why do I want to accept networking invitations from other members?
Colin BasyePrincipal Investigator| TTCI (Transportation Technology Center, Inc.)Pueblo West, Co, United States
I get networking invitations from other members who I don't know and who are in a different profession than I am in. Why do I get these invitations and what do they and I expect to get out of accepting their invitation? I don't see any benefit at the moment. Saving Changes...
Increasing your Network Connection base is very beneficial in so many ways so for those who are wondering what the purpose is or benefit, I would like to give you a brief of how I personally found it useful:
1- Mentoring / Assistance: In many cases, I connect with people and they send me a thank you message for connecting with them and say that they are new here and were wondering how they can start on this platform so I help them out get started here. Some people feel shy or not comfortable taking a first step.
2- Enhancing the Community Engagement: Item 1, leads to enhanced member engagement with this community as soon as they get their head around it and understand how much of an amazing platform and community it is. I feel that everyone of us should have a sense of ownership towards this community to try as much as he/she can to work towards enhancing it.
3- Connecting on other Platforms: In many occasions when I connect with people here, they send me a thank you message and tell me that they are not very active here and ask to connect on LinkedIn and share expertise. I did benefit a lot from so many people.
4- Connecting in Person: In many occasions, I connected with people on person via connecting through this platform and some of them (To be specific 2), we became friends although they are not very active here.
In summary, Network connections has so many advantages. You just need to look at the positive side of things and look whats beyond that number. I am not saying I am connection with all my connections but I certainly connected with a decent no. of people. (If you connect closely with 500 people out of the 80,000, this is a great achievement - This a small percentage maybe but a big number). Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
Whether you chose to build your network on not is your decision.
You can limit your network to people in your industry or keep it wide open. You never know where you may get that one piece of information that you desperately need. You also never know who you may be able to help. Saving Changes...
I would say what is your objective for being a member here?
I'm not big on social media, but I enjoy forums of all sorts. You never know what you can gain out of them even if it's just simply some information.
When I first found this site, I could've kept posting as anonymous, but there's no interaction to gain from that. It limits you and although many of these people are from a very different background as me, I can learn a lot just by simple exchange of questions, comments, and observation.
Communicating with others even if you're not necessarily "networking" a conversation with them can provide you with great insight. Networking is just another simple tool at our beckon call we can use to gain some new knowledge.
Networking doesn't mean you have to get all personal or feel obligated to have private conversation. It's simply a friendly gesture saying "Hello, I'm here and available if you would like to reach out."
From what I've noticed there's a few frequent, heavy hitters in here that have great knowledge from experience who can be of assistance and are active daily.
Take it for what it's worth and do as you please with it. Just like advice - You can take it or leave it. How you function on this forum is up to you. Saving Changes...
Colin BasyePrincipal Investigator| TTCI (Transportation Technology Center, Inc.)Pueblo West, Co, United States
Thanks for all the input; this all this interaction really helps me decide Saving Changes...
If I were to give you one tip to help you to be successful it would be, to spend quality time investing in building a network of contacts around the world.
President William Jefferson Clinton.
42nd U.S President on Harvard graduation speech
Jun 7, 2007 Saving Changes...
You have two in your network now. Do you "know" them? There must be a reason why you added them ;-) Saving Changes...
Colin BasyePrincipal Investigator| TTCI (Transportation Technology Center, Inc.)Pueblo West, Co, United States
Thanks Sante:
No, I added them when I first joined as I assumed we might participate in a helpful discourse, but after receiving many more invitations, began to wonder about the real purpose.
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2 replies by Boon Siang Tay and Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
May 09, 2018 7:58 PM
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Ah I see. Well to be honest many members just click on "connect" with some people as they use the site, either commenting, reading, watching webinars, or having discussions. We see people that have commented and see a blue button to connect, so it's kind of an instinctual thing for most people I guess. Every time I am on the system I usually add some people, and I suspect most others do too.
Thanks Sante:
No, I added them when I first joined as I assumed we might participate in a helpful discourse, but after receiving many more invitations, began to wonder about the real purpose.
Ah I see. Well to be honest many members just click on "connect" with some people as they use the site, either commenting, reading, watching webinars, or having discussions. We see people that have commented and see a blue button to connect, so it's kind of an instinctual thing for most people I guess. Every time I am on the system I usually add some people, and I suspect most others do too. Saving Changes...
John DuncanRetired| RetiredLebanon, Tn, United States
As a way of welcoming them to the projectmanagement.com site.
I was on here for probably 11 years before I had any connections... :-)
Started out by searching for people in my immediate area.
Then learned about the auto-connect to my chapter.
And then branched out from there.
I can't say I have contact with every one of my connections.
But I have contact with several people I would never have known otherwise, if I hadn't reached out to many.
I've gotten several messages on here, something to the effect of "I love Cracker Barrel, but never thought about there being projects to run, can you tell me some about what you do?" Saving Changes...
Community Champion
