Holiday parties provide a great platform for team networking, which helps you refine skills and lay a strong foundation for collaborating with others.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
1. Be conversational to establish a sense of rapport.
Focusing on something or someone you have in common is a great place to start, but be natural and ask simple questions to engage general conversation. Successful collaborating requires context and foundation. It is difficult to build on shaky ground!
2. Ask for advice, listen and take notes.
It is a great honor to be asked for advice and your peers have a lot of valuable information to share. Ask for it. People are more receptive to being a resource than a means to an end. Ask follow-up questions to keep the conversations flowing. Your colleagues can provide valuable insight, but you need to listen carefully. Have they asked you for advice? Counsel wisely!
“The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.” – Oscar Wilde
“If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind.” -Buddha
After any holiday party, jot down on their names, positions, a topic you discussed, or a common interest to job your memory. Even if you don’t have an organizational system for networking and collaborating, taking notes will help you retain the information.
3. Follow up.
If your company doesn’t have a directory, ask for contact information from each new person you meet. Follow up with them – in-person or virtually – referencing something specific from your conversation (see the notes that you took).
