Shelli Strand has worked for 30 years in technology as a marketing leader, for large companies, start-ups, and as a consultant.
When she decided to embark on her executive education course at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, she was looking to fill the gaps in her personal experience. She was also looking to network.
“On my part, I enter each class intentionally, saying I'm going to meet people. I'm going to meet at least one or two people that I stay in touch with,” says Strand.
Students beginning their executive courses and looking to network can keep in mind a few different tools and approaches to successfully make friends and build up their social network through their executive education experience.
In-person classes can boost connections
One thing that can make the process easier is to try to take in-person classes. This allows easier face-to-face connections and bridges the gap between people coming from very different experiences.
“If one has the opportunity to attend in person, it's invaluable,” says Carole Low, another participant in executive courses at Berkeley.
“I've participated in global courses where people fly in from all over the world, and what happens is you get this very wide perspective, not just in terms of diversity, in terms of nationality and ethnicities, it's just a little bit like a melting pot.”
Take advantage of the regularity of online classes
Even with online classes, it is possible to build a strong network. Strand preferred taking in-person classes, but elected to take one course online that would last six months.
The duration of that course, even though it was online, led to her making strong connections with her cohort.
“I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I have networked in the digital class, because it's so long. I keep seeing these people online at office hours and in live sessions over six months,” says Strand.
It’s important to be intentional with your networking. Researching a cohort ahead of time and knowing one’s own personal goals can make it more efficient and allow a student to use their energy on networking that will serve them.
It’s also important to be intentional with what you are able to offer as well.
“I think picking and choosing which networks you're going to use is very helpful, because sometimes you can be spread too thin, and it's not a good experience. But there may be certain ones that you gather more input from, there may be certain ones that you use for your own output. People need to understand what you're interested in and what you're about,” says Low.
As students encounter potential friends or network members, it helps to keep in mind that everyone has different communication styles and some people will be better natural networkers than others.
With some people, it will be necessary to adapt and work a little harder to find a way to connect.
“Some people are just much better communicators than others,” says Low.
“You can learn from those people you connect with. You learn by observing. You learn by interacting with them and understanding.”
It can help to act like a reporter, and ask many questions to learn more about what the person is interested in.
This approach helped Strand immensely, with both in-person and remote classes.
“I did that in every single class, and I'm doing that now in my online class, where I hear somebody say something interesting about their role, and I don't understand it, and then I send them a private message to go, ‘What's that? What are you doing? Hey, can we talk about that?’,” says Strand.
“I just interview people on what they've been doing, and everybody loves to talk about themselves. So that works.”
Don’t just make contacts, but also stay in contact
Follow-up is also important. There are many ways to stay in touch with new friends in different locations, such as WhatsApp.
“I have a high impact leadership group with the executive education program in which someone set up a WhatsApp group. And so it allows for everyone, internationally, connected, anytime, and to use it very much the way you would use any sort of 24/7 networking opportunity, and so you can continue the conversation,” says Low.
Strand also has a WhatsApp chat with her network to stay in close contact, and also utilizes LinkedIn, personal email, and phone calls to keep the connections fostered in her executive courses alive.
Sometimes, the Whatsapp group can be used to arrange in-person meet-ups when one of the members is in town. Strand meets up with her connections, and so does Low.
By maintaining casual and professional connections, the influence of an executive course can last for a long time.
“I have friends from business school and other courses that I've completed over the years; it's been decades. I actually have people who I have met who I could easily say, ‘Oh, I'm visiting your country. Would you like to meet up for a coffee?’” says Low.
“To me, that's the spice of life. We're on a life journey together. It's wonderful that you can connect with someone and maintain that sense of connection.”
Katie Nadworny is a writer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, BBC, Politico, and many other publications.
