Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to define networking
• Participants will be able to describe an experience they have had networking in either a professional or educational setting OR describe three common networking experiences have had if they have no prior experience

Pose the following questions to participants, one question at a time.

•  What does the term networking mean to you?

Response: Acknowledge participant answers, they will have a broad perspective on what “networking” means, most definitions will be valid in some way.
Share an “official” definition of networking with participants: the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions specifically : the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business (Merriam-Webster, et al 2019) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/networking

• What experience have you had with networking?

Acknowledge participant answers
Response: Encourage all participants to consider additional times they may have networked that they are not considering. Many of them may have networking experience from college that they could be overlooking.

• In what settings is networking beneficial?

Response: Acknowledge participant answers
Encourage all participants to consider additional times they may have networked that they are not considering. Many of them may have networking experience from college that they could be overlooking.

Activity: Interact with your peers in this class to complete a “people bingo” card. You will need to virtually reach out to others in the class to find participants that fit the descriptions on the bingo card. Goal is to have “bingo” before the next class meeting.

People Bingo Card, Retrieved from: https://icebreakerideas.com/people-bingo/

For the facilitator:

Learning Objectives:

• Participant will be able to describe benefits of networking.

As participants to view the embedded video, while considering how they might personally benefit from networking.

Ask the participants: "What other benefits does networking have that are not mentioned in this video?"

Response: Accept a wide variety of answers and encourage participants to think about “out of the box” benefits to networking, such as helping you build skills, finding a running group or colleages to work out with, or starting a puzzle group to work on puzzles at lunch.  The possibilities are varied, and there are many benefits to networking beyond just getting staffed or finding new jobs.

Ask the participants: "How might you personally might benefit from networking?"

Response: You will see a variety of responses to this question. Most, if not all responses will be valid. You may need to ask follow-up questions if participants don’t initially mention: finding a job, making industry connections, selling products or services, meeting potential mentors, and finding connections with charities that could lead to potential charity board positions.

Ask the participants: "How networking would benefit the person you are interacting with?"

Response: again, these responses will vary. Look to bring up how each of the ideas identified above can benefit the other party also.

Setup poll on mentimeter.com, asking: “What are 5 ways networking can benefit individuals?” Select “word cloud” as the output, and a word cloud with the participant responses will be instantly created.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe the steps necessary for successful networking
• Participants will be able to describe what makes an effective networking relationship with another person
• Participants will be able to describe how networking has changed in recent times

Direct participants to view the following video, which provides a good overview of effective techniques to network successfully.

Ask: “What stood out to you as something you are not currently doing, but could do to make your networking more effective?”

Responses will vary

Direct participants to view the following video, and as they watch consider how they can approach networking so that it is mutually beneficial.

Ask "What are some key things that stood out to you in the video above?"

Response: Allow a few participants to answer, then move on to the final video in this module.

Direct participants to watch the following video and while they watch, think about how networking has changed in the last 25 years. (Watch from 5:12 to the end)

Ask the following quetions, pausing for discussion after each:

• "In what ways is it easier to network now, compared to 25 years ago?"
• "What challenges do these new methods of networking present?"
• "What are the advantages to networking with individuals in different geographies?"

Response: These questions should be asked individually, to guide a discussion around how networking has changed, in both beneficial and not beneficial ways. Encourage participants to consider how the internet has changed networking.

Provide the following graphics about networking:

retrieved from: https://www.jcs-usa.com/gallery/15-networking-tips/

retrieved from: https://www.thevirtualsavvy.com/networking-tips-how-to-play-the-game/

Direct participants to respond on message board: Please share 3 tips to create effective networking relationships that you have used or would like to use in the future. Respond to two other postings, sharing your thoughts on why their tips would work or not work in a networking situation.

Learning Objectives:

• Participant will be able to identify common barriers to networking success
• Participant will be able to identify ways to overcome common barriers to networking success

Post the following link and ask participants to watch the video, while they watch it they should think about challenges they have encountered during past networking opportunities.

Setup a virtual whiteboard in advance for use during this activity.  Most virtual prigrams have this built in (Adobe COnnect, Zoom), if your program does not offer this you may need to setup a virtual whiteboard using Microsoft OneNote on your computer and then share that screen in the virtual meeting room.

Ask: “What barriers have you encountered?"

Have participants write it directly on the virtual whiteboard, or if no whiteboard is available have them write it in the text chat of the meeting room so you can add them to your screen shared whiteboard.

Ask: "Were those barriers some of the six that were identified in the video?" and follow up with "Are there other barriers that you have encountered?”

Continue to ask questions one at a time to build a conversation around networking barriers. Write barriers on virtual whiteboard as they are identified

Ask: "How can you overcome the barriers you have identified?"

Response: Take the list from your virtual whiteboard and break them down one by one, brainstorming with the group to determine ways they can be overcome.

Ask the participants to draw a pictogram that represents the challenges they may face as they begin to expand their network. After the module, select approximately 5 pictures to highlight during the next module.  

Post example pictogram to give participants tips for getting started:

Example Pictogram, retrieved from: https://itisallaboutart.wordpress.com/sketchnotes/visual-note-taking/

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will have opportunity to practice networking skills learned.
• Participants will receive feedback on networking skills

Before this module, review the pictograms submitted and choose a few to highlight.

[Insert 5 pictograms that were created by participants and submitted after the last module]

Before this module, create pairs of participants.

Give direction for how we will practice networking in groups and share the group list. Go through and each pair spending 1-2 minutes conducting a mock first meeting at a networking event. After each group ask for feedback, keeping the timing in mind and ending the feedback session if needed to move to the next pair. As you ask for feedback, ask first the pair networking, then the other participants, then add your own feedback. Let the group know that you would like them to use the feedback you are sharing to make each roleplay better than the last.

As the networking meetings occur, direct the class participants to use the following rubric to help them focus their thougths for the feedback session that will occur after each meeting.  Because this is a workforce course, no grades are issued.  Participants should share the rubrics directly with the other participants, as they will be used for skill improvement and awareness tool rather than as an assessment for grading.

Faculty should also use this rubric to help guide their feedback, and provide a copy of the rubric to each meeting participant after the meeting is complete.

Participants should complete this rubric as they observe the meetings.

For the Facilitator:

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will reflect on how they will use what they have learned
• Participants will establish accountability partners to help them implement what they have learned.

Ask participants to create an email addressed to themselves, writing the following prompts in the email and answering each prompt.

• "Why is it important to build a professional network?"
• "What did I learn today that I can use the next time I need to network?"
• "How am I going to use what I learned today to create a stronger professional network?"

Ask participants to partner up. This partner will be their accountability partner. Suggest that accountability partners establish a time to meet to follow up on how they have been doing implementing what they have learned, generally a 15 minute meeting every Friday works well. Ask each participant to reach out to their accountability partner within the next week to tell them the time/date of a networking opportunity they will be attending.

Ask participants to find a networking event that is relevant to them and will be occuring in the next two weeks. They should create a post on the message board sharing the details of this event, as well as two people that they will be targeting to meet when you are there (note, this could be a specific person "Jane Jones" or this could be a broad description "Leadership within the technology department at the Chicago office" Try to be as specific as possible!)

Ask participants to complete the post session survey: 

Post Course Survey

Record the pre session scores and the post session scores for each participant. Comparing these scores will give you data such as percent improvement in each metric. You can use this data to create business cases for future sessions, highlight learning to leadership, and to quantify the impact that this course/learning in general has on the organization.