Make Networking Fun: Build Strong Relationships at Work and Beyond
- Fern Beauchamp
- 17 hours ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
Eighty-percent of professionals consider networking important to career success - LinkedIn global survey results, 2017
Networking can feel awkward...until you reframe it as relationship-building.
Despite networking being one of the most valuable career and life skills you can develop, it is often misunderstood. For some people, it feels like self-promotion. For others, it feels super awkward, transactional, or reserved for extroverts. In reality, networking is much broader and much more human than that.
A strong professional and personal network can shape your career. It can help you give back to others, build visibility, learn from others, find mentors, find mentees, and stay connected to what is happening in your industry and inside and outside your company.
Networking is not something you either “have” or “don’t have”; it is a skill that can be learned, practised, and strengthened over time. This article explores 10 practical ways to network that make networking fun.
Contents
Why Networking Matters
Research shows that people with more robust networks tend to earn higher salaries and receive more promotions during their careers.
Networking matters because careers are built on hard work and your network. Sometimes, you can be in the right room at the right time. However, networking is not about what you will get - it’s about what you give. People also need to know who you are, what you stand for, and how you help others.
A strong network helps you stay informed, visible, and connected. It can lead to introductions, collaboration, support, advice, and opportunities that may never appear through formal channels. It also gives you access to diverse perspectives, which can help you make better decisions and grow faster.
It is also never too early to start networking. Students, graduates, early-career professionals, and career changers can all benefit from learning how to connect well.
Networking is not just about getting ahead. It is also about learning, contributing, and building mutually beneficial relationships over time.
Types of Networking
In HBR's article "How Leaders Create and Use Networks," the author argues that effective networking is not just about collecting contacts but about building different kinds of relationships.
Operational networking helps you do your current job well. It focuses on building strong working relationships with the people who directly affect your day-to-day performance, such as colleagues, bosses, direct reports, suppliers, and customers.
Personal networking helps with learning, development, and career growth. It is made up of contacts outside your immediate work setting, often based on shared interests or mutual trust, and it can provide advice, referrals, mentoring, and fresh perspectives.
Strategic networking is about future opportunity and business direction. It connects you with people who can help you spot new possibilities, influence outcomes, and achieve bigger organisational goals.
Why Internal Networking Builds Visibility
Networking inside your company is one way to build career momentum.
Internal networking helps you increase your visibility beyond your day-to-day role. When people across the business know your name, understand your strengths, and trust your judgement, they are more likely to involve you in projects, recommend you for progression, and remember you when opportunities arise.
Building relationships outside your immediate team enables you to gain insight into how other functions operate, what pressures they face, and where your own work fits into the bigger picture. This is especially important in larger organisations, where decision-makers may not see your work directly.
Networking for Introverts
Networking is not just an extrovert's game.
Many capable people assume that if they do not enjoy large events or socialising, they must be rubbish at networking. That's not true.
In fact, introverts can be excellent networkers. Introverts may prefer deeper conversations, smaller settings, and more intentional interactions - so use that to your advantage:
Focus on smaller settings, one-to-one chats, and well-prepared conversation starters that let you listen and ask thoughtful questions.
Be intentional with it. Schedule recovery time after events, follow up with a message, and use social platforms to build connections at your own pace.
Focus on quality rather than quantity. One genuine connection is more valuable than dozens of shallow ones.
🎧 Recommended podcast: Networking For People Who Hate Networking | WorkLife with Adam Grant
➡️ Check out our 15 Top Leadership Podcasts.
How to Nurture Your Network
Strong ties give depth, weak ties give reach.
Strong ties are the people in your network you know pretty well, workmates, former colleagues, mentors, friends, or family. They usually give you support, honest feedback, and reliable help because the relationship is already strong.
Weak ties are looser connections in your network - acquaintances, 2nd degree connections or maybe LinkedIn folks you've never met in real life. These ties can bring unexpected opportunities by connecting you to new network circles.
Long-term networking is about rhythm, not intensity. You can maintain your network by sending a quick check-in, congratulating someone on a promotion, sharing an article, or reconnecting for a virtual cuppa with old colleagues.
Nurturing your network doesn't mean endless conferences or LinkedIn posts. It means building strong ties, weak ties and thinking long-term.
10 Practical Ways To Network
Map your Network and Spot the Gaps
Build and grow your network with intention.
Take a helicopter view of your current network. A useful way to do this is to list the following:
Create a snapshot view of your network. List the people in your immediate team, the wider company, the industry, and your personal circle.
People who know your work well.
People who know your field well.
People who you can add value to.
People who can open doors to other people.
People you have not spoken to in a while but would like to reconnect with.
Group these into the following three categories.
What do you notice about your network? Where are the gaps?
Then think about opportunities (in both directions) for introductions or mentoring. If you are not already connected on LinkedIn, then go connect and say hi.
Networking is a long game. It is about building mutually beneficial relationships that may be useful months or even years from now.
Diversify Your Network
A narrow network can limit your thinking.
Find people with shared values or perhaps thought leaders in an area you have a passion for. Connect across industries, functions, generations, and backgrounds, and get outside your bubble.
Make Networking Fun
View your next event as a chance for a great non-work-related conversation.
Research shows that a simple mindset shift from “networking to get” to “connecting to learn” is what turns an icky chore into something far more natural and human.
"The Contaminating Effects of Building Instrumental Ties: How Networking Can Make Us Feel Dirty," a 2014 study by Casciaro, Gino, and Kouchaki, finds that professional networking for career gain makes individuals feel morally "dirty". This feeling, known as the "yuck factor," decreases networking frequency and hurts performance, often prompting a need for physical cleansing!
Network Up, Down, and Across
The best networking happens up, down, and across the organisation.
⬆️ Networking up helps you understand leadership thinking, business priorities, and decision-making. It gives you access to senior insight and helps you see how your work fits into the wider strategy.
➡️ Networking across helps you build relationships with peers in other functions or teams.
⬇️ Networking down is extremely important. It helps you build trust, improve team culture, and understand what is happening at a ground level.
Good leaders stay connected to people at every level.
Network Across Work and Industry
Networking outside your company is just as important as the relationships you build inside it.
External networking helps you stay current, broaden your thinking, and build a reputation that extends beyond one employer.
It can happen through LinkedIn, professional associations, conferences, industry events, alumni networks, webinars, and online communities. These spaces allow you to learn from others, hear different views, and spot trends before they become mainstream.
Networking across your industry also helps you stay open to future opportunities. You may meet a mentor, collaborator, client, or future employer through an informal conversation that grows over time.
Always Be Networking (Lightly)
Never miss a chance to turn a tiny moment into a connection.
It might be a quick elevator conversation, a chat at the coffee shop, or a laugh with someone in a workshop- if there is a spark, say, “Great talking, let’s connect on LinkedIn,” and follow up with a short note. Those “weak ties” often become surprisingly powerful over time, sharing ideas and amplifying your work in ways that formal networking doesn't.
Be Curious
Be interested in the other person.
Find common ground - ask how they are enjoying the event, what brought them along, or what they are enjoying outside of work. Also, if you do feel awkward - say it! You'll find that the other person probably does too. Curiosity creates far better conversations than self-promotion.
Be Generous
Generosity is always remembered.
Build on the curiosity mindset. Maybe there is someone in your network that you could connect them with. Sharing knowledge, making introductions, or offering support builds goodwill and could come back in unexpected ways later.
Use LinkedIn In A Way That Works For You
Virtual networking can be powerful when used in a way that works for you.
First things first - you don't have to post on LinkedIn - most people don't. However, like it or not, it's a great way to stay connected, whether through strong or weak ties. You might be looking for a new job and want to let your network know, or you've changed roles and are happy to share that. So connect with or follow people across your company, industry, and your wider professional circle, and consider how each connection can bring you fresh perspectives.
Join Communities You Are Interested In
Network and purpose can work together.
Women in tech groups, leadership communities, professional associations, and industry meetups give you access to people with shared interests and goals. These spaces are valuable because they help you get comfortable with networking and build relationships around shared experiences, values or purpose.
Final Thought
Networking is not about pretending to be someone else. It is about building real relationships that support growth, visibility, and opportunity over time. The most enjoyable networks are built on trust, generosity, curiosity, and consistency.
How Leadership Coaching Can Reframe Networking
Leadership coaching can be helpful for people who have a mental block around networking. We explore networking in our EMPOWER coaching programmes by helping leaders reframe it as relationship-building rather than self-promotion. In group coaching, it becomes especially powerful because people learn from each other’s experiences, swap ideas, and see that networking can look different for different personalities - and still work well.
