Get a Promotion 9: Build an Internal Network of Contacts

This continues our series on actions to help you get a promotion in your current company

We discussed the need to develop a network of contacts in a previous post. The focus, in that post, dealt with how a network helps you improve your productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, and quality. This post explores how internal networks of contacts teach you the written and unwritten rules, and about the organizational structure.

How to Build Your Internal Network

You build your network by making friends in the company. Do not select your friends based on what you think they can do for you. Select people that you want to know more about.

Sarah and Jared Stewart teach 9 keys building relationships. I’d like to share just of few of their keys in this post:

• Get out of the coliseum: avoid developing relationships for hoped for transaction
• Learn, serve, grow: Learn about people so that you can find a way to serve them, so the relationship will grow
• Just because: build relationships just because knowing people is good: not for some selfish purpose

The CIO Survival Guide authored by Karl D. Schubert offers this good advice:

• Cultivate a broad network to exchange ideas and rally collaborative support
• Stay in touch with people at all levels of your organization—vertically & horizontally
• Continuously investigate what managers and others need from you and your team
• Respect and openly acknowledge the individuals on your team
• Adapt your interpersonal style to align with the strengths & shortcomings of others
• Act to preserve relationships, even under difficult stress or heated emotions
• Promote collaboration and remove obstacles to teamwork across the organization

What Your Network Can Teach You

EFinancialCareers posted “Building a network within your company can be as important to your success as developing contacts outside. But watch out: The wrong moves can sink you. Here’s how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls.

• Assess Your Workplace Culture
• Follow Company Guidelines
• Keep Your Boss in the Loop
• Stay Positive
• Reciprocate
• Don’t Be Pushy”

Monday we examine how studying the policies & procedures for the company helps you fit in