Making Your Network Work for You

Last week I led a career development roundtable at Microsoft on effective networking based on a number of sources, including a Harvard Business Review article from Rob Cross and Robert Thomas on "Smarter Networking." While this was more of a facilitated discussion, to engage the group in mutual exchange, I did highlight some key insights from this discovery process that impacted me and are causing me to rethink my approach to networking.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that research has found that truly effective networks only have a core size of between 12-18 people. While this may make immediate sense to some, I really had to stop and think about this conclusion. Larger network numbers don't provide more value and, in fact, actually decrease the value your network provides. You can so easily dilute your impact by expanding your outreach, versus maximizing the mutual exchange between a more limited set of committed network members.

Makes you think about your LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter connections. Is all that time well spent?

So, what really matters is your network structure: those 12-18 primary connections that bridge all kinds of smaller groups and cross all sorts of geographies, functional, and hierarchical lines. Additionally, interactions with these core relationships need to emphasize more mutual learning, committed engagement, and personal growth, and less transactional exchange. Maybe most importantly, this newly defined network should be comprised of positive, energetic, and authentic contacts - because if your closest connections exhibit these traits, so will you.

To get started, or revamp your network approach, it's important to ground your commitment to real outcomes that you want to achieve. You can't just network for networking's sake, or in some vague hope that a new contact is going to land you that dream assignment/job/promotion. Be realistic - what do you want to achieve in a six month, 12 month, and 24 month time frame. Then you can more effectively think about your network structure.

Here are some good steps for re-thinking, re-configuring, and living a smarter network:

1. Analyze who is in your network today by categorizing: (1) who provides new information or expertise; (2) those in other groups/locations who share best practices; (3) those who inspire innovation, especially those outside your current environment; (4) people who previously held "powerful" positions who can mentor you, offer political support, and help you analyze big issues; (5)folks who have informal power who can help provide direct and indirect influence; (6) those who help with professional or personal developmental counsel; and (7) people who provide personal support and promote your well-being.
2. Determine who in your network you should "de-layer" by categorizing: (1) people who are energy drains; (2) folks who have too much of you; (3) people who are in a category with too many other people, hence just repeating the same value; and (4) folks who don't provide real value back, or don't really care about the relationship with you beyond being transactional.
3. Connect your network to your professional and personal goals: (1) first, spell out three business outcomes you want to achieve over a year with your network; (2) categorize the "de-layered" or new network connections against your business objectives, by evaluating who can lend appropriate experience, resources, or support.