Networking has been valuable because it builds trust before issues arise. When stakeholders already know you and feel heard, they are more open, responsive, and supportive during delivery. It also improves decision-making by giving access to different perspectives, lessons learned, and informal feedback early, which helps reduce blind spots and make faster, better-informed choices.
Some of my suggestions:
building relationships early, not only when support is needed
having regular informal check-ins with key stakeholders
listening actively and following up consistently
connecting people across teams to solve problems faster
In practice, strong networking makes projects run more smoothly because communication, trust, and collaboration are already in place.
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1 reply by Srikana Ray
Jul 14, 2026 10:40 AM
Srikana Ray
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Thank you for sharing your valuable insights.
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Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
An excellent question. I agree that networking can make stakeholder engagement significantly more effective.
I would add one further thought. The greatest value of networking is not simply building relationships, but developing the contextual understanding that allows us to better understand stakeholders' interests, concerns and interdependencies before critical decisions need to be made. Trust and engagement tend to emerge from that deeper understanding rather than from networking itself.
Perhaps the strongest professional networks are not those that give us access to more people, but those that help us make better decisions because we understand the human system behind the project more clearly.
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1 reply by Srikana Ray
Jul 14, 2026 10:44 AM
Srikana Ray
...
Thank for sharing your insightful perspective. It is true, sharing a deeper understanding with stakeholders builds trust and rapport which are beneficial for decision-making.
Networking has been valuable because it builds trust before issues arise. When stakeholders already know you and feel heard, they are more open, responsive, and supportive during delivery. It also improves decision-making by giving access to different perspectives, lessons learned, and informal feedback early, which helps reduce blind spots and make faster, better-informed choices.
Some of my suggestions:
building relationships early, not only when support is needed
having regular informal check-ins with key stakeholders
listening actively and following up consistently
connecting people across teams to solve problems faster
In practice, strong networking makes projects run more smoothly because communication, trust, and collaboration are already in place.
Thank you for sharing your valuable insights. Saving Changes...
An excellent question. I agree that networking can make stakeholder engagement significantly more effective.
I would add one further thought. The greatest value of networking is not simply building relationships, but developing the contextual understanding that allows us to better understand stakeholders' interests, concerns and interdependencies before critical decisions need to be made. Trust and engagement tend to emerge from that deeper understanding rather than from networking itself.
Perhaps the strongest professional networks are not those that give us access to more people, but those that help us make better decisions because we understand the human system behind the project more clearly.
Thank for sharing your insightful perspective. It is true, sharing a deeper understanding with stakeholders builds trust and rapport which are beneficial for decision-making. Saving Changes...
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