organisation

ORGANIZATION: 

VIJAY LODHA MBA(FIN.)LLB,MCOM

Regardless of whether you already have hundreds of contacts or are just starting out with a close-knit group of personal acquaintances: Successful networking is all about managing, maintaining and deepening those contact ties. Wishing them a Happy Birthday if one example of this (check out our convenient reminders here) – but more importantly still it is the ability to identify and be aware of your contacts’ needs, skills and positions, and then to make use of these to your advantage.

Do you know which of your contacts is based in    mumbai, which in dubai and which in London? Who can speak spanish in your network? Who’s a whizz at Photoshop? Who has good contacts in mechanical engineering? It is at times when time is pressing that it pays off most to have a highly organized network.

Generally speaking, the following features are designed to help you organize your contacts more effectively: Bookmarks for yet-to-be-contacts, and tagging and memos for existing, confirmed contacts.

I bookmark people whenever I want to make contact with someone, but at a later date. This could for example be the case if a person is recommended to me, but when I know that the person in question only accepts specific, project-based contact requests or requests from people they have already met personally. Of course, you can then view your overview of bookmarked people at any time.

There are diverse capabilities and advantages of tagging. Adding keywords enables you to manage many contacts at once with great efficiency. It also, for instance, makes it much easier to invite contacts to events or recommend them to others. This makes this tool, in my view, THE key feature for successful networking!

I usually use memos to note down whether I am on first name terms with a contact or not, as well as other important information about the person that I might otherwise forget about over time. Conveniently, the memo also includes the exact text and date of when initial contact was made. Although that said, you don’t have to be a personal contact to write memos.

So I highly recommend investing a little time whenever you make a new contact or come across a potentially interesting one and make use of the organizational tools at your disposal. Take an hour to sort through your contacts if you haven’t already done so – you’ll find it is well worth it!