Lost Touch With People In Your Network? Here’s How To Fix That.
Life gets busy and then a year goes by, maybe two or three and you realize you’ve lost touch with much of your network. It happens to all of us. We slip into the habit of interacting with our strong ties only, those who are nearest to us – friends and family, close business associates – and we neglect everyone else. Oh, we think of them from time to time, but we don’t reach out. Then, we find that so much time has gone by that we are embarrassed to reconnect. Our network is tired.
A tired network is the opposite of what you need for career growth – you want one that’s healthy and vibrant, full of strong and weak ties with whom you’ve engaged regularly. With a healthy network, when you need ideas, knowledge, advice, support, or even assistance getting a new job, you can turn to your network with assurance.
The good news is that it only takes a little effort to reinvigorate your network, to get it back in shape and to transform it from tired to healthy!
Who are your weak and dormant ties?
Your network is comprised of many levels of relationships. Strong ties, for example, are closest to you – people in your family, colleagues on your team at work, clients, suppliers, or even relatives. These are people whom you contact fairly regularly, and they contact you. You have a lot in common, and you share a perspective.
No need to work on your strong ties for now, they are already alive and well.
Different from strong ties, and in many ways more valuable, are your connections that can be classified as “weak ties.”
The value of weak ties was first recognized by Mark Granovetter, a Stanford sociology professor. Four times more of the workers he surveyed got their jobs through weak tie connections than through strong-tie ones. Granovetter’s breakthrough conclusion was that weak ties are invaluable when you are looking for new information, new ways of thinking, new leads or for inspiration, or innovative ideas.
Your weak ties operate in different circles of experience and influence from you. They open up a world of possibilities because they bring the “new and different”.
As well as weak ties, your network includes “dormant ties”. These are likely originally strong ties from whom you have drifted apart for understandable reasons — job changes, divergent interests, schedules. Examples could be a neighbourhood parent whose child was best friends with yours throughout elementary school, or a colleague at your former employer with whom you co-chaired the annual fundraiser for many years, or a fellow student in your executive MBA program 5 years ago.
Because of the intensity of your original relationship and your shared experience, dormant ties that were originally strong ones are very valuable. Also, they will be relatively easy and natural to reinvigorate. A good focus for you.
Now is the time to reconnect, before you need your network.
Get your LinkedIn page ready
Check your LinkedIn page. This is likely the first place your contacts will look to get caught up on who you are and what you’ve been doing. Is the photo current? How good is your headline?
LinkedIn has great tips for customizing your headline and creating your best profile.
Five tips for reconnecting with your weak and dormant ties
- Keep an eye on your contacts’ LinkedIn pages and Like or Comment on their posts.
- If you have their email address, send them a short note. Or message them on LinkedIn. If you are not connected on LinkedIn, find their LinkedIn page and invite them to join your network. Always be sure to send a personal message with your invitation.
- In your notes and messages, use a sincere, authentic reason for thinking of them. It’s so much better than “Just saying hi”. You could reference a weather event in their part of the world. Or maybe their company is in the news. Or a shared memory came to mind for you. Keep things relaxed and friendly. Take inspiration from knowing how nicely surprised you would be if this person were the one reaching out to you.
- There’s an adage from our Top Networking Challenges the “Season is the Reason”… nothing wrong with a cheerful wish for a Happy New Year, Canada Day or Thanksgiving, particularly if you’re able to add a personal insight.
- Remember, your goal is to let your contacts know you’re thinking of them, being mindful to not take up too much of their time or energy. Keep your messages short and the number of back-and-forth exchanges to a minimum.
Why wait to get started?
To get motivated, think about why you want a reinvigorated network.
What are your end goals? Is it to have a source for problem-solving or idea exchange? Perhaps you’re looking for visibility, self-confidence or to develop your social skills. Or you suspect you’ll need to find a new position in the near future. Maybe it’s a more personal reason, or all of the above.
Whatever your end goals now, remember — In the future, a vibrant and healthy network will be vitally important to your career and personal success in ways you can’t even imagine at this time.
Get started now! Re-connect with your weak and dormant ties one by one. Work at it a little every day. You and your renewed contacts will be engaging regularly before you know it. And that’s when you can be certain that your network is back in shape, reinvigorated and ready.
Keep the learning going
Networking is hard, but we’re here to help. Make sure you sign up for our free weekly networking tips, so you can continue to get emails that will help you along your networking journey. And, for more comprehensive learning check out our online course, Power of Positive Networking®. It is almost five hours of training that you can do on your own time, at your own pace.
Please note: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.