How can you maintain relationships with former colleagues?

People often get scared to reach out to past coworkers, and we're often just overthinking it. Sending a text or email that says "Hey! Thought of you today! If you have a sec, I'd love to hear how you are doing" is a completely polite and authentic way to stay in touch. A more personalized version of this is to share the thing that makes you think of them. For example, a past coworker and myself used to always look at the Neiman Marcus holiday catalog at work. When it came out this year I could message her and say "Flipping through the NM Holiday catalog and thought of you! How have you been? What are you up to?" Who doesn't want to be thought of?

Maintaining relationships is a reciprocal effort. Be proactive, genuine, and consistent in your efforts to stay connected with former colleagues. Seek advice or opinions from your former colleagues on professional matters. People appreciate being valued for their expertise, and it opens up opportunities for ongoing communication.

I like the idea of maintaining connection with colleagues, especially the ones who were generous, compassionate, and/or wicked smart. I have made the effort with several, albeit not as many as I am now thinking I should be. Thanks for the reminder.

Add value to their lives without expecting anything in return. Like their posts so that they have extended reach, make an introduction that makes sense and congratulate them when they get promoted or a new job.

I learned a rule early in my Corporate life. Never burn the bridge you earlier crossed, you never know when it might help you in case of retreat. Be humble and polite to everyone, why only former colleagues. Former Colleagues were once your buddies, your partners in growth and pain. Respect them , learn from them, talk to them often. If someone was even rude to you, it showed you the way to the place where you are now.

I was lucky enough to have an ex-colleague who became a very close friend. He went on to work on some really interesting and challenging positions and I brought up the idea of having some mentorship sessions and our knowledge sharing has been valuable for us both. You will meet a lot of colleagues who you come to respect as both a friend and a peer so don't be afraid to explore that avenue. It will most likely be more casual and could be awkward at first but it can be very rewarding.

Maintaining relationships with former colleagues is certainly important in any company or organization nowadays. It is a true thing that sharing valuable information can strengthen the relationships, build rapport with former colleagues and facilitate the operation of companies or organizations.

And even if you can't think of anything to share, but still thought of them; sending them a genuine hi and asking about them, may bring up a topic to discuss.

Be social on social media. Many of us consume other people's passively - and i love a cute dog video as much as the next person - but you have to be intentional about curating and maintaining virtual relationships. Seek out the people you want to be in community with because you can't rely on the algorithm to show them to you. And engage with their content. Likes and emojis are cool, but saying something meaningful or adding value goes significantly further.

This is the easiest way to stay in touch with your ex-colleagues. However, some may prefer just to link on LinkedIn and not any other social media, which is fine. Respect boundaries whilst still being in touch professionally.

Seeking a colleague's expertise in their chosen field strengthens your bond in two ways: Acknowledgement: It shows your colleague that you value their knowledge and experience, fostering a sense of appreciation and respect. Empowerment: You go beyond simply seeking facts by inviting their unique perspective and analysis, making them feel valued as a thought partner.

This not only helps being in touch, but also improves your and sometimes their knowledge and outlook. Personally, I have benefitted a lot from conversations with ex-colleagues than reading forums.

With any relationship, it takes commitment. - You cannot be the only one to reach out. - You can try to reach out up to three times, but if you get "radio silence" or are "ghosted", move on. - When colleagues repeatedly ghost you, the problem is them, not you. Find someone else to build a strong relationship with.

Transitioning to a new role or organization just means defining new ways to be colleagues. You can still collaborate through conference presentations, attending networking events together, writing joint articles or partnering to bring one another in as consultants or contractors. The partnerships can continue, it just requires a bit of creativity (& of course the time).