Right now, if you work in an MNC especially in Banking & Finance your people are overwhelmed and you most probably are too.
Changing this situation needs a top-down approach. So what can YOU do to reduce overwhelm both with your staff and yourself?
Deloitte’s published a report devoted to Employee Overwhelm in 2014 and if you are a leader, you really should read it. They found companies using innovative practices that you can adopt today and make a difference. There is a link to the Deloitte report at the bottom of this article
I have highlighted 7 approaches below and I also offer you my own experiences of deep overwhelm and the effects they have on self & family at the end of this article. I hope they help. The change starts with you.
1. Get input: Assess employees’ current workloads and what issues trouble them most. Rather than ask high-level engagement questions, survey them on their most “frustrating” work practices or systems.
Look at ways to outsource or insource repetitive, non-core tasks to free up employee time and energy. Pfizer developed a program called PfizerWorks that allows employees to off-load technical and administrative non-core tasks, such as statistical analysis, writing, and publishing. Scientists claim it saves months of time per year, allowing them to dedicate more time to strategic work and their scientific skills
2. Email free times. More and more companies are experimenting with “email free” times. Short times per day when you can actually concentrate on the task at hand without interruption.
3. Ask yourself, does everyone need to be online all day and night? Some executives now deliberately avoid sending emails at night or on weekends, sending a signal to the team that it is OK to disconnect and unwind.
I worked with a demanding highly senior HR person that would send you an email late at night with a question. When you replied she would follow it with another 2 questions. This would go on until the early hours. What is your practice?
As an aside, 99% of people I know have their emails set on auto-deliver. It is usually impossible to concentrate on your task when you see a little envelope at the bottom of your screen. It provokes your threat response. You need to open it and find out that everything is ok. This is your survival mechanism kicking in, only, you’re not wandering the savannah dodging lions anymore, you’re in a much more threatening environment. Your brain releases the same chemicals during workplace stress as it would if you were faced with physical threat. It doesn’t know the difference. Set your email to deliver every 30 mins – 1 hour and let me know how much more productive you are with less distraction.
4. Enforce guidelines on sending emails, holding meetings, and traveling—and educating staff in these areas. Meetings should be limited to 30 minutes, while the use of “cc” and “reply all” in emails should really be curtailed. How many times are your team distracted by emails that don’t practically concern them?
5. Delegate decision-making: Is it clear who makes decisions in your workgroup? Can people make their own decisions without involving many others or asking others for help? Push decisions down, and people’s lives can become easier.
One reason employees are so busy is they may be afraid to delegate tasks, while more and more employees view “being busy” as a badge of honor. How can you help this situation?
6. Be agile: Historically, managing time and information was viewed as an employee’s personal concern. If employees were overwhelmed, the thinking went, they were expected to fix it themselves—by taking a course in time management, for instance. Now, some employers are treating overload as a shared problem requiring a company response.
One strategy companies are following to help employees become more productive with their time is creating smaller, more agile teams. Under this system, teams are broken up into small groups that regularly hold short, face-to-face meetings.
Each day, these teams have daily “scrums” and “stand up meetings.” These events last no longer than 15 minutes, forcing people to rapidly discuss issues, resolve problems, and get back to work.
7. Lead through example: Change is often most powerful when it comes from the top. Leaders should have, and should grant themselves—permission to take these steps, setting an example to help their employees deal with being overwhelmed.
Don’t just take it from me; this is the summary of the Deloitte report:
“Companies need to recognize that the overwhelmed, hyper-connected employee is a business concern. As employees become more connected and messages and information proliferate, it is increasingly important for employers to develop standards, principles, and technologies that simplify work. The opportunity for business and HR leaders is to find ways to make information easier to find, simplify processes and systems, keep teams small, and make sure leaders provide focus. The result will likely be improved employee satisfaction, teamwork, and productivity.”
My own experience with overwhelm.
I spent years in banks through the crisis and beyond, working in a complete state of overwhelm with hundreds of colleagues also in a state of overwhelm. To admit being overwhelmed was a clear signal to management that you were weak and as I heard many times “everyone is replaceable”. Everyone was. Within 14 months 3 different people held the Global CEO role.
At one bank I was hiring nearly 60 senior roles for 45 different leaders and was refused any recruiter support due to headcount restrictions. I was reading over 250 CVs per day, receiving over 300 emails per day incl CCs, Reply to Alls and FYIs and requests for up to 10 meetings a day. This is the extreme end of overwhelm.
9 months later, working 15-hour days to satisfy over 60 different stakeholders I finally broke. Walking along a busy Hong Kong Street, lost in thought, my chest suddenly tightened, muscles spasmed, I couldn’t get my breath. This definitely was a new sensation and I fell to my knees. It wasn’t a good day to die; I’d a meeting with the Head of Legal in 15 minutes! I thought it was a heart attack but luckily found it was just a massive anxiety attack. But what a signal!
My health was in decline, I looked like Jabba the Hut’s little brother and I had missed the first 12 months of my first child’s life. What a terrible father I’d become!
This is an extreme case but I didn’t learn. I walked straight into another overwhelming role and missed the first 12-months of my second child’s life.
I’m fortunate to have turned this around, but I know hundreds of people in the same position I was then. They proudly wear the statement “I’m Busy” as a badge of pride. Truth be known they are deeply unhappy people and this is a situation that’s getting worse, not better.
I’m writing this in the hope that you can see that there’s no shame in admitting you are overwhelmed. All your colleagues will likely be too. It’s time to change, but it starts with you.
The original Deloitte article written by Tom Hodson, Jeff Schwartz, Ardie van Berkel & Ian Winstrom Otten can be found here: http://dupress.com/articles/hc-trends-2014-overwhelmed-employee/
Denis Miles-Vinall is an Executive Coach and interpersonal skills trainer and CEO of The Buckingham Academy, based in Hong Kong. He specializes in Professional Presence, Leadership and Sales. He’s also a devoted family man with a penchant for extreme sports, barefoot waterskiing, freediving and skydiving. He’s a Typhoon Yolanda survivor, which left him with a wholly different lens on the world.
15 years working in Asia Pacific has shown me that there is a distinct lack of mentors for younger employees in the workplace. By mentor I’m talking about the kind of mature employee that ‘takes you under their wing’ because they sincerely want to transfer skills and knowledge to the next generation.
I have my own theories about why this isn’t happening as much now as it was a generation ago when I started working. One is that Business Process Re-engineering championed in the 1980s by management consultants Michael Hammer and James A. Champy was widely adopted and meant the removal of supposedly unproductive layers of middle management to make organizations more efficient and customer-responsive. The outcome of BPR is that a managers’ workload is now sometimes double of that a generation ago. Add in the advance of technology with its continual request for information/response and managers now have little or no time to spend mentoring, instead focusing on their own productivity, deadlines and ‘fire-fighting’.
Mentoring is making a comeback through employee engagement initiatives but why not just try it out instead of waiting to be asked? You can mentor someone over a cup of coffee for 25 minutes. The benefit to a mentee can be obvious, but the benefit to you as the mentor can be equally beneficial. You will learn more about yourself in the process, you’ll develop better listening and communication skills and let’s face it, you’ll also feel good about yourself – it doesn’t have to be altruistic! Also, engaged Gen-y employees tend to stay around longer than those that feel their manager don’t care about them, think of all that recruiting and interviewing time you could potentially cut down on.
If you want to become one of the special few then John Neal, who leads mentoring programmes at Ashridge Business School, shares his top ten tips on what it takes to be a champion mentor:
1. Build self-awareness
An effective mentor should understand themselves and their character when under pressure. This means they are more likely to be focused on the mentee’s agenda without allowing their own issues to cloud the dialogue. Spend time getting to know yourself before you start mentoring. Look into the darker side of your character. Examine the biases that could cloud your judgement, something which often happens when working under pressure.
2. Be Curious
A constant desire to understand more, to be passionate about the process and not the solution, will lead to inquiry without judgement. This gives the mentee the space to discover their own solutions, rather than to follow your advice. Of course, your advice as the mentor may not only be wrong but possibly out of date and, most importantly, your solution will not be owned by the mentee.
3. Create new futures
Mentoring is about prompting actions to create new futures. The past may inform and explain where the mentee has come from and why they are where they are. The mentor needs the ability to help the mentee to look forward and create a future they desire and that inspires them. A robust plan needs to be developed, based on their current situation. Beware of mission statements and goal setting. These do not motivate anybody, despite what you may hear from motivation and life coaches. A great mentor will help the individual discover what is achievable.
4. Learn to Trust yourself
Trust is vital. Without trust between mentor and mentee little progress can be made. And trust starts with the mentor. Do you as the mentor trust yourself? Most people have a quiet but dangerous voice inside their heads that offers a running commentary as they go through life. Who are you to shine, to be so good? If we do not deal with this voice and do not trust ourselves then why should anybody else?
5. Offer rapport – not empathy
Rapport is taking the trouble to understand the mentee’s outlook on the world – how they see things and why – without judging them. Empathy is where you show that you agree with their viewpoint. This mustn’t get in the way, especially if you do not share the other person’s perspective.
6. Question for understanding and not power
Questions should be used appropriately to develop understanding and clarity for the mentee. When you ask a good question the mentee will stop, pause and think. What could be better for a mentor than to cause another person to search inwardly for answers to their own question? It can challenge the mentee to see things in a different way and to come to their own robust conclusion. Only when mentees form their own solution are they likely to take action and make changes.
7. Be a good listener
Listen not just to the words, but also to how the words are used and the accompanying body language. You need to seek out what is being said, as well as understanding where the emotional energy lies, and to really hear the mentee. Make sure that they feel they are being fully understood. Good listening is exhausting and requires that you let go of your own views and agenda. Try it tonight when you get home. See how long you can listen before expressing an opinion.
8. Feedback leads to the route ahead
Feedback is the food of champions. Remember that it is only data and is not always fact. With this in mind there is no such thing as good or bad feedback. A mentor should be comfortable about seeking data and passing it on. You need that data so that you can plan the route ahead.
9. Relevant knowledge will gain respect
Being a master of your craft takes time, and needs study, experience and practice. You do not need letters after your name, but you must know your stuff. Having the relevant knowledge will enable you to gain respect from the mentee. Seek to ask the right questions and develop a strong rapport and trust.
Understanding where you have relevant knowledge which might help is incredibly important. Nobody knows everything and we all have our boundaries that we should stay within. A great mentor knows what they know. Constantly stay curious to learn more but also have he humility to recognise what you don’t know …. And then to use questions to move things forward.
10. Have your own personal system of mentoring
This is not the place to start an argument about what mentoring is and how it is different to coaching, leadership, teaching or counselling. The key is that as a mentor you know what you think it is and that you have your own personal system of mentoring.
Using another person’s model or adopting the practices taught on a course is only a framework, which must be adapted to best suit you. Appreciate your background and skills, the environment in which you are working and most importantly the person you are mentoring.
To find out more how were are helping people develop better communication abilities please visit www.bucademy.com
Thanks to John Neal – his original article can be found below – https://www.ashridge.org.uk/insights/blog/april-2015/how-to-be-a-champion-mentor/
Do you ever get the feeling you’re running a half-way house instead of a business? High staff turnover is a growing issue for companies today, especially as the employment market improves, providing a myriad of options for ambitious and career-minded workers. A high attrition rate is incredibly detrimental to a business, and affects not only the culture and working environment of a business, but its success, and perhaps even its ultimate survival.
There is certainly more employee turnover these days compared to a generation ago, and this is due to a range of factors. Job security used to be paramount for most workers when your parents or grandparents were working. Often a “job for life” was seen as the pinnacle of a successful career. It usually didn’t matter if you enjoyed your job or not, as long as you took home a steady income to provide for your family. These days, through an abundance of opportunities and the global marketplace, young people don’t have to be tied to one place and one career path anymore – they have the world at their feet (and fingertips, thanks to the Internet), and they seek out what gives them meaning and pleasure in their lives.
The downside to this new world of endless opportunity is that companies can lose good workers at the drop of a hat, and high employee turnover leads to big problems in business. In Asia now, it is common to see staff attrition rates of up to 30-40% per annum and higher in the Gen-y demographic. A variety of studies have shown the true cost of losing just one employee, and it can range from tens of thousands of dollars to twice their annual salary!
Lost productivity as the new employee gets up to speed
Customer service errors, resulting in fixing costs
Negative effect on team culture as others ask each other why they left
But the biggest impact of a good worker leaving is the loss of their discretionary effort on the value curve, as Bersin illustrates here:
Fig 1: Economic Value of an Employee to the Organization over Time (C) Bersin by Deloitte
So how can owners and managers retain good workers, and keep their businesses running smoothly and successfully? What keeps employees in your company? What are the staff retention drivers?
Money. How much someone gets paid is a factor, but most of the time it’s not the most important reason why people leave.
Job fit. This is critical. If a worker feels there is a mismatch in expectation they are often prone to look elsewhere. Over the years we have interviewed hundreds of employees seeking to leave due to the fact that the role they interviewed for is different to the one they actually do.
Career opportunity. The younger generation defines a successful career differently to their parents. They look for personal growth, a sense of purpose, being around other like-minded people, connecting and having fun.
Work environment. Once a new worker is settled into a role, they start to look for a challenges and yes, meaning in their jobs. They want to utilise their skills and contribute positively to the business. They want to feel appreciated and valued. Often times, good workers don’t leave companies, they leave bosses.
You can see from this that most retention drivers are related to an employee’s sense of belonging and engagement with their colleagues and their company.
According to a study by the Corporate Leadership Council, “highly engaged” employees were 87% less likely to leave their companies than workers that are “disengaged”. A Gallup study of over 23,000 businesses showed that organisations that scored in the lowest engagement quartile averaged 31-51% more employee turnover than the other business units.
From these observations, it’s obvious that the key to retaining good people and minimising staff turnover is getting them engaged in their work and their company. But what exactly is employee engagement, and how do you increase it within your worksite?
Kevin Kruse, author of ‘Employee Engagement 2.0’, defines employee engagement as “the emotional commitment an employee has to the organisation and its goals, resulting in the use of discretionary effort.” We all want to feel a part of something that has meaning and purpose. The more we are invested emotionally, or engaged in an activity, a person, or an organisation, the more effort we put into nurturing that entity and the more we strive to succeed.
The most successful companies have the most loyal employees. That’s because they not only value their workers, they make sure their workers know they are valued. Greater employee engagement not only means more staff retention, but also better sales and service, quality of work, safety, and revenue.
In today’s expanding global economy and shifting demographics, the businesses that adapt and grow are those that invest in the engagement of their people.
These days that’s not so easy. Everyone is too busy meeting deadlines and targets, and the pressure to perform is higher than ever. Who has the time to mentor or develop staff when there are much more important and urgent things to be done?
The time spent coaching or developing a worker is less than it was a few years ago, as companies focus on getting the most productivity out of their workers, and workloads are increased. Manager/subordinate meetings tend to just be progress updates (are you on track to meet this week’s targets?). As such, the relationship is superficial, and there is little bond between them. When someone doesn’t feel their presence in the workplace is valued, there is no sense of loyalty, and they find it easy to leave in search of something better.
The good news is that you can vastly improve employee engagement and development without spending a lot of time doing it – it’s about being smart and having the right tools.
Simple, short conversations structured in the right way, can produce results you didn’t think possible. It’s time to bring the mentor back into the workplace, but also into the 21st century, utilising new concepts and techniques that will ensure your company is well ahead of the pack when it comes to retaining talented workers and growing your business.
How do you retain your best and brightest? We can help you to develop a workplace culture of engagement. It takes less time and effort than you might think, and will make a huge difference to your business.
Our 1-day workshop ‘Transform your Workplace with Coaching Moments’ is for busy managers, and will show you how you can connect with and motivate your workers in a structured 10-15 minute coaching session. Take your business to the next level by discovering how to engage people with their work, how to develop them to be more productive, and how to maximise their contribution to your company’s success.
Recent research in the US has found that in the average workplace employees
·Spend 2.1 hours in distraction
·Are interrupted every 11 minutes
·Take 25 minutes to refocus their mind back on the project they were working on before they were distracted
With the extreme long hours we work in Asia, the above US statistics will be significantly lower than our own averages.
Distraction in our daily lives is now immense and shows no sign of decreasing. Thanks to technology, and organizational de-layering, our workload is significantly higher than that of previous (retired) generations. With this in mind, the need for productivity reflection and focus is now more crucial than ever as we work on multiple tasks and multiple deadlines.
As an experiment I have left my communication devices on whilst writing this blog update. In the time is has taken me to write the above paragraphs I have received 3 emails, 5 twitter updates, 4 facebook updates, 3 whatsapps, a phone call from a marketing company and an ‘urgent’ viber message.
So what can people do to help themselves focus amongst the barrage of distraction?
Well, one way is to disconnect for 30 minutes, step away from your usual environment and give yourself a little reflection time on what’s going on, what needs to be done and prioritise. The reason I write this is that it’s now becoming so difficult to ‘see the wood for the trees’. With information overload, constant requests and ‘fire-fighting’ it can be difficult to keep track of what’s really important.
Many people have a ‘to-do’ list and whilst these sometimes work, it’s also as important to keep an ‘achievements’ list. The reason is that, after a day of constant distraction you may remember what you achieved, but if you try to remember 2 days later (or if your boss asks you 2 days later!) it’s often difficult to remember all of those great key ‘wins’. This is a disaster in self-marketing!
Young professionals generally have the largest issue with disconnecting as they are so used to being online and contactable 24/7.Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is the name given to this fear.
People are used to checking their Twitter / linkedin / facebook / weibo / snapchat / wechat constantly, because something interesting just might be happening.
It’s not “interruption,” it’s connection. But really it’s not “connection” either. It’s the potential for a different connection. It may be better, it may be worse but it’s unknown until they check.
Remarkably, at a biological level, our neural pathways are being changed by the constant demand to know why that little green, blue or yellow light is currently flashing on our phones. Thanks to neuroscience, we’re beginning to understand that when we access that snippet of information driving the smartphone light, we excite neurons in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain, which releases the neurotransmitter dopamine into the brain’s pleasure centers. This in turn causes the experience to be perceived as pleasurable. As a result, some people can become obsessed with these pleasure-seeking experiences and engage in compulsive behavior such as the need to constantly check email.
This behaviour was really made public by the ‘Crackberry’ addiction. In the mid-2000’s one US lady banker in late stages of labour was famously admitted to the delivery room still frantically tapping away on her blackberry.
Recently, recognized learning and development experts, Boud, Cressey and Docherty have developed the concept of ‘productive reflection at work’, which takes a collective approach to reflection and which they claim is the ‘key to learning to improve production and to making life at work more satisfying’ (Productive Reflection at Work: Learning for Changing Organizations 2006). The essential element of the learning achieved through this approach is that it is focused on workplace activity, it is ‘reflection in and on the work being carried out. This is what we term productive reflection’ (2006, 4).
They claim this new approach is particularly valuable, because, ‘Yesterday’s trainees in vocational education and training must now become lifelong learners with greater emphasis on problem solving, interpersonal skills and contextual understanding and capacity for reflexivity’ (2006, 5).
So here I’d like to ask 3 questions?
What’s the worst thing that could happen to you by disconnecting for 60 minutes?
If your leader gave you 60 minutes of complete, uninterrupted ‘focus time’, what could you really achieve with that?
As a leader in your organization, to enhance the productivity and focus in your team, what can you do to help your people at this critical time?
Our coaching and training helps professionals focus and achieve more.
Please send me any comments you have. Any typos or grammatical errors contained here are all my own work!
Over the last year, our organization has spent a considerable time training groups of Generation-Y employees for Asia-based businesses.
I know from my previous HR days that Gen-Y is a major concern for many organizations; from a hiring point of view as well as with engagement and turnover issues.
Over recent years I have hired hundreds of Gen-Y people and have seen firsthand how many leave many the organization between the 12 and 18 month stage. The figures are quite shocking. Interestingly, I also got to hear their perspective of why they were leaving and many times the reasons were all quite similar.
We all have different filters in the way that we see the world and people around us. As I live in Asia, I constantly see young people going about their lives with their faces glued to their ‘smart’phone. Mostly playing candy crush or on whatsapp (sms is dead). Visit many restaurants and you will see groups of people sitting and dining, and all talking to somone who isn’t physically there. I see children crossing the street playing games on their phones whilst their domestic-helper guides them through the traffic and I see adult couples on dates constantly messaging friends between breaks from taking pictures of their food.
Over the years my filter has been of decreased ability for personal communication and engagement. Over the last year, I’m happy to note, much of this filter has been lifted.
We have recently been training the ‘bright young stars’ of organizations – Management Trainees, Graduate teams etc. in business finesse, organizational navigation & engagement and developing positive workplace relationships.
What I have observed has warmed me immensely. Gen-Y has an amazing appetite for engagement if you train them in the right manner and our training style demonstrably fits. Gen-Y love learning in bite-size chunks (instant life-hacks). They grew up with Google search, are used to instant gratification and demand this in their training. We have found the way to balance this with deeper long-term learning.
The young people we have trained have astounded us with their levels of engagement, their thirst for knowledge & skills and their ability to work together for a purpose that they believe in. The ‘life-hacks’ we gave them just became the foundation for deeper learning and development and we have now taken on a few of these remarkable people to mentor.
They loved the training in business finesse, organizational navigation & engagement and developing positive workplace relationships. The reason why is that generally no-one in the organization has the time to take them ‘under their wing’ and teach them the skills that Gen-X take for granted.
In many cases Gen-Y want to be better than Gen-X. But they want it on their own terms. They want better role models and who are we to say that many of our current role models are suited?
Many managers are ‘fire-fighting’ and under tremendous pressure – job security is low, downsizing means increased responsibilities, far more than our forefathers. Gen-X have taken this on with little protest. When I left my Senior Recruitment role at a large investment bank, they split my workload between 5 staff as not 1 single person could handle it. This workload had a noticeable effect on my health at the time.
Gen-Y will not stand for this as much as we did. This is clearly evident in their attrition rate. If they feel they are taken advantage of, they will just quit and move on. They have no fears about finding other jobs. They have little fear of having 3 jobs in 3 years on their CV (which would horrify most Gen-X). They view the grass is greener elsewhere. Although Gen-X will say argue “it’s not”, this doesn’t curb the high Gen-Y attrition rate.
So how do you stop this high Gen-Y staff attrition?
You talk to them, you engage them, you empower them, you provide them support and you give them good role models.
It seems so simple, but it takes time, effort and is costly. However, what price do you put on developing the leaders of tomorrow?
We will continue offering our programs for Gen-Y and will do our utmost to ensure that these remarkable people are ready to become tomorrow’s leaders.
Over a short period I aim to give you tools and strategies that will help you overcome your fears, giving you the confidence and finesse to turn a room full of strangers into friends and acquaintances. I am a networking veteran of over 22 years, a career coach, a business skills trainer, a talent acquisition expert, a father and a fitness addict (not necessarily in that order!)
The value of face-to-face networking and communication
As technology now makes it easier for young professionals to communicate from the confines of their phone, there is becoming less and less inclination for face-to-face communication. However, when using smartphones etc we need to remember how much of our communication is verbal or just text and how much is non-verbal. 10-15% is verbal and the rest is non-verbal (tone, intonation, body language etc). For developing and forging positive, robust relationships, there is no better way than face-to-face communication.
The deepest fears remain the same
Some of the deepest fears we hear young professionals profess to these days are of public speaking and engaging with strangers at networking events. This can actually be quite heartwarming to older professionals as it demonstrates that some things haven’t really changed much over the years!
For many young professionals, attending a networking event is usually not their own idea, but at the behest of a manager. The fortunate few are lucky enough to have a mentor-manager to go along with them and show them the ropes, but many will go it alone, have a horribly lonely first experience which taints them for years after. It’s difficult to overcome negative first experiences but not impossible. One just needs the right mindset and the right toolset, couple this with a supportive manager or trainer/coach and the experience can be over-written in a more positive way.
Previously as a Head of Recruitment for 2 Private Banks, my role focused around networking. In the process I was given ample opportunity to watch many senior people whose business was reliant upon networking, display the same behaviours as junior networkers. I’m sure this is actually heartwarming to junior professionals that some things have not changed over the years!
By far the most similar behaviour is that of entering the room, shoulders down and spotting a friend/acquaintance. Almost with a cry of relief they then head over to that person (we’ll call him Jimmy) and then spend the remaining hour chatting with someone ‘safe’ until they spot someone else they know
But, at the end of the event, what have they actually achieved? What opportunities of new acquaintances, forged alliances, career prospects or even future revenue have they missed?
So what fears do we naturally harbor when we attend these events? What makes us start to sweat, go icy cold or head for the nearest Jimmy?
Our trainees tell us that fear of rejection plays a key role. Being rejected by networkees talking together when you try to join them or the fear of rejection by an individual/group if you are considered uninteresting. There are simple and effective strategies to deal with these fears.
There are ‘secrets’ that outstanding networkers use. I use inverted commas as many are easily found in Google searches however, over a series of posts I would like to share a number of these with you.
Let’s deal with overcoming some of these fears.
Fear of rejection by other delegates.
I recently attended a training session given by a well-known coach on this topic. He said that you can approach any groups of people, hang around on the outskirt and insert yourself.
After the event there was a networking session. So I tested out his theory and approached him as he was standing toe-to-toe with another delegate in deep discussion. In usual practice I will not do this as I recognize that 2 people, toe-to-toe are usually engrossed and it’s difficult (and usually rude) to interrupt.
This was perhaps the loneliest 20 seconds of my life, but my theory proved right. I was completely ignored so I walked away and found another group. In this instance, I had prepared myself to be ignored and so I was fine with the feelings I encountered. But this may have ruined a novice’s evening.
When looking for groups of people to join, quickly assess the openness of the group and the intensity of the conversation. If the group is seemingly closed (feet pointed inwards towards the middle of the circle) and the conversation intense, then I may consider moving somewhere else so as not to interrupt their flow. I may then look at this group from time to time and assess when it is becoming more ‘open’ and then join them.
A strategy guaranteed to build confidence and overcome fear
As a novice networker, recognize that however nervous you may be, there is always bound to be someone more nervous than you. You can recognize them as they’ll be standing alone, looking like they want to disappear into the wall.
Go and seek out that person, put your hand out, introduce yourself with a nice smile, ask them what kind of business they are in… and you may have a friend for life. When you have run the course of natural conversation, ask your new friend if they would like to join with you to find another individual/group.
Suddenly you’re both not alone anymore, you’re a team. Find another person who looks like they need some confidence to join your team.
This works well to help build confidence. At some point you will not need this strategy anymore, you will have the confidence to engage with anyone… but never forget the person on the sidelines, for you were there at one time….
The easiest way to join a group is to find one that already has a gap in it, the conversation sounds relaxed and stand on the outside. Wait for a natural break in the conversation and then simply ask “May I join you?” As it’s a networking event, it’s the least likely place on the planet where anyone will say “No”. People are there to meet and press the flesh.
Remember your manners, don’t take over the conversation and don’t immediately start handing round business cards unless local etiquette applies.
Please subscribe to my twitter channel (@denisdmv) for the next part of developing your networking skills.
Denis Miles-Vinall runs a learning and development organisation that trains young professionals in vital business skills and finesse that Universities don’t ordinarily teach.
Any spelling mistakes and typos are all his own work.
Right now, if you work in an MNC especially in Banking & Finance your people are overwhelmed and you most probably are too.
