Professional Network Gardening

Overview

Professional networks are a lot like trees and shrubs. They can grow uncontrollably and quickly get out of hand. As such, you may need to manage and control that growth by pruning.

Professional Networks – The Good

If you belong to a social media site designed for business professionals, such as LinkedIn, you know the value of having a strong professional network. In addition to providing opportunities for both personal and professional growth, your network helps you stay in touch with what’s going on in different industries, allows you to stay abreast of current trends in technology, and also helps you develop new clients or promote your business.

One of the greatest benefits of cultivating your professional online network is that it expands your reach by allowing you to see articles and topics posted by people you follow, which in turn greatly expands the type and amount of information you are exposed to, read and learn about. Other advantages include being able to discuss a variety of topics with people all over the world, having people respond to articles you post, and having them contribute to discussions you initiate or questions you ask.

That’s a strong professional network. A good professional network. One that has people learning from, contributing to and sharing with each other. In other words, a well cultivated network.

Professional Networks – The Bad

Unfortunately, there are also some less than desirable attributes that you will run into on a professional networking site. Things like people creating fake profiles, people exhibiting rude, boorish behavior and those promoting extreme viewpoints (on almost any topic). You will also see things like cute animal pictures, family pictures and memes that really don’t belong on a networking site that is supposedly designed for business professionals.

But the biggest issue and primary drawback to this type of professional networking site is the amount of unwanted spam you will receive on a regular basis. This spam typically shows up in the form of people wanting to connect with you and then once you’ve connected, they immediately try to sell you something. Depending on how you’ve configured your profile, you may receive these annoying requests only as messages on the site, but you may also receive them via email or even on your phone.

This is a network that has grown out of control.

Network Gardening

Once you begin experiencing these type of problems, it becomes necessary to start pruning your garden, or perhaps more specifically, your professional network.

Did you know that you should prune your network just like you prune your shrubs? It's true. And while this may seem extreme to some (especially those who describe themselves as being open to accepting any and all network connection requests, regardless of whether there is any value to be gained or given), it’s actually a good practice, as it helps maintain a strong professional network that provides value, both to you and to the members of your network.

Mirriam-Webster defines pruning as "to cut away what is unwanted or superfluous." This is also a great description of what you should eliminate from your professional network. What this means in terms of your network is that there are some people you should either disconnect from, unfollow, or sometimes, in extreme situations, block. Ultimately, the criteria for this decision and level of action will depend on your personal definition of value.

For example, if there are people that always ask you for help but then never respond back when you reach out to them, Disconnect from them. For those who people continuously post non-business-relevant articles or pictures, Unfollow them. And for those people who are always trying to sell you something, Block them.

Those are the ones you should prune.

While some people may think this is harsh, it’s really not. It’s simply good gardening. At the end of the day this is your professional network, so you need to maintain your network so that it provides you with value and is worthwhile to continue.

Remember, the value of your professional network lies both in the value you provide to the other members, as well as the value that you receive from the people in your network. It’s a two-way street. If you don’t provide value to the people in your network, then you may be the one on the receiving end of the pruning shears. Both cultivating it and pruning it are necessary steps that must be taken to maintain a healthy professional network.

Summary

Trimming the deadwood and lopping off some of the uncontrolled growth is an essential part of good gardening. The same thing applies to your professional network. Without the necessary pruning, your professional network may grow so large that it gets out of control and no longer provides value, so don’t be afraid to trim when and where needed.

© 2019 – Richard Hatheway, Catalyst Strategic Marketing

All rights reserved.