节目资讯
刊物:职场秘诀
日期:2009-03-10
难易度:High
关键字:touch base, cultivate, initiate, camaraderie
Advanced Studio Classroom is on the air.
Are you getting the results from your career or maybe not?
Maybe you’re not networked enough.
Hello, listeners, welcome to Advanced Studio Classroom.
This is Bill Quinn.
I may have invented a new term there in the opening of this.
Are you networked enough?
I guess that’s a term we can use.
We’re talking about networking.
Is that a proper English - ”Are your networked enough?” - Naomi?
Well, I might say, ”Are you connected enough?”.
Are you connected enough? Yeah.
OK. I... I was thinking along those lines.
Connected, so...
And we are talking about networks.
This is March 10th.
It’s the second day of our article: The Networking Balancing Act.
And... and back for day two, that was Naomi Biesheuvel.
Now, Naomi, you had some good points yesterday from this article.
Oh, I did?
Yeah. You had several good points.
Oh, thanks.
That’s why we invited you back today.
OK. Good.
Well, it’s great to be back.
I think that the main point of yesterday’s article is that um... just wandering
around a room collecting business cards isn’t enough.
Right.
Um, a lot of us just think, ”Oh, well, I met this person. I got their business
card. The end.”.
We forget to do follow-up.
We forget about whether this contact is really going to be useful for us or if
it’s just another name.
And the idea in this article is that we need to really treat networking as a
skill instead of just as something that happens.
Right.
It’s got to be a planned activity.
There’s got to be a strategy to it. So...
OK.
Also back for day two of this article is my schmoozing expert, Brandon Bryant.
Hi, Brandon. Are you a good schmoozer?
Actually, Bill, I’m probably not the best schmoozer.
You did so well yesterday.
Oh, man. I lost it.
Today you’ve lost it. So...
Anyways, uh, have you ever done any schmoozing?
Maybe a little, but you know I haven’t really been in like the, I guess,
official, you know, office workplace for a very long time.
So I have some learning to do there.
Maybe you can teach me, Bill.
Oh. I can, yeah, teach you all about it.
But, yeah, you mentioned office and my background was in sales and marketing.
And of course, we had... actually, I think my entire job was schmoozing.
So from the moment I got up in the morning till I went to bed at night, my
entire day was all about schmoozing.
But it’s not really necessary that you be in business or sales or marketing,
right?
For instance, think of, you know, your background and you can use schmoozing
in... in whatever it is, right?
That’s right.
Wherever you are. Because, you know, we always have these relationships, and we
can always use those for um... help... can be helpful for work.
But I mean you don’t want to use them in such a way that you’re just using it
for work.
Right.
So there’s... like we talked about, the balancing act.
I think that’s part of it too because you don’t want to use people.
Right.
So you want to be careful about that.
OK.
It’s uh... takes place everywhere as far as the schmoozing and networks, so,
networking.
And also joining us is Winnie Shih.
Hi, Winnie.
Hi, Bill. Hello, listeners.
OK. So I asked Brandon about schmoozing and networking.
Have you ever done any of that in your career?
Uh... maybe a little bit.
I come from a teaching background.
And I’ve seen other people do it well.
So I mean it’s something that I want to learn.
Uh, but something from yesterday’s article that I really enjoyed um, and I think
this is one of the key points too, that... uh, you have to choose to be
selective about the people you talk to,
meaning making very specific choices.
Right.
And also, you mentioned yesterday, Bill, that it’s about the quality of these
relationships rather than just the quantity.
So that was a really good idea that I got from that.
OK. Good.
Good point, Winnie.
Yes. You have to be selective.
In fact, that’s exactly what our feature talks about today.
Hi, Sandra.
How are things going?
Not good, James.
Ever since I lost my job when the bank closed, it’s been tough.
Yes, it’s not easy finding a good job in a down economy.
Have you been looking?
Have I been looking?
That’s all I’ve been doing: looking for a new job.
I read all the want ads in the newspaper, search dozens of sites on the
Internet, send resumes, but nothing’s happened yet.
Have you done any networking?
Have I done any networking?
I spend so much time networking that I don’t have time for anything else.
Every night I go out and mingle with different groups of people, but nothing
happens.
Every night?
And you haven’t gotten any referrals yet?
Not one.
Monday night, I met with my college association.
Tuesday night, I go to a meditation meeting.
I joined a bowling league on Wednesday night.
Thursday night, I touch base with the basketball league.
And Friday night is spent volunteering at the library.
I think I see the problem, Sandra.
You’re a banker, right?
Yes, I am.
But it just seems like nothing is available now.
You don’t know that.
And the reason is you’re not cultivating any relationships with people in the
banking industry.
You’re spending too much time in unrelated activities.
Maybe you’re right, James.
I have a lot of camaraderie with my groups, but I don’t meet any bankers.
What do you suggest?
You need to initiate contact with organizations that bankers belong to.
Have you checked out what activities are available with these groups?
Well, not really.
I’m just not comfortable schmoozing with people.
There’s just a lot of politics involved.
And I don’t like to play those games.
It’s not easy. I know.
But it’s something you have to do if you want a good job.
OK, OK. I’ll focus my energies on things more related to my field.
Thanks, James.
OK. Well, there was a great example of a young lady who was spending her time
running all over town, meeting lots of people who really didn’t fit in with what
her career goals were and what her strategic goals were.
And in fact, we learned about that from this John Remson, a legal marketing
specialist that we finished up yesterday with.
He, uh... talks about knowing what you want to catch and kind of like uh, being
somebody out on the hunt looking for a big catch, right, Naomi?
Mmhm, that’s right.
We talked about that yesterday.
OK.
Um, catching the right business contacts.
Today, on page 19, at the top we began saying that Remson tells his clients to
really be proactive.
Brandon used that word yesterday.
And I like that; proactive, meaning you... you go ahead and take a step in the
right direction.
He tells his clients to make a list of 15 people they want to meet or get to
know better.
I thought, wow, that’s very practical.
OK.
Say, you know, 15 people.
OK.
Well, and in fact, this is something that we had talked about during one of our
breaks.
Winnie had brought up: Where do you meet these people?
I don’t even know where they hang out.
Well, let’s go to our reading and Remson will help us understand that.
(Music).
Remson tells his clients to make a list of 15 people they want to meet or get to
know better, and figure out where those people hang out.
Once you meet them, he advises, ”stay on their radar screen.”.
Doing that requires touching base with them at least once a quarter, he says.
To foster relationship building, Remson advises going beyond membership events
or a random lunch meeting.
”Distinguish yourself by being actively involved.” Becoming program coordinator
or membership chair will put you in positions to meet people that could hire you
or refer business to you.
He cautions that this takes a time commitment.
”You’re trying to cultivate relationships where people trust you; you can’t rush
that.”.
Well, Nanomi, as you mentioned before the reading, Remson suggests that people
make a list of 15 people there.
I really like this.
This is really, really specific.
And that’s what you need to be when it comes to something like network.
You have to be extremely specific.
You need to say who exactly. Write down their name, right?
Right.
But again, here it’s easy to get out of your league a little bit.
I mean, if I write down that I want to meet Donald Trump and Oprah, and you
know, the president.
Well, maybe that’s not the most practical thing.
So when it comes to writing down these names, think practically and maybe you
won’t know this person’s name yet.
Maybe you’ll say, ”Oh. I want to meet someone who works at this company.”.
And that’s, that’s the name.
Right. Now you might want to see me... and you may not know their name, but you
might want to write down, ”I need to meet the IT department director at XYZ
company.”.
Right.
I don’t know that person’s name, but that is the person I need to meet.
So that’s your first step.
Now you know who to meet. Now you’re going to figure out how to meet them.
So...
And then what you got to do is figure out where those people hang out.
I see in line 6 ”hang out”.
Brandon, what does that mean - hang out?
Just means: Where are these people?
Where do they kind of sit down and have lunch?
Or where do they kind of just go to talk with other people, and hang out with
other people, and be around other people?
OK. So you have to find out maybe they might belong to organizations.
What organizations do you think they might belong to?
Who might know them?
So you may not meet them initially, but you might want to talk with people who
are in the same industry.
And then you can ask about them and say, do you know, you know, so-and-so over
at XYZ company; that you have to talk to people.
And then maybe if you are lucky enough, we find out there in line... uh... looks
like 7 and 8:
Once you do meet them, what does Remson advise, Winnie?
He advises that you stay on their radar screen.
And radar screen is just another way of saying you want to be seen by them.
So where they meet, you want to be where they might have a chance to talk to you
or see you or have contacts with you.
OK. And Naomi, you had explained that to Winnine during our break maybe in a
good example our listeners might understand as far as like airplanes and things,
right?
Sure!
Actually, that was Brandon’s thought. When you’re talking about people who...
air traffic controllers that have like a screen of what’s on the radar in a
certain area,
or the pilot of a plane has a screen in his plane of what’s within a certain...
a certain space of where they are.
And so these leaders in business or these different business people or...
they’ll have this kind of awareness of what’s going on around them.
That might not include you.
Right.
Because they don’t really know you.
So how do you make sure that they remember who you are?
Right.
Yeah. How do I do that, Brandon?
Um, does it help me out there in line 8?
Yes, it does, Bill.
It says, ”Doing that requires touching base with them at least once a quarter.”.
And again, here touching base is just simply to talk to someone in order to find
out how they are or what they think about something.
So again, that’s a big part of networking... is touching base with people and
talking with them and helping your relationship to grow.
How can I touch base?
Any ideas?
How do I touch base?
Do I drive over to their house, knock on their door?
Oh, please no.
No!
I think uh... an important thing to think about again is, where do these people
hang out?
Um, maybe if there’re certain events, certain business lunches or uh... maybe
New Year parties that you know you’ll be able to go to and they will be there as
well, then go.
Winnie?
I think a lot of um... sports teams or even sports clubs are good events.
I hear lots of people talk about going to play golf and..
Right.
Having business contacts there.
Or even if it’s as simple as where they send their kids for camp or going to
sporting events with their children.
So those are all opportunities where you can make contacts and talk to people.
And of course, you know, just having lunch with someone is great too when...
when you have the time to do it.
It doesn’t have to be that often.
Here they say once a quarter.
Right.
Once a quarter being about every three months.
Now further Remson advises, Brandon?
Well, he says, ”To foster relationship building,” which means to kind of advance
that relationship or to nurture that relationship.
And then he advises, ”Going beyond membership events or a random lunch
meeting.”.
So maybe take it a step further, maybe be a little more proactive.
Right. And keep in mind that you need a reason.
You need a decent reason for contacting people and whether it’s uh, you know,
you walk up to them and talk to them at a community gathering or at some
organization.
You have a reason.
You have something to talk to them about.
For instance, if I go to maybe the computer association meeting, and I want to
meet Winnie, and maybe I met her three months ago, and I see her, well, I’m
gonna walk up and talk to her.
I... I don’t... I want... I need more than, ”Hey. How are you doing?”.
Mmhm.
OK. I need more than that.
I need to ask her something industry-related, right?
But this does take time and energy.
He suggests, he says, ”Distinguish yourself.”.
In other words, set yourself apart from other people, make yourself stand out by
becoming actively involved.
Right.
Now that can mean a lot of different things and... and it can be hard to do.
But basically, if you... if you are in charge of doing something, it gives you a
good reason to be in touch with people.
Right.
Just an example.
I helped organize a fund raising party for some orphanages in the area a few
months ago.
And even though this was something I wanted to do, it was fun to do it, the fact
is that it also gave me a lot of opportunities to talk with different people, to
call different people and say,
”Hey, would you be interested in helping out?”.
And so the more involved you are, the more excuses you have to maintain those
contacts.
Right.
This is a great example that you give, Naomi.
And in fact, you know, people ask... or maybe they think a lot of times, ”Why
should I volunteer for something?”.
Right?
”I’m so busy. I don’t have time for anything.”.
But we see, in line 13, that next sentence.
Actually, it... it explains why we should do stuff like that.
It says, ”Becoming program coordinator or membership chair will put you in
positions to meet people. They could hire you or refer business to you.”.
So it can be helpful to become, you know, in charge of something.
Right.
So if you’re in charge of something, you need to contact people.
And it’s also a good way to establish your reputation.
”Oh, this person is responsible.”.
Or they know how to communicate.
So um... this is something where people... You know, you have to do a good job
with it.
Don’t just kind of go through the motions, right?
Right.
And if you don’t have time, then... then don’t do it.
But...
Right.
Like we learned yesterday, time is money in this case.
And spending time building those relationships can be, you know, profitable for
you.
And so maybe you can become the membership chair, but maybe you can just offer
to um... take over coordination of just one event a year.
And you’ll already be in a position where you have that... that opportunity to
connect.
Right.
Well, Remson does caution that this takes a time commitment as you mentioned,
Naomi.
And how do we finish that paragraph, Winnie?
He says that ”you’re trying to cultivate relationships where people trust you
and you can’t rush that.”.
OK.
”Cultivate” in this sentence, it means to make a special effort to establish and
develop relationship.
Um, I think... I can imagine just a plant and that’s... it’s just starting to
grow.
And in order for it to blossom or to grow, you need to really take care of it.
And I think the same goes for relationships.
It’s not just the one time thing where you pass along a business card.
But you really have to build that trust, get to know that person.
Right. Yeah. You definitely can’t rush it.
And if you do rush it, people pick up on that.
Yes.
It’s very obvious when you try and rush it.
All right. Let’sfinish our reading for today.