1. Analyze which contacts you need more than others in the professional field.
2. Form a portrait of a person from this field, his schedule, hobbies.
3. Identify business events where you will have a better chance of meeting such a person.
4. Make a list of all the areas that are interesting and useful for your business or career, constantly update it with new portraits and goals. While working, if any difficulties arise, think about which person could solve the problem faster and more efficiently than you, and reduce the search for a solution to one phone call.

Within a few months, you will be able to create a fairly complete list of professionals in various fields. When you know exactly which people you need in the first place, the process of finding new business contacts before attending 1-2 events will become easier.

If you have already encountered dead-end situations, the only way out of which would be the advice or help of a person from this field, then you know the value of connections. Unconcluded deals, broken careers, marking time for several years - all this is a consequence of the lack of useful connections.

You may be looking for your dream job for several years, or with the help of connections you can get it in one day. Spend a year searching for an investor for promising project, or contact a business angel within a week and organize a presentation of the project.

Depending on the quality and quantity of business contacts needed, your search strategy should be tailored to your goal. In order to establish contact with your immediate management, you need to learn how to more effectively use planning sessions and meetings, corporate events and meetings with clients. And to contact a business angel for innovative project you will need to visit Silicon Valley.

To find the right contacts, you need to formulate your goals and find places where you have a chance to meet with the right people.

Where you can meet a lot of useful people

Finding places to meet useful people can cause certain difficulties. So, where can you make useful contacts? When you already know who you need and are interested in, the next step is to find reasons and places to meet.

Where to look for useful connections:

• professional conferences and forums: the easiest and most effective way is to attend specialized conferences from time to time;
• business forums and exhibitions: a large audience of useful people from various fields;
• business meetings with potential clients and partners;
• trainings and advanced training courses are a way to meet professionals in your field;
• friends of friends: the wider your circle of personal contacts, the larger your business contacts;
• relax where your chosen one prefers the target audience;
• engage in popular sports to expand your circle of useful connections;
• at any time, in any environment: the more you communicate, the greater the chances of finding the “right” people.

How to make useful connections: 5 simple ways

How to make connections and acquaintances on vacation. Master the art of small talk ( small form conversation common in English-speaking countries). This conversation format is optimal for casual communication within the bounds of decency. Discuss the event, recent vacation, buffet dishes, ask your interlocutor where he prefers to relax, what restaurants he prefers. Find a topic in which the interlocutor is an expert, let him speak. People remember better those with whom they spoke. Learn to set a topic for a small talk and study your interlocutor.

How to make useful contacts during a buffet. An excellent reason for a conversation is to discuss the buffet dishes, find out what cuisines of the world the interlocutor prefers, what kind of alcohol, invite them for lunch or dinner to continue getting acquainted. Discussing the weather and traffic needs to be done carefully so that it is appropriate. If the person you need is this moment discusses ways of investing, you should not try to change the topic. When speaking to two or more people, maintain the topic of conversation and insert a relevant joke. Try to be an interesting conversationalist. In order to interest your interlocutor in yourself, prepare in advance short stories about what you do and are passionate about. Look for like-minded people, only they can become your useful acquaintances in the future.

How to make the right connections at a business event. The work environment is conducive to business communication and exchange of contacts. Use conference breaks and coffee breaks to approach the person you're interested in, start a short conversation and introduce yourself. Carefully use humor and stereotypical topics like “hunting and fishing” when communicating with men from 30 to 60. If the interlocutor actively jokes, he will also appreciate your humor. If the interlocutor is serious and focused, start a conversation about the situation in the economy, investments, and technologies. You must be aware of the developments in various sectors of the economy in order to interest a person with a broad outlook.

Participate in group discussions to find out which of the event participants are close to you, with whom you “look in the same direction.” Talk about what interests your interlocutor: discuss business with an entrepreneur, and the menu with a chef. If you need to offer something to your interlocutor, do it no earlier than the second or third meeting, when you have established a strong contact with him.

Personal effectiveness

The answer was prepared jointly with the editors of the HR Director magazine

Natalya Samukina answers,
candidate of pedagogical sciences, certified business trainer in personnel management, director and owner of the company “Natalia Samukina Training School” LLC.

You rarely meet a person who is completely satisfied with himself, his job and his level of income. At the same time, such a lack of pleasure destroys some, while others force them to actively move forward, grow as individuals and professionals. How to increase your personal and professional effectiveness?

Step 1. Record victories

The first thing needed for any positive change is inspiration. There is an easy way to quickly inspire yourself. For this…

Update your contacts so as not to lose useful connections.

Your directory of useful connections should include the first and last names, birthdays, areas of activity and interests of acquaintances, and the companies in which they work. Note the topics of your conversations and the dates when you communicated with this person. This will allow you to quickly navigate your contact database and find the right people, as well as maintain quality communication with them.

Remind yourself from time to time: congratulate you on public holidays and birthdays, stay updated on your professional successes. Seal each new acquaintance with a special letter. Invite people from your base to dine, play sports, and relax. Whenever possible, participate in important events of your friends. Regularly communicate with people from your priority group of acquaintances with whom you have established mutually beneficial relationships.

Don't forget to share your useful connections with the right people, help them solve important problems, just like they help you. Be useful and interesting, and soon people will be looking for your contacts and your society.

Human communication is traditionally called a luxury. Indeed, it is difficult to downplay the importance of the art of communicating beautifully when your interlocutor is easy and comfortable with you. The ability to start, maintain and continue a conversation in such a way as to leave something about yourself (and therefore about the company) good impression, has always been valued by employers and will always be a relevant requirement for a secretary or personal assistant.

Today, a person’s ability to establish long-term connections - personal and professional - is also of particular importance. This skill, called “networking,” is extremely important for the successful work of a secretary, personal assistant, or office manager.

Networking today means the ability to make and maintain the necessary connections (from the English. net- “network” and work- "Job").

Networking can be positive and negative, just like reputation. In general, these two categories are inextricably linked. How a person communicates and positions himself determines his reputation and the opinion formed about him in society. Colleagues often judge an employee by his communication style and ability to have useful and necessary people on his list.

When talking about negative networking, they usually mean an extremely pragmatic approach to relationships, which is built on the principle “you to me, I to you.” Meanwhile, in order to form a positive personal/professional reputation, you need to be able to make connections, maintain them and “make friends” not only on a material basis. For example, it does not cause positive emotions when a person declares that he will provide the information necessary to another only after he receives something from him himself. Or openly asserts - “quid pro quo.”

Being a blogger, the author often, at the request of some online acquaintances, read and analyzed their first opuses. She suggested reading yours too. Imagine the disappointment when not only did no one read anything in response, but even a simple “thank you” was not said.

Some people (this happens especially often on social networks) are trying with all their might to use their Internet interlocutor as a free psychologist. It takes time, takes energy and... such an “interlocutor” develops a far from positive reputation. You should not mess with such people (in the literal sense of the word!). In this case, it is important to recognize in time that you are being openly used and close your contacts. And, of course, do not become like such manipulators.

It is believed that human connections and contacts are more important than even professional skills. Because without the ability to build their humanitarian networks, a person risks being left with his excellent professional skills... without a job.

And we repeat once again - how a person is positioned in society and at work always matters. After all, at all times, everywhere, it is not positions that are important, but human relationships.

It is difficult to overestimate the ability to make connections and build relationships for a secretary, personal assistant, or office manager. The secretary needs this skill to create favorable climate, the company's reputation, its positioning. And one of the primary tasks of a personal assistant is to maintain the image of the manager through competent communications.

And there is no need to talk about the office manager, on whose shoulders lies a lot of concerns about the life support of the office. Contacts with store directors, hoteliers, restaurateurs, etc. - a significant help in their difficult activities, they reduce delivery times, save time, etc.

But before you build your chains of connections, you need to meet a lot of people. And even if this or that person seems to be not so important and will not be useful in any way, you should still treat him with respect. Common mistake- when prejudice prevents you from treating a person with due attention. And this can lead to irreversible consequences. Let us recall Chekhov’s “clerk,” offended by his low position, who promised to put a squiggle on another official’s paper and thereby destroy the latter. Likewise, a cleaning lady who was not greeted may say something not very positive about an impolite person and thus tarnish his reputation.

How to make connections?

You need to understand that all the people with whom you communicate - in reality or virtually - Always form their opinion about you, which may later turn out to be either positive or negative.

American psychologist Stanley Milgram revolutionized the history of communication and the establishment of human connections and contacts and went down in history with his theory of “six degrees of distance” or “six handshakes.” Its essence is that any two people on earth can find each other through a chain of six people.

Milgram relied on data from an experiment in two American cities. Residents of one city were given 300 envelopes, which had to be given to a certain person who lived in another city (Boston). Envelopes could only be transferred through friends and relatives. As a result, 60 envelopes reached the Boston addressee. After doing the math, Milgram determined that on average each envelope passed through five people. This is how the theory of “six handshakes” was born.

Microsoft subsequently conducted own research, which confirmed the psychologist’s discovery. For two years, specialists using modern methods research and data processing, analyzed 30 billion messages from 240 million MSN Messenger users. Surprisingly, an analysis of such connections showed that between any two users it is possible to build the same chain of six “handshakes”.

For his outstanding discovery, Stanley Milgram was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Experts now believe that the “six handshakes” rule is being replaced by the “three handshakes” rule. This is due to the onset of the fourth information revolution and the flourishing of the Internet era.

Humanity has already experienced four information revolutions: the first - the invention of writing, the second - the invention of printing, the third - modern means communications (telephone, radio and TV) and the fourth - the Internet. Thus, the length of the chain of human intermediaries is reduced.

Contacting the right person has become even easier within the boundaries of Internet socialization. And if you set out to find this or that person, then on social networks you can do this through “three handshakes.” That is, using the Internet on social networks, you can find the right person in three steps.

Of course, the rules of good manners when meeting and communicating have not lost their relevance. You need to be able to greet a person, introduce yourself correctly, shake hands if necessary, and present a business card. This is for private contact. If you interact in in social networks, on forums, chats, then ethical rules are also not canceled, with the exception of shaking hands and presenting a business card.

What is of utmost importance when communicating? First of all, think about how or how you can be useful to other people. If you promised something to someone, deliver it. If you know what is dear to a person, what he is passionate about, talk to him about it, tune in to his wave.

Share information, tips, books, links. Take the time to explain to the person if he doesn’t understand something. You must treat any person and any opinion with respect.

Office manager Anna collaborated with a representative of a stationery store, Tatyana, for many years. During a friendly conversation, when Anya was purchasing something for the company, it turned out that Tanya was interested in Japanese culture. Anya began to bring magazines, newspaper clippings, send links to interesting Internet resources, and even bring “Japanese”-themed souvenirs from countries she had visited. And not only did she later become interested in Japan, but such communication at work grew into friendship. Therefore, at the moment when a rare product was needed, Anna calmly and easily asked her partner for a favor. And naturally, everything was done in the best possible way.

An amazing law of dialectics works in networking: “quantity turns into quality.” A large number of contacts will ultimately lead to an interesting and necessary person, and a large number of good deeds will ultimately result in a wonderful good deed for you.

Thus, an interesting custom of “hanging coffee” came to Russia from Italy. This means that a person who comes to a coffee shop pays for one or two additional coffees. And the barista (a specialist who primarily specializes in making espresso coffee) writes down the number of “suspended” cups with chalk on the board. Coffee seems to “freeze” until the moment when someone who cannot yet afford to buy a fragrant and hot drink comes. The person who drinks “suspended” coffee mentally says “thank you” to an unknown benefactor. And next time, when everything is in order with finances, I will gladly order “suspended coffee” for someone else. And so goodness goes in a circle. In this sense, networking is not so much charity as it is solidarity.

What can we conclude from this? For a personal assistant, it is very important not to be confined to the “me and the manager” alliance: it is equally important to be able to communicate correctly within the company and outside it.

How to communicate

Wherever you communicate with a person, you need not only to be able to listen to him and demonstrate your interest in what he says, inserting adequate remarks and questions in a timely manner. It is very important to have the skill of feedback, with which in our country there are some problems both in personal communication and in correspondence. What are the most common communication mistakes?

So, sometimes, instead of confirming what was heard and thanking the interlocutor, a person may look away and believe that his counterpart will already guess that he “understood everything.”

In correspondence (especially offensive if a large, long letter was written), some people manage not only not to respond, but not even to provide confirmation that the letter was received.

How exactly should you communicate? There are some nuances here.

For example, a person is always pleased to hear his name. Therefore, you need to repeat it at least three times during communication in order to remember it and use it correctly.

Try to treat the person as your equal. Arrogance and pride must be eliminated. Otherwise, you may develop a reputation as an unapproachable person with whom it is impossible to do business. At the same time, of course, one should avoid familiarity and amikoshonism (this word means, literally translated from French, “pig friendship”) both in real and virtual communication.

Nowadays, many people (especially on social networks) quickly and without the permission of the interlocutor switch to “you”, begin to use slang that is not clear to the interlocutor, use extremely colloquial and even profanity, without really understanding with whom they have the honor of communicating.

Meanwhile, in the same social networks, personnel selection specialists (HRs) are now “scouring” the same social networks, on whom, for example, your employment in the future may depend. And if you take the wrong tone when communicating with such a professional, then you can wait a very long time for a new offer...

Don’t refuse to meet even seemingly “unnecessary” people (except, of course, those people we talked about at the beginning of the article). Everyone can turn out to be interesting and necessary depending on the situation.

Try to talk on a variety of topics, while in no case overwhelming your interlocutor with verbal pressure and your own knowledge. To do this, you need to read books, watch films, listen to music, know the sphere of people’s activities, leaf through the news and chronicles - in a word, be interested in life in all its manifestations.

The ability to say something pleasant without outright flattery and to make subtle compliments is also highly valued.

Where to meet

You can meet people everywhere: on the landing, in a fitness club, in professional communities, at conferences and, of course, on social networks.

But: as practice shows, acquaintances on business, for example, in a nightclub are extremely rare.

We can also advise you not to limit yourself to just one social or professional group. Broad connections can produce the most unexpected effects.

Communicating on the Internet first with simply good and interesting people, the author then received job offers, useful information, advice, recommendations, gifts. I once received legal assistance from a lawyer friend, valuable advice on how to treat a dog... But in order to deserve such an attitude, you must, of course, try to give a lot in return: your humble servant edited texts for interlocutors, looked for information, articles, and also provided comprehensive assistance, support...

How to meet people

To get to know the person you are interested in, there are two ways. Either you come up, greet the person, introduce yourself, always saying your name, or ask a mutual friend to introduce you. And then you start a conversation.

• Choose your conversation topics carefully.

Most often, topics such as politics, religion, tastes, the presence of a husband or wife, the existence of children, age, failures, illnesses, etc. are prohibited.

• Try to be nice and friendly to everyone you meet.

This elementary rule of good manners forms an unspoken reputation and over time can give unexpected and good results. Dale Carnegie, a communication guru, always recommended, for example, saying hello to everyone.

• Be sure to thank for every, even minimal action on the part of your interlocutor.

What does networking serve?

Only inveterate unsociable people or people with not the best upbringing can live in society and not communicate.

Networking gives you the opportunity to:

• expand your picture of the world;
• make useful/interesting connections;
• receive support and provide it to others;
• receive an offer that is interesting in every sense (from work to marriage proposal);
• create a positive image and reputation;
• maintain corporate image;
• improve the level of education;
• quickly (on the Internet) obtain information and much more.

How to keep in touch

But all our advice will be useless if you refuse to further maintain and develop connections. Acquaintance is only an ember; In order for our fire of communications not to go out, the fire in it must be constantly maintained. What should you do for this? So, if you want to continue to maintain your contact base acquired through networking, you need to:

• immediately after meeting, quickly (preferably within 24 hours) contact the person via the Internet, “befriend” on social networks, which are very convenient if for some reason the person does not have business cards;
• remind yourself from time to time. Be sure to congratulate you on your birthday and holidays, and it is better to do this in an original way, not as a carbon copy;
• Communications are maintained very well through telephone calls, as is customary among pragmatic Americans: many of them choose a special day to call all their contacts;
• it will not be difficult for the secretary to sometimes “throw” links to the interlocutor to information that is interesting to him;
• The most ideal option is to find an opportunity to meet “in real life” at least occasionally.

Remember that if you do not maintain contact with someone for a long time, and then suddenly turn to the person with a request, then it is quite possible to receive a refusal from him. Take care of your garden of contacts - and you will always receive the fruits of favorable communication!

After all, as you know, the one who owns the information owns the world - therefore, it can be argued that an administrative assistant who has many useful contacts/connections for himself and his manager is always in control of the situation and professionally competent.

As you know, connections are everything. And in the business world, you can’t do without useful contacts. This and necessary information, and help in difficult situations. The ability to make connections is a necessary quality for business.

Rajeev Behira has been working in Silicon Valley for the past 7 years, leading marketers at various startups. He now leads a startup that has developed a program called Reflektive, which allows employees to constantly give and receive. feedback in real time. Like most top managers in Silicon Valley, Rajeev is an introvert, but he can teach you how to not only keep up with sociable and active extroverts, but also surpass them in the number of business acquaintances. His three tips.

1. Focus on one-on-one communication with your manager.

Extroverts, sociable by nature, are always ready to discuss their current work, goals and progress made with ease. They talk about it easily and openly, so managers usually have a good idea of ​​how productive they are. Quiet introverts may seem less productive in comparison.

Introverts' ability to communicate deeply helps them quickly establish friendships with partners.

Rajeev Behira suggests that introverts use their strengths - these include, for example, the tendency to discuss problems more deeply, delving into the details. Try to communicate with your manager one-on-one for at least 5 minutes every day, telling them how work is going. This not only allows you to convey your ideas to management, but also helps you build strong relationships with your immediate superiors.

Since introverts often find it easier to communicate one-on-one rather than presenting in front of colleagues, this tactic can help them become more “visible” to their managers.

“When communicating, the key is to actively share valuable insights and communicate clearly about the work you do. Build a personal relationship with your manager outside of group meetings.”

2. Focus on quality over quantity

Group meetings - conferences, congresses, symposiums, exhibitions - are an essential part of business life. And many introverts find it difficult and uncomfortable. During group communication, an extrovert quickly moves from one person to another, communicating with each for a relatively short time, while introverts tend to have long conversations with relatively short conversations. a small amount of people.

Such long conversations can become the beginning of friendly (and business) relationships that will last for years. An extrovert will return from a conference with a thick stack of business cards, but after a brief and superficial communication, at best he will exchange with new acquaintances a couple emails, and they will forget about each other.

Introverts are often asked for advice, because they know how to synthesize information

Likewise, introverts form and maintain close relationships within companies. When an employee reaches a certain level in the organization's hierarchy, he becomes part of a small team of closest colleagues.

But despite this, it is useful to maintain relationships with employees working in other sectors and departments. This is how introverts ensure that they are well known within the company, maybe not by all employees, but those with whom personal contact is established know them really closely.

3. Synthesize information

It's always helpful if your boss has an additional source of information. For Rajiv Behira, such a source was his colleagues with whom he built good personal relationships. At meetings in their work groups, these employees synthesized information and conveyed the most important things to him.

One of strengths introverts - the ability to process large amounts of information. At meetings, instead of talking a lot, they listen carefully and then tell their manager the most important things. Thanks to this skill, they are often especially insightful, so they are often asked for advice and are involved in the process as much as possible.

Introverts deserve to have their opinions heard and taken into account.

about the author

Karl Moore, coach, leader of trainings on leadership development.