For the successful development of a business, not only personal connections are important, but also business ones. Let's figure out what kind of business relationships or communications exist - and how and where it is better to establish them. "Business relationships require time and effort, they have their own special rhythm. It all depends on what you sacrifice for them and what you give in return. When you realize that you are investing in your future, your efforts will quickly pay off, "says Erminia Ibarra, Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD Business School. The words of a specialist in establishing various business connections are the basic rule of communication in the world of business.
When forming new business relationships, quality is more important than quantity.
Sociability, or, using the modern term, communicativeness is a quality that is more often developed by a person than innate. People learn to communicate in childhood, first in the family, then in children's institutions, in the yard, communicating with their peers. Moreover, it is interesting that already from early childhood, in any team, communication skills begin to be created, and everyone begins to try on various roles: leader, "soul of the company", "know-it-all", assistant, silent, conscientious, etc. Sometimes the roles outlined in children's communication persist for life, but more often they still tend to change depending on new life circumstances.
Gradually, as their careers develop, people begin to create not only personal connections, but also business ones. Let's figure out what kind of business ties or communications exist, and how and where it is better to establish them.
Types of business contacts
Experts distinguish between three types of interpersonal communication in business:
1. Business (work) - those relationships that arise in a person at work every day and which are associated with the direct solution of current work issues. These are relationships with management, with colleagues, with customers, suppliers, business partners, etc. These relationships are developed for all employees, this is an integral part of the work, for someone, due to the specifics of the work or character, they are better developed, for someone it is worse.
2. Personal - relationships are more friendly than business. Such relationships can exist among employees from different departments of the company or in general from different companies that are not connected by one business. These can be connections that have arisen at various general events, both corporate and social and charitable. With personal connections, disinterestedness and friendliness in relationships come first, but sometimes such connections turn out to be very important for people and mean more to them than others, and sometimes they can turn into business or strategic relationships.
3. Strategic (prospective) - business relationships for the future, which are formed gradually. Two types of relationships can be distinguished here: purposefully created and intuitively found.
3.1 Purposefully created relationships are relationships that a business person consciously and in advance forms, realizing that in the future such contacts can be useful and beneficial. For example, visiting various exhibitions and conferences always provides a large number of different opportunities for communication, new acquaintances, which will not necessarily come in handy right away. Most often, some of these acquaintances will remain primary acquaintances without continuing contacts, some of them may come in handy in the near future, and some of them may play an important role. If a person is thinking about looking for a new job, then at such an event he can get acquainted with representatives of the management of other companies, and in the future offer them his candidacy.
3.2 Intuitively found relationships are relationships that developed on their own, and initially had no business purpose, but later unexpectedly became business. For example, acquaintance at a joint social or solemn event, in clubs, on vacation, on an airplane, etc., when two people met and talked, exchanged business cards, found something in common in their views. In the future, they can meet periodically, for example, in the same club or sports section, etc., but the relationship remains rather friendly, and if a new round of events begins, for example, a new project that may interest both, then the relationship can become strategically business.
It should be noted that the line between the listed three types of relations is thin and relations can pass from one type to another.
How to create various business relationships
Business ties are created by everyone, but strategic relationships are formed by only a few. This is due to some of the shortsightedness of managers, especially middle managers. Often a person is drawn into the work routine, the monotony of the same work duties, a certain level of comfort, which they quickly get used to and are lazy to create something new. According to Andrey Dashin, President of the Alpari Group of Companies, who successfully operates in the Forex market, he saw many examples when a person had both good goals and the resources to achieve them, but because of laziness constantly found excuses, other things, and the person did not achieve anything. There was a lack of determination.
In the formation of new business ties, strategic thinking, dedication, openness to everything new are the most important qualities that help to find new contacts in the field of business.
Why are middle managers the most critical to strategic business relationships? Because junior managers are more likely to pursue careers and look for career opportunities and, as a result, new connections. Top managers are looking for business relationships of a slightly different kind - partnerships or investment ones. But middle managers tend to get stuck in one place, content with what they have.
Interesting in this respect is the experience of Japanese companies, where certification and rotation of employees is carried out every three years, and many people are transferred to another job: talented - for promotion, conscientious - in other departments or even in other branches. This is done so that a person does not sit in one place and his eyes are not "blurred", that is, when they cease to be interested in something new, develop new ideas, improve in the profession.
In addition, a manager who has more developed sociability and new business contacts has more career prospects. As Herminia Ibarra says, if employees who are at the same career stage have the same education, resume, intelligence, then they may prefer the one who has more developed the ability to create new business connections. She believes two things are critical to the world's leading companies: networking and selling ideas.
Many managers complain about the lack of working hours, especially to create something new. But, if you apply the principles of time management in your work, you can try to find time for everything.
Including for the search for new business connections. In addition, there are long-term tasks, which sometimes turn out to be more important in the future than daily ones, including the establishment of new business ties.
What is needed to create new business connections?
You need to be informed and listen to your intuition. Awareness is an important quality of a modern businessman. Business is like a living organism in which something is constantly happening, changing, new technologies, new trends and ideas appear, and it is important to understand them in order to make it easier to find like-minded people. It is more interesting and easier for professionals to talk with a person who knows more, is competent in their field, because you can find many common points of contact. You also need to be interested in other areas of the business, because the skills of, for example, a highly professional sales manager or HR manager can be implemented in various business areas.
Intuitiveness is another important quality of a business person. You can develop this quality in yourself by listening to your inner voice, which every person has, only someone hears it better, and someone worse. As famous world businessmen say, such as Soichiro Honda, Kazuo Inamori, Lee Iacocca and others, it was intuition that helped them in business, including in the field of establishing new business contacts.
Where to look for new business connections?
1. You need to attend various trainings, conferences, exhibitions and other events where they improve their knowledge and business skills. On them you can meet many interesting interlocutors, exchange information and meet new people in your field.
2. It is necessary to go in for sports, attending various sports sections: swimming, aikido, yoga, diving, chess, etc. Shared activities bring people together, liberating them and providing more opportunities for communication.
3. It is worth attending various charitable and social events, meetings of graduates of schools, institutes, etc. There you can meet new people, renew old connections, and improve your communication skills. They are especially necessary if a person has decided to change jobs.
4. You can participate in business forums and chats on the Internet, but here it is worth looking for specialized forums that are often created on business sites.
5. Not the best place to look for new business relationships is a restaurant or bar (with the exception of specialized interest clubs). As a rule, a lot of alcohol is consumed in such establishments, and new acquaintances are very superficial.
And you also need to take into account the cultural traditions of different countries - for example, in Asia, you can get acquainted with business goals in a karaoke bar, but in Europe this is not applicable. Therefore, in order to form new business relationships with businessmen from other countries, it is worthwhile to first study their traditions.
In conclusion, I would like to say that Erminia Ibarra notes another important aspect in the formation of new business relationships: quality is more important than quantity. It is not a swollen business card holder or a full phone that matters. they are a diary, and those connections that are really interesting.In addition, it must be borne in mind that the formation of any relationship is a two-way process, and in any relationship a person not only receives something for himself, but also necessarily helps others.