This course provides insight into the key professional skills needed by managers at all levels of an organisation. You’ll learn key skills such as how to make a positive first impression; how to become a role model at work; effective time and resource management; and networking. This course forms part of a specialisation from the University of London designed to help you develop and build the essential business, academic, and cultural skills necessary to succeed in international business, or in further study. If completed successfully, your certificate from this specialisation can also be used as part of the application process for the University of London Global MBA programme, particularly for early career applicants. If you would like more information about the Global MBA, please visit https://mba.london.ac.uk/. This course is endorsed by CMI
Interview with Mary Stiasny | Networking
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Del curso dictado por University of London
Professional Skills for International Business
381 calificaciones
University of London
381 calificaciones
Curso 1 de 6 en SpecializationInternational Business Essentials
De la lección
Networking
Week four will explore networking where you will have the opportunity to reflect on your
personal brand, and how social networks can help in professional networking.
Conoce a los instructores
David JamesFounder and Director, DJ Learning Ltd
University of London
[MUSIC]
For all of us, our lives are about making connections.
Whether that's in a personal context or in a professional context.
And certainly in a professional context, so in an organization environment.
It is really important we think about the concept of networking,
the need to make connections,
and what benefits making these connections can bring for you.
Or conversely, what risks you take if you don't network.
I know from my own experience the importance of networking or
not networking.
Without doubt, when I worked for an organization, I felt and
looked back reflectively, and probably still do feel un balanced.
The most important thing that I needed to do was to deliver on behalf of
the units that I had responsibility for to the very best that we could do.
I didn't do much networking when I worked for an organization.
I looked back at some of my colleagues and
they were really good networkers, they were always on the phone.
They were always on fire start to keep people on the organization.
And I look back and I think, well, you know?
I'm not quite sure why that was so important and yet, I look back and
think, do you know,
they knew about key things before I did because I wasn't thinking about them.
I was thinking about what I was primarily responsible for.
And I put the people that I was responsible for
right at the top of my list.
However, now moving on, and I run my own consultancy,
I know if I don't network, then whenever that point comes,
I don't have a consultancy, because I have to keep making connections.
The way in which I look at this important role that we have,
to network, changed completely.
I look back and think, it was really important to have done it with hindsight,
when I worked for an organization.
Today I know it's a must.
We're now going to explore how networking works
In a number of different organizational situations.
And we're going to have a chat with Dr Mary.
And we're going to explore with her different ways in which she needs to
network to make the various spans of responsibility that she has work to really
good effect.
So, Mary, how do you network in the various situations that you
have responsibility for?
>> So [COUGH] I think networking happens at all sorts of different levels.
So, for me, responsible for
the international programs of the University of London I see networking as
something that needs to happen within our organization.
It's important to actually spend a little bit of time, and
I would call it networking, with my own staff.
We've got a large team and it's important to just spend a little bit of time,
wandering around, having chats.
And just spending that time getting to know at some levels,
the staff that one is working with.
It would be very easy to have a completely distant relationship in my role,
from the 260 staff that we've got.
At the same time there is an important other networking world
which is the Central University of London.
And I interact with the other senior managers but
also colleagues in the various central academic departments of the university,
and the central professional bodies of the university.
So I spend time there.
And we have all-staff meetings, we have all-staff events.
And I will spend time just simply chatting to people when the opportunity arises.
And it is to my mind, essential that I do that.
But then we also have the whole of the federation of the University of London.
There are academic institutions that belong to that federation, and it's
important that I am involved in networking with colleagues in those institutions.
And we have various events that I must go to and
will choose to go to, to spend time just being available to and
meeting with heads of institutions, for example.
Then moving on from that, there are other universities in London that I
have good links with and will spend time just keeping those links alive.
At the same time, we have a network of teaching institutions
who are involved in delivering programs for the University of London.
And a lot of my role is going to visit those institutions for official events,
or to visit them because I happen to be in the country at the same time.
So again, networking with people in those institutions.
And we have events back in London where they come to us.
So spending time interacting with them.
But there are other arenas for networking, and
those will be in country, regulators in country, senior officials.
Rules in the countries where we work.
We spend a lot of time interacting with British Council for example,
who will facilitate introductions very often to people in country.
And building our relationships with the in country regulators
who are very important to us.
We have then, of course, the whole student body.
>> Right.
>> And the whole student body is perhaps our most important networking group,
the active student body.
And that's difficult for us because they're overseas or
they're at a distance in the UK.
And opportunities where we can come together can be really wonderful.
So we have events in the UK and
events overseas, where we actually get to meet our students.
And that for me, having been a teacher and then a lecturer, is a lovely opportunity,
it’s very, very important and very valuable.
And then also our alumni.
That whole huge body of people who've done our degrees and
to have a fondness for a loyalty to and are really important to us to
keep that sense of the family of the University of London alive.
So it's networking on all different levels, and it's really important.
>> We've heard a number of different scenarios that Mary has shared with us.
And it seems we can draw some common threads through all of them.
One, which applied right away to through every example that Mary gave to us.
And that is about visibility.
If you're not visible then you're not able to network any level at all.
And so for example Mary gave us the situation where she walks the floor,
goes out to see the people that she works within has that visibility has those
conversations.
But at the other extreme Mary shared with us examples of global events perhaps for
students or for the alumni, to get other key stakeholders together for networking.
There are also elements of informal networking,
formal networking, almost less essential and
I use my words really carefully not non-essential, less essential.
Essential and vital networking.
Because Mary has said several times
that we're networking all the time at several different levels.
So what that means, you don't have any linear processes,
it's about formal, informal, less essential, essential, vital.
It can be internal networking, it can be external networking,
it can be UK based networking, it can be global networking.
So we have a complex set of dynamics again.
So how do you prioritize who you network with and when?
>> So, I'm not the only person that does the networking.
>> Right.
>> It couldn't happen, it would be impossible.
And again, I've talked at other times about the directorates,
the structure that we have, and different directorates who look after different
parts of our map if you like, our network map.
And so, this morning we've had an invitation from,
Body overseas, to attend a lunch.
It is essential that we're there, I have been invited.
As it happens, I must attend a governance
meeting which is absolutely essential internal governance meeting for a program.
So I will not go to the lunch, but
our director of global engagement will go to that lunch.
>> Right.
>> So we will look at these things together and
make decisions about somebody going.
And delegating, deputizing somebody to go to these sorts of events.
And we can share that.
We have two colleagues overseas in the last week travelling in different
countries following up on relationships and building.
The important thing.
If somebody else is doing it, is it they feedback.
And that we feed back to each other so that we all know at all times what is
going on, and we keep a bank of information.
>> Right. >> And
the information about where relationships have been built.
How we're managing customer relations, how we're managing stakeholder relations,
how we're managing Inter-relations with the different groups.
>> So, as well as we heard a little earlier,
networking involving a whole different range of dynamics and
possible scenarios, we've also heard from Mary just now.
The importance of sharing that responsibility, and
it may well be as you, point-of-contact,
if you are the point-of-contact to be networked with, that you can't go.
That doesn't mean networking can't happen.
Somebody else could go on your behalf.
But what of course that then means is that everybody is clear about what's going on,
why, and there is a really good process of communication.
So that everybody is kept in that networking loop.
There will also be times and Mary gave us the example of the dinner that she
was invited to, but then you need to prioritize where your network.
Because none of us can be in more than one place at any one point in time.
So, there will be an element where you need to prioritize who you network with
and what will be the consequences if you weren't there.
Maybe none, maybe some,
which means you might need to send somebody else there instead.
So, what we're learning about networking, Is a whole number of things.
Firstly, that without doubt, it's essential, secondly,
it can be really informal by being visible on your shop floor.
To the people that you work with rather than being stand back, stand alone.
Which means you're fostering collaborative relationships internally.
It can be formal in terms of there is a process that goes with it and
there needs to be a way of tracking those processes.
It can be less essential and who
actually falls into those less essential categories may vary from time to time.
It can become more essential and it can become vital.
Examples of vital networking could be with regulators,
it could be with government bodies.
It could be with student communities.
It will vary all of the time.
Networking can also be global, it can be local, it can be regional,
it can be from time to time and it can be consistent.
So, where does that take us as we reach the concluding stages of this interview.
It means for each of us, we need to be really aware of what a network is,
what it can do for us, and
what responsibilities we have to foster that networking community.
It means for each of us,
we need to understand where we need to have visibility in an informal sense.
And where we need to have visibility and
constructive visibility in a more formal sense.
It means for each of you and for Mary and I where we need to network because we
absolutely have to network because if we don't there will be serious consequences.
And it also means we need to have a constant plan that will continually
evolve about who we network with first, second, third, fourth and
that will constantly, constantly change.
So Mary thank you for sharing some of your experiences about networking with us.
Thank you.
[MUSIC]
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