How do you maintain and grow a professional network remotely? Explore key techniques for successful networking while teleworking.

Increasingly in vogue, telecommuting has become a part of everyday life for many workers. While telecommuting offers a number of advantages, it also raises a number of questions: Doesn’t it take us away from social life and the opportunity to create a fruitful network? Here are a few tips and tools to help you develop and maintain your network despite telecommuting!

Tips for maintaining and expanding your network while teleworking

In some cases, telecommuting can lead to social isolation. To alleviate this problem, it’s important to implement a number of simple tips to help you maintain and develop your network.

Establish regular communication

To successfully develop and maintain your network, it’s important to focus on communication! You need to set up regular communication. Today, many tools are available to help you communicate despite the distance: e-mails, Zoom meetings, discussion platforms like WhatsApp, for example.

All means are good to maintain a link with your professional contacts, which is essential for maintaining your network!

Regularly attend physical events

Even if you telework most of the time, we recommend that you don’t skip out on organized events such as conferences, webinars or trade shows. These professional events are a great way to meet new people and maintain your professional network! Physical events also enable you to exchange ideas and strengthen ties with professionals from different backgrounds, making it easier to share knowledge.

Strengthen your network presence

To successfully develop and maintain your network, there’s nothing more useful than online platforms like LinkedIn, for example! They represent a real pillar of networking, making it easy and intuitive to share information!

Think of discussion groups too, and don’t forget to regularly update your page(Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, …) to gain visibility! The more regular and invested you are on social networks, the more likely you are to attract new followers, and thus boost your network!

Take the time to personalize your interactions

To energize and maintain your network, it’s important to think about your interlocutors and personalize your interactions with them! For example, take the time to send a birthday message to your contacts on the big day, or show your interest in a new project. These little gestures are sure to please your contacts and strengthen the bonds between you.

Tools for maintaining and developing your network while teleworking

Video-conferencing is the way to go!

Whatever platform you use (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, …), videoconferencing meetings are a real asset for maintaining your networking effectively! By holding regular videoconferences, you can easily keep in touch with your contacts and stay abreast of what’s going on in the professional sphere around you!

Videoconferences are an excellent way of keeping up to date with each other’s projects and taking part in them.

Using messaging channels

As well as using social networks and videoconferencing, it’s also vital to understand the importance of interaction tools like Messenger, or WhatsApp newsgroups, for example. These tools enable easy integration and instant professional discussions, wherever you are!

Behaviors to adopt for effective remote networking

Certain behaviors are key to successful networking, even from a distance! Indeed, to expand your professional network, certain techniques should not be overlooked.

Take the initiative!

To network successfully, it’s important to take the initiative! Reach out to others, for example, by offering to renew acquaintances with former colleagues! Don’t wait for initiatives to come from others!

Share your information!

Even at a distance, it’s possible to maintain and develop your network. This means sharing information and resources. Don’t hesitate to create a shared discussion group, so that everyone can contribute their own information. By sharing your resources, you’ll effectively strengthen your professional network.

You can use a variety of channels, such as e-mail, social networks or instant messaging platforms, to keep in touch with your contacts.

Be open to others!

Being attentive to others is a real pillar for creating lasting, quality relationships. Even if you’re working from home, make sure you’re always sincere, benevolent and genuine with your contacts. Showing genuine interest in others makes it easy to build trust, and will help you develop your network effectively!

By implementing these tips, tools and behaviors, you’ll see that despite the distance, it’s perfectly possible to create solid relationships and boost your network! In fact, telecommuting allows you to develop your use of Internet tools and social networks, which are becoming increasingly popular these days!