Never Eat Alone at Work: How Everyday Networking Builds Your Career
Internal Networking
My Slack Call rang. Sandy, an engineering leader at Expedia, quickly explained her request and provided the business context. I agreed to respond back with a timeline after I discussed it with my team. Less than five minutes. No scheduled meeting.
Sandy and I met at an Expedia hosted offsite for executive women. After the event, I invited Sandy to meet for a 1:1 lunch to learn more about each other’s area of work and get to know each other. Sitting down for a meal together builds a personal connection that - in my opinion - can’t be replicated through virtual methods. Because of this personal connection, Sandy was incredibly comfortable calling me to escalate her request.
Throughout my time at Expedia, I set a personal goal to have 1:1 lunch with at least 3 people a week from cross functional areas and all levels from early career to executive. I have something to learn from every one of them.
Meet local colleagues
Throughout your workday, you come across colleagues with whom you have a loose professional connection and, likely, no personal connection. Have you had Slack discussions but had not met in person? Were you seated at a table of new-to-you colleagues during an Employee Resource Group (ERG) event? Was there an impressive colleague at a meeting? Did someone send you a LinkedIn request?
Invite your colleague to a walk, coffee or lunch. Discuss your role, your functional area, your current priorities/projects, and some personal details. Be prepared with a couple of questions to ask about them.
If they accepted your invitation, they are already open to building a connection.
Network with other offices
At Expedia, I travelled to our European offices a few times a year. My preparation for the trips always included lunch with colleagues and at least one group lunch with local executive women. It was as easy as sending a calendar invitation and waiting for the responses. I was always pleasantly surprised by the attendance. It shows that we crave for this connection and are just waiting for someone else to arrange it.
My consulting career ingrained in me to never eat alone.
Daily interactions
I’m standing in the elevator of my financial services client. The CEO enters the elevator just as the doors are closing. All the elevator occupants froze in place - no moving, no talking, barely breathing. I looked over at the CEO and introduced myself as the consulting project lead on a strategic initiative at the company. I was not smooth. I stumbled over my words. I didn’t have an elevator speech prepared. But now he knows who I am and what my team is doing for his company.
You have daily interactions like this frequently. I’ve introduced myself to colleagues waiting for their coffee to brew or their lunch to heat up. I’ve ridden an elevator to the parking garage with an executive to initiate a discussion. When an executive asks me how I am as we pass in the hallways, I respond with a quick summary of what I’m working on and recent accomplishments. This sounds more cringe than it is. Here is an example:
I’m great! We’re negotiating our payment processing contract with Barclays. With the help of treasury, we expect that we’ll come out with significant savings on our foreign currency exchange. We’re excited to have that for your signature soon.
Rather than responding with the generic ‘I’m fine. Thank you,’ my short and quick response provided insight into what I’m delivering for the company, and how I’m partnering with another function.
Your direct manager and others may advocate for you across the company. That is not enough. You are the most effective brand ambassador for YOU.