In between meetings I will often find a cafe to sit down and catch-up on work. It’s a relaxing atmosphere and normally there is the buzz of networking and business going on all around me .. not that I’m eavesdropping! But recently I’ve become increasingly aware of the people I see around me .. or more specifially the people I don’t see … women. And it’s made me wonder, where are all the women networkers? It’s possible they’re networking elsewhere during the day, maybe over lunch, or at the gym. But a worrying thought has crossed my mind, what if they aren’t?
And then a couple of days ago a friend and I, over a cup of coffee incidentally, were asking ourselves, why is it that there are women’s networks? Why do women have networks just for them? You don’t often hear of men’s networks – aside from the non-pc -ness of them, why not?. Men certainly are networking, I see them everytime I’m at the coffee shop. I know they meet after work in the pub, meet eachother on the golf course – ok I might be stereotyping a bit. The key is that they’re naturally incorporating it into their daily routine. Men are more likely to poke their heads into their bosses office for an “unofficial” catch-up, of perhaps nothing in particular, but they’re networking and raising profile. Women are more like to keep their heads down and work harder, hoping someone will notice.
I’m not saying that women’s networks aren’t useful as I do believe they are. But I am suggesting that given women are, typically, quite natural communicators, why don’t we see them doing it more often? So ladies, here’s a question … where do you network? And where do you find you are most successful at it?
