Friday, October 17, 2008

What is Internal Networking? (first post in a series)

I define internal networking as the total of all relationship-building activities undertaken within an organization (more specifically, where you work -- whether that's a corporation, government agency, educational institution, or non-profit organization) with the intent of building strategic influence and thus further one's career.

In my mind, internal and external networking are very similar with one major difference -- external networking (more typically referred to as "networking") is geared towards efforts to connect with individuals outside of your organization while internal networking is oriented towards the people with whom you work.

(The following six posts also address internal networking. Check out part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, and part 7.)

2 comments:

Liz said...

Thanks for getting us started Mitchell! One question people might have is: how do you identify the key "power brokers" who can have an influence on your career?

Terri said...

This is great. I am looking forward to the discussion. I would also be interested in hearing about how you approach internal networking without it being so obvious that you might be looking to move on to another position. Could it be dangerous to "network" too openly within your company?