I had the occasion today to grab coffee with a friend/colleague with whom I hadn't spoken in about a month. It was great to catch up, hear about the exciting things God is doing in her life, and to dream big about collaborative things we could work on. It was really energizing to switch gears away from the to do list and get to the thinking big thoughts with someone who isn't steeped in my world all the time. It got me thinking though, was that a work or more of a personal meeting? Where does networking fall in our daily work priorities?
I'm a firm believer that networking is a basic function of a successful student affairs professional. So much of what we do relies on relationships built with one another. Without solid contributions to those relationships, work productivity can slow way down. A colleague rightly describes it as a social bank account. If you are going to make some withdraws, you better have made some deposits at some point. If you don't, you're going to overdraft your account, bounce the check, beg to not pay the overdraft fee, affect your credit score, never be able to buy a house or car, have to get a co-signer to a loan, move back in with your parents...I may have extended the metaphor further than strictly necessary there.
I was told once that I may need to start moving my coffee meetings to after hours. I have pushed back on that because of how much I've been able to get out of these talks. Colleagues from our central office and I have had some of the best quality of life chats to and from coffee. Colleagues from around the campus and I have met over coffee and revamped entire projects, curriculum, and programs. Friends and I have talked over coffee to keep each other sane and brainstorm our futures. Personally, I believe these coffee breaks keep my caffeinated (necessary thanks to the early morning wake-up calls from the little one) and connected to the big picture.
How about you? What do you do to intentionally network with colleagues in your field? Let us know in the comments below!
This is great - I think we can get so caught up in our own little silos that we miss out on the opportunity to brainstorm and collaborate....forcing it to be after-hours would never work since most of us already spend 9-10+ hours a day at work. I'm all for work-related-during the workday-coffee meetings.
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