What do you know about your network?
Posted by
If I asked you how much you knew about your colleagues, the people in your team and the people in your network, as individuals – rather than just in the context of work – what would your answer be? Have you taken the time to really get to know the people you share your professional life with?
This is something worth thinking about and, while you may feel there’s no need to build deep relationships with people who are “just work colleagues”, in truth there are advantages to investing the time and the emotion in getting to know your network personally. For example, if you find it quite hard to connect with people or to know what to say to people when you need to talk to them, getting to know them on a personal level makes that easier.
And beyond the superficial benefits, the reality is you need the people you work with to know that you care about them. Some of the most engaged teams are ones where the manager really knows their people and has taken the time to understand them personally. Clearly, this is not effective where the reason is a cynical bid to gain discretionary effort. But done with a genuine enthusiasm, team members mostly respond and the information can help you in your efforts to better support your people.
And it’s not just a benefit for managers – the more you take the time to understand your peers, their challenges, how they work best, what they’re about and what motivates them – the more likely you are to understand how best to get their help and to help them. Plus by deepening the relationships you have with your colleagues you’ll get more enjoyment out of work yourself.
Take Away
Wherever you’re sat at the moment, think about the nearest two people next to you – do you know what they aspire to, what’s important in their lives and what they do in their spare time? And consider, if you can’t answer those questions, what type of message do you think that’s sending to them about how you think about them?
This is something worth thinking about and, while you may feel there’s no need to build deep relationships with people who are “just work colleagues”, in truth there are advantages to investing the time and the emotion in getting to know your network personally. For example, if you find it quite hard to connect with people or to know what to say to people when you need to talk to them, getting to know them on a personal level makes that easier.
And beyond the superficial benefits, the reality is you need the people you work with to know that you care about them. Some of the most engaged teams are ones where the manager really knows their people and has taken the time to understand them personally. Clearly, this is not effective where the reason is a cynical bid to gain discretionary effort. But done with a genuine enthusiasm, team members mostly respond and the information can help you in your efforts to better support your people.
And it’s not just a benefit for managers – the more you take the time to understand your peers, their challenges, how they work best, what they’re about and what motivates them – the more likely you are to understand how best to get their help and to help them. Plus by deepening the relationships you have with your colleagues you’ll get more enjoyment out of work yourself.
Take Away
Wherever you’re sat at the moment, think about the nearest two people next to you – do you know what they aspire to, what’s important in their lives and what they do in their spare time? And consider, if you can’t answer those questions, what type of message do you think that’s sending to them about how you think about them?