What do you do if you want to build professional relationships with colleagues in your field?

It can be done via Networking and collaboration. - A professional should share expertise and contribute to discussions in his professional community. - By Attending Industry events, Workshops, Conferences. This kind of platform provides opportunities to meet colleagues in a professional setting. - By Expressing genuine interest - Ask your professional community to help with their thoughts about the ongoing projects and Actively engage with them in a meaningful conversations.

Set clear goals: Define what you want from professional relationships, like mentorship or collaboration. Target specific audience: Tailor your networking efforts to connect with individuals who align with your goals. Personalize your communication to show genuine interest and value eg, A designer shared a portfolio with industry contacts to showcase skills and seek feedback Track your networking efforts to gauge effectiveness and adjust strategies accordingly eg, A sales manager monitored networking events on lead generation Take initiative in reaching out and nurturing professional connections eg, regular coffee meetings with industry peers to exchange ideas Maintain relationships by staying in touch and offering support when needed.

Career development is the process of choosing, improving, and advancing in your career path. It can help you achieve your personal and professional goals, as well as increase your satisfaction and success in your work. To start your career development journey, you need to assess your current situation, identify your strengths and weaknesses, explore your options, set your goals, make an action plan, and implement it. You may also need to revise your plan as you encounter new challenges or opportunities along the way.

To build professional relationships with colleagues in your field, start by initiating genuine conversations and actively listening to their perspectives. Show interest in their work, offer support, and collaborate on projects when possible. Attend industry events, join professional groups, and join networking activities to expand your connections. Be reliable, trustworthy, and respectful in your interactions, and prioritize building rapport over time. Additionally, seek opportunities to mentor or be mentored, as fostering mutual growth can strengthen professional bonds.

I see people flaunting the 'number' of people in their network. Have you ever asked yourself how many will revert/respond to you when you reach out to them for any kind of professional support? While building your network have a clear objective, and connect with people in your area of expertise. Networking is a two-way process, nurture, build and sustain the relationship.

Utilize LinkedIn as a starting point to reach out and increase your network. Hint: Make sure you prepare your own profile before starting your online networking goals. To increase value, attend conferences in-person and meet up with connections and speakers/presenters. Not only do you already have the benefit of being with like-minded people in the same industry, but making in-person connections increases connections and has a much more lasting effect than connecting online for most people.

Research your options to build relationships with colleagues in your field. Explore networking events, industry forums, and professional associations. Identify common interests and engage authentically to foster meaningful connections.

If you're working in an office, start with small talk during meetings or when you bump into someone in the hallway or near the water cooler. Once you get to know them a bit, reach out on office chat apps like MS Team or Slack. Maybe grab lunch together. A quick message wishing them a good weekend can go a long way too. And if they ever need help with something, be ready to help out. Show real interest in them. For meeting people outside your company, start by setting up your profile on LinkedIn, Twitter, or your own website. This way, when you reach out, they'll have an idea of who you are. But don't try to do everything at once. Pick a few strategies with just a few people, focus on them, and gradually expand.

Use LinkedIn! You can easily search for those in your field, jurisdictions, and seniority. This is especially useful when you’re launching new projects or hit a wall and just need some advice. I’m almost always surprised at how open people are to sharing their experience.

Do your homework and offer relevant help. Demonstrate that you’re not using canned, blanket outreach. Don’t say you’ve looked at their profile and identified a commonality when it’s clear you haven’t visited their page or researched beyond the surface. If you’ve invested time and effort to learn about them specifically, they may be more inclined to give you the time of day. Many people come with asks, so if you offer up a resource, a contact, or thought-out input instead, you can easily answer the “what’s in it for them.”

In the office, it's easy to start networking. Just chat a little in meetings or when you see someone around the hallway or water cooler. It's about finding simple things to talk about at first. Then, once you know each other a bit, send them a message on MS Team or Slack. It's less formal and friendly. How about lunch together? It's a good way to talk more. Also, a quick message like wishing them a good weekend shows you care. The key skill is to be genuine and really interested in your colleagues.

When you send the initial message to someone you want to network with, do three things: 1. Share how you have common ground with them 2. Why you're reaching out to them 3. Making an ask and giving them an out Each step should be uniquely tailored to the individual, especially #1 since that varies most heavily based on your research.

It's easy to get caught up in meeting lots of new people and then forget about them. Instead of trying to know hundreds, stick to a smaller number you can keep in touch with regularly. Otherwise, you'll always be meeting new faces, and those you met a few months back will just fade away. Remember, building relationships is like laying bricks - each one needs another layer, another catch-up. So, following up is more important than making new connections. Keep it focused and meaningful.

The easiest way to guarantee follow-up is to set a future meeting or equally agreed upon next steps as how to keep the relationship progressing. Find one creative way to send a value-add message before you meet with them again.

Networking will always be the age old way to build strong professional relationships- if done correctly. Connecting with every person you come across on LinkedIn won’t do anything to create the personal and professional relationships you will really need to advance your career. You need to be poignant and direct in your search and find those you have some connection with to begin the conversation. I advise all of my students to reach out to alumni in the field in which they are interested and learn their story and how they got there. Be authentic and genuine. Create a real relationship which will inherently lead to a more open, friendly and productive mentee/mentor relationship and can pay dividends down the line.

In my experience, a useful tactic is network interviewing. Within your network, “interview” or ask your colleagues questions about their career, field of expertise, and/or day-to-day work. First, I tend to find there are several transferable experiences, useful insights, and pieces of advice. I also find that my colleagues learned and gained wisdom from their own network, which naturally opens the door for referrals/introductions to their networks. This allows you to expand your network purposefully and with the intent to build meaningful long-term professional relationships.

In networking you ultimately receive what you give, thus engage with and give free value to your network frequently. From providing support to celebrating them, you will receive the same organically in return.

One of the most rewarding parts of my career has been ongoing professional relationships. These connections are formed by moving in each other’s circles, by way of conferences, networking events and industry gatherings. While the primary focus of these events are usually work-related, it’s wonderful to keep returning to conversations that gradually expand into other shared interest areas the more you see each other. With time, you come to expect and look forward to seeing these familiar faces, rather than just going to “another work event”.