When was the last time you got excited about networking with people you didn’t know? Rarely? Never? Well, same. However, it's an important piece of your career that you can constantly be growing and improving. Networking or getting to know others within your department/organization and outside of it can lead to wonderfully unexpected outcomes.

Networking isn’t always about getting your next job. Yes, it can obviously help with that, but it can also be just as valuable with the position you have now. It’s a great way to acquire new skills, improve current ones, understand other departments and build your reputation at the office. When you take the time and make the effort to learn about other teams and what they do daily, you may see an opportunity where you can help fill a gap, improve a process, or bring fresh ideas to their team.

This also works in reverse. When you make an effort to get to know others, they also get to know you, your abilities, your interests and your goals. When they need assistance in their department, or if they know of another department/team that needs help, they are more likely to suggest you be looped into the project. As you can guess, the more helpful you are proven to be, the more your reputation will grow and expand in your workplace as a talented and ambitious go-getter who’s always willing to jump in and help.

So now the question is, how. If talking with strangers isn’t your thing, or you would rather watch paint dry than go to a networking event, no problem! Start small, make list of people you would like to know better personally or professional and ask them to grab a cup of coffee/tea or grab lunch together. Try to get know one person outside of your normal routine. Understand what they do at work, ask them what they like about their job, or what are some of their goals. If you get to know one new person a month, by the end of the year you’ve increased your network +12!

I encourage you to expand your network and get to know some of the people you see daily but may not of had the opportunity to work with. You may just find that you enjoy networking more than you expected.

To see explore upcoming events to network with AdventHealth team members visit our Events page, here.