Dear Dennie #4 - Priorities

 A monthly letter/column as written for & published also by Women in Transportation Services

Dear Dennie,

Given all that’s happening these days, aren’t mentoring and networking lower priorities?

Other things on my mind

Dear OTomm,

Shelter, food, health, friends and family… those are just the beginnings of our top 10 lists these days. Work is also top of mind: figuring out new technologies; new ways of teaming; reprioritizing our efforts; or acknowledging loss and uncertainty.

Mentoring isn’t something that happens just when we have time. Mentoring relationships are the safe place to explore the tough questions about our changing workplace. There is no better time than now to talk it through with people whose opinions we value. 

Networking is simply another word for building community. We need our communities these weeks and days more than ever. Connecting (email, calls, video, etc.) in this time of social isolation is necessary for everyone who is worried or wondering. Deepening existing connections is as important as building new ones. Offering our friends and coworkers our attention and support is how many of us will come through this.

Connection is always part of our survival tool kit.

Now, ask me anything.... :-)

dennie

Dear Dennie #3 - Covid-19 and networking

A monthly letter/column as written for & published also by Women in Transportation Services

Dear Dennie,

Covid-19 has a lot of us working from home. I can figure out how to talk with my mentor but how do I build my network with limited social contact?

Alone with computer

Dear A/C,

Networking is about building a community you can call on in times of need. That means there are always times and ways to add to and deepen connections.

We often associate networking with events, coffee meet ups and in-person exchanges. Yet, there are lots of ways reach out, even during Covid-19.

Deepening

• •      Send an email checking in on friends
• •      Send a meal package to someone who can’t get out
• •      Make a call
• •      Recommend reading or research – articles; books; videos
• •      Make a video greeting on your phone to send
• •      Offer yourself up as a coach, editor, or just an ear

New

• •      A simple opening call, even just to compare work from home styles
• •      Informational interviews (kept to 15 minutes, that do not end in a job request)
• •      Join a Facebook or LinkedIn group that interests you and ask questions
• •      Host a webinar for your community and urge them to bring someone you do not know to the call

Networking can be small, cumulative gestures. You may be working from home but you are still surrounded by a community.

Now, ask me anything.... :-)

dennie

Basics of giving Exec. Briefings

Imagine you need executive approval. You have prepped a powerpoint pitch / storyboard / memo. You have slaved over it. Rewritten it. Validated it.  You are offered an appointment/audience on the calendar in two weeks but the time is really now. Suddenly, you spot the executive on their way to the washroom. (or in an elevator or at the coffee machine... In all honesty, I always found them in the three precious minutes they stole from a meeting to stride purposefully to the washroom.) There's no time to show a piece of paper or ask for a glance at a computer screen. Now. You can brief them Now.

Are you ready to:

• Keep ask narrow & specific
• Summarize in 2 minutes or less
• State it aloud - Don't rely on a ppt or paper

 ----------------------------------------------

#1 Lead with Relevance:

• The main thing they need to know
• Why is this important to executive
• Who else cares

Follow with Supposition

• The action we could take
• Alternatives if required

Support with evidence

• How do we know what we know
• What is source and how reliable is it

Add connections

• How this is connected to other things
• Where it may have happened before
• Cause /effect

#2 Recap

• Here's what you need to know; how we all feel about it; what we propose you need to do

The less urgent the audience's need to go the washroom… the more of the list can be covered.

But prepare to only have time to do top/bottom of list. The more time is crunched, the more one cuts out of the middle.