Networking in the Digital Revolution 

Networking sounds nothing new, so why might we need to talk about what it means in the digital revolution? Why might you need to sit up and pay attention to something you might reckon you know about already? What if networking sounds too much like politicking, rather than something that makes a real difference, such that you need a refreshed take on what it means?

Our QA point of view is that networking matters as much, if not more, in the digital revolution – and is made more complicated by it. It is made complicated by the option to network within social media – from Twitter to Insta to many more options – in professional ways that are different from personal. It is also made complicated by the digital revolution moving so quickly that more is expected of us managers and leaders. However digitally advanced or mature your organisation is, people in evermore junior roles are expected to be leaders. To be a leader, you need to be seen to be one. If you are forever working with the same people, you will not be seen as a leader as you will not be making new relationships that open up opportunities to be a leader.*

Working with new people will open up relationships within your network, where yes, you might have to work harder to communicate, as you will have less shared experiences and even vocabulary, but that is the point. "Weak ties" (reaching out to people who you do not work with regularly and who will have a different perspective and experience profile from you) are more important in the digital revolution. They allow you to understand how others use technology in different ways from you. They allow you to jointly work to imagine how more value can be extracted from technology for peers, customers and stakeholders. They allow you to understand the bigger picture that is ever more dominated by evolving digital technology.**

Be careful though. As you reach out for new and therefore weak ties, as technology is changing so quickly, these weak ties can become strong more quickly than you realise. Before you know it, you are back to being efficient but not innovative. Keep challenging yourself and who you network with. Keep questioning: Are my relationships becoming too easy? Are they stale? Do they lack creativity and innovation? Is my network stopping me from helping my organisation move forward in the digital revolution because I am using old frames of reference, old mindsets founded in less than up-to-date ways of using digital functionality? 

Networking in the digital revolution might be tiring and full of uncertainty. But you can reframe it as challenging and rewarding. So go on – consciously work harder to interact with people who have different viewpoints from you. Points of view that, if allowed to evolve, extract the value that emerges from sharing perspectives, and in particular, digital/tech perspectives that are often initially very distant.

Who gains from learning networking skills?

Let’s move on to consider how different sorts of people (let’s use the design-thinking/modern language of "personas") gain from learning to network in the digital revolution. 

Experienced managers

You are an experienced manager, who has been there and done most things. Networking can help you witness how others use technology and feel how others are frustrated by technology. After all, you or your peers might have made the senior decision to invest in that technology – are you getting the best possible return? Try networking to share your deep business experience with new contacts and in exchange pick up new ideas and sense the emotions in others – how they react to your decisions to invest in which digital tech aligned to what value gain.

Managers

You are a manager seeking to lead more. We are all under pressure to lead more. Why? Well, because of this networking advantage. If people network more, more ideas flow and more value is extracted from the digital revolution as more interesting conversations happen around tech, and we create a joint business-tech understanding of the "art of the possible" (another buzz term). Networking is likely to open up new ways to add value. What tech are you not using? What tech could you gain more value from because it has moved on since you last understood its functionality? What ideas are there that could improve customer relationships through digital ideas to use functionality the tech experts consider underutilised? If we sit in our strong tie silos, we cannot lead.

Tech experts

You are a tech expert frustrated that people do not value you, or your tech, enough. Reach out to people who might gain something even if you are not sure exactly what they might gain. They do not know what they do not know. Have a conversation and see how perspective-taking and perspective-giving surface new ways of working together. Get some joint value hats on to move forward in the digital revolution.

My own networking experience

My personal experience around networking is mixed. As much as I preach here, I can sometimes feel that if I network, I might look stupid. I worry that it uses time I might not have. After all, I cannot be certain the time I take will be valuable, especially just after one initial contact with a new person, which can be such hard work and feel unproductive or a new type of conversation with an established contact.

When I do make the effort, more times than not, I get excited about the conversation, inspired to take it further. For example, I was talking to a colleague about this blog, when he introduced me to the seven software “ilities” (usability, agility and so on). We chatted away about the possible connection between strong and weak ties and how you consider "ilities" in any project. He is far more tech than I am but the connection was interesting and useful.

I try therefore every week to look back and reckon how much time I spent with new people or people I know who have developed something new to talk to me about. Once I make the effort, I gain the returns. It is still a work in progress though as it is always easier to do something that is a clear task that gets done and crossed off a list. To be part of the digital revolution, we need new conversations to happen with new people. Why not rise to the challenge and see how much of a new perspective they provide you with, let alone the confidence they bring of knowing and understanding more.

There should be no such thing as feeling stupid in the digital revolution.

* Have a look at the work from Professor Herminia Ibarra if you wish to follow up on this idea.

**Read more about weak and strong ties, developed initially by Granovetter. You can find academic articles, wiki articles and much more through an internet search – choose what suits you.