Effective networking is a significant interpersonal skill in communication and relies on a person’s social skills, including listening and discussion skills, establishing contact in a diverse cultural scene, and understanding others’ perspectives (Kokkonen & Almonkar, 2015). How we interact and engage with others in our business circles, is important for contemporary business operations, especially with increased globalization and social networks. A network is viewed in terms of nodes, which are the set of actors involved including individuals, organizations, communities, or groups, and ties, which represent relationships between mentioned actors. Ties are of different categories and networks are mostly multidimensional with actors sharing more than one tie type.
Scholarly Background
Several kinds of research have been brought forward, on the networking approach to communication, providing various forms, functions, features, and structure of networks. Several types of ties are discussed (Yang et al., 2017) such as formal ties, which deal with employee-employer links, affective ties, which represent affection and trust relationships like friendships, material ties for funding and provision of other resources, communication ties for information purposes, cognitive and proximity ties. There are several theory families to explain reasons for creating, maintaining, breaking, and reconstitution of network ties, including cognitive theories, social exchange theories, homophily theories, and mutual interest theories (Sparrowe & Seevers, 2015, Yang et al., 2017, Liu et al., 2017). Additionally, the influence of social media on these theories has also been reviewed by these authors.
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Network researchers have also discussed how tie-strength affects the organization and business operations (Sparrowe & Seevers, 2015. In this aspect, weak ties are significant for information outcomes such as job opportunities and strong ties are more suitable for socioemotional support. Additionally, studying the significance of networking has gained popularity in entrepreneurship and business as a means to provide better information, resources, and support access necessary for creating and developing organizations (Shaikh, 2017). Networking training is essential for promoting networking skills in various aspects of an individual’s life either in the job market or their personal and community social relationships (Kokkonen & Almonkar, 2015).
Training Tips
First, I would encourage the actors to find a common ground. Homophily and mutual interest theories explain the tendency of similar contexts and like-minded persons, and those with shared interests, to constantly connect on several levels including homogenous social conditions, and thoughts, and shared hobbies respectively, for example. Social exchange theories explain reciprocity of tangible and non-material goods as people dependent on each other for various goods and services, favors and pleasantries, social respect and approval, time, and attention (Sparrowe & Seevers, 2015, Yang et al., 2017, Liu et al., 2017) Cognitive theory describes the effect of mental representations and influences of others to a person’s behavioral change and learning, determined by self-efficacy and positive outcome expectancies. However, some situations especially in careers, call for interactions between different people for collaborations. Do your research beforehand, plan your agenda (Kokkonen & Almonkar, 2015), and align your goals with the intended relationship actor, as it helps in finding a mutual background for easing into a networking conversation.
Second, I would discourage forgetting about ethical considerations (GilChrist, 2019). Ensure your timing and setting are appropriate and be on your best behavior. Do not take up more time than necessary, remain polite even on rejection, and be appreciative of the other person’s input. Consider the types of ties you have or intend to create from networking, and their strengths to form professional boundaries.
References
GilChrist, A. (2019). The Well-Connected Community 3E: A Networking Approach to Community Development (pp. 77-126). Policy Press.
Kokkonen, L., & Almonkari, M. (2015). Teaching networking: An interpersonal communication competence perspective . In Voices of pedagogical development – Expanding, enhancing and exploring higher education language learning (pp. 31-56). Dublin: Research-publishing.net. doi:10.14705/rpnet.2015.000286
Liu, W., Sidhu, A., Beacom, A., & Valente, T. (2017). Social Network Theory. The International Encyclopedia Of Media Effects , 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0092
Shaikh, N. (2017). Role of Strong and Weak Ties - Entrepreneur’s Social Network . Liu.diva-portal.org. Retrieved 7 April 2021, from https://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1143516/FULLTEXT01.pdf .
Sparrowe, R., & Seevers, C. (2015). Tracing Structure, Tie Strength, and Cognitive Networks in LMX Theory and Research. The Oxford Handbook of Leader-Member Exchange , 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199326174.013.0009
Yang, S., Keller, F., & Zheng, L. (2017). Basics of Social Network Analysis in Social Network Analysis: Methods and Examples . Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071802847.n1
