Day 26/30: Networking for product managers 🕸️
Day 26/30: Networking for product managers 🕸️
How I network to replenish my cup, despite high introverted tendencies
As someone who tends pretty highly on the introverted side of the introversion-extroversion spectrum, networking used to terrify me.
It turns out that I hadn’t found the form of networking that worked for me, which is one-on-one chats and intimate, small group discussions with some prepared topics to kick off then letting the conversation flow from there.
Networking has helped me to:
Connect with people that I never would have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. It’s proven to me time and time again the interconnectedness that humanity shares through our unique lived experiences is real and strong, even though no two lived experiences are identical. ✨ This has given me hope during a time where conflict due to differences between people and our ideologies seems to be a default.
Get myself out of my own head, product, company, and industry bubble. The people I’ve spoken with have graciously shared much wisdom with me and their unique perspective about the situations I go through reminds me to try looking at a situation that I’m going through as an observer rather than a participant before deciding what to do next.
These are some networking tips that worked for me:
Make it a habit. Start small, such as a 30-minute chat once a month.
Look up their journey on LinkedIn beforehand. This helps me prepare a few questions beforehand to kickstart the conversation, while leaving space to ask organic follow-up questions during the conversation.
Go into the conversation with the intent to help the other person. This might be providing a listening ear, asking them questions to get them to think about the situation that they’re experiencing from a new angle, or sharing advice based on your own experience.
Take notes. I use Notion’s personal CRM template to record the information that my connections have shared with me in our conversations. This motion reinforces certain associations I make to the person, which can be helpful as I’m browsing resources and come across an article, book, or podcast episode that might be relevant or of interest to them.
Finally, these are some of the platforms or forums I use to source my conversations:
Women in Product on Facebook
Product Mind Community on Slack
Women in Product Toastmasters Club on Facebook
I’m curious to know:
How has networking helped you this past year?
What is your preferred method for networking?