The Most Overlooked Networking Opportunity

When the word networking is mentioned, most people I know think about salespeople or business owners exchanging business cards any chance they can.

Of course networking can be the card exchange. It's also "doing lunch" and attending events and many other equally valid and important things, but even so, most of what is written and thought about networking focuses on external networking.

External networking is important. And, for a leader in a company of any size, I would suggest that the most important networking opportunity you have is the one all around you - networking with those within the company; networking internally.

Since this type of networking isn't talked or written about much; it is rarely thought about.

And yet, for all of the relationships, learning and opportunities external networking can bring, the same can be true when you focus on building your network inside your company as well.

Here are eight ways you can creatively and effectively network within the boundaries of your own organization.

Invest one lunch a week. One great way to build relationships is over food. And since everyone has to eat, you can likely get on people's calendars relatively easily. Why not invite someone from another department or someone you don't know well to lunch? Make the lunch about getting to know them, which means you want to do less talking and more listening.

Seek out internal mentors for yourself and your team. If you are in a relatively large organization, there are probably people that you have heard of or have watched from a distance in admiration. Why not approach them to be a mentor to you and/or members of your team?

Be a silo buster. If your organization operates in a fragmented, highly departmentalized, siloed way, decide to be the silo buster. All these ideas can help you do this, but the point here is to make a conscious decision to network with the purpose of building relationships that will begin to break down these barriers.

Create "lunch and learns". Invite people from other departments with expertise your team or department doesn't have to come and share that information over lunch. This creates new learning opportunities for both sides and gives people a chance to get to know new people at the same time.

Establish more cross functional brainstorming. Have a big problem or challenge? Starting a new project? Looking for new business opportunities or product ideas? Bring together a cross functional, eclectic group of people from around the company to share their ideas and perspectives in identifying ideas. When you do this you will get more (and likely better) ideas; you will build new relationships (especially if you design the session knowing that's one of your goals); and - perhaps most importantly - you will create greater commitment across the organization for the ideas you do implement because more people were involved in the process.

Start a league. It could be bridge, basketball, golf, croquet or any of a hundred other things. Find something of common interest to a broad number of people and get them playing after work or at lunch. When you're playing you are getting to know people for more than just their position or knowledge, you are really "getting to know" them. This one may take more time to form and maintain, but the networking value is tremendous.

Share the love. Don't just focus on building 'your' network; make sure to connect others. As you get to know more people in deeper ways, you will find out their needs and goals. With those valuable insights, you can connect them to others inside the company who share similar interests and can help them achieve their goals. When you become the connector, you become more valued and valuable.

Create internal networking events. The Chamber of Commerce and other organizations everywhere have been doing this for years. Why can't you create an internal event with the specific goal of getting people to know each other better? Many of the other ideas on this list may be the platform or the "excuse" for such an event - but you can come up with many more that will work within your organization now that you are thinking about it!

All of these ideas may not apply to your situation, but some of them will. For every idea I've shared I would guess you can think of five more. In the end, the most important key to internal networking is to just start doing it!

As you build your internal network you will create benefits and opportunities for you, those you're networking with, and for your team and colleagues. When you look at it this way you hopefully realize what a valuable investment time spent on building a larger and broader set of relationships inside of your company can be.

Potential Pointer: The most overlooked opportunity to network is not out in the world, but right inside your organization. As a leader, or aspiring leader, when you mine the network and relationships within your company you help both yourself and your team create greater success!