Cultural Roadblocks to Networking

Alliances, partnerships, networks. In a technologically denominated global economy no one individual or company can go it alone. It therefore stands to reason that the ability to build and maintain a network has become a crucial business skill. And yet. Many companies and their executives do not know how to do it. This could be the difference between success and failure. Stefan Lindgaard comments in Blogging Innovation on the primary roadblocks he has seen to building a network:

"In working with companies that are trying to build a networking culture, here are some reasons I’ve identified for why such efforts can fail or not reach the hoped-for degree of success.

1. Lack of Time

Many of us simply do not have the time to network and build relationships. It is necessary to develop a strategy and initiate projects, but you also need to give your people time to invest in initiating and maintaining both internal and external relationships.

2. Lack of Skills

Some people are natural-born networkers; many others are not. But the basics of effective networking can be learned, just like any other business skill. With appropriate instruction and motivation, wallflowers can learn to work a room. By providing your people with this type of training you will give them a skill that will be invaluable throughout their careers.

3. Lack of Focus

A community or a network will only work if it connects people who share a common experience, passion, interest, affiliation, or goal. Your people need to have ways to find and join groups that are right for them and right for your company. In other words, you and your employees should only network when there is a good reason to do so. Random networking rarely results in anything but wasted time, which devalues networking in people’s minds and makes it harder to encourage them to try it again.

4. Lack of Commitment and Structure

The networking-will-take-care-of-itself-and-you-do-not-need-to-work-at-it attitude is not the approach to take toward building what increasingly is a core innovation skill. Building a networking culture requires commitment and structure to support it