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Whether you are an emergency, business continuity, or a crisis manager your network must be productive, it must be built on trust, and it has to include a diverse web of stakeholders. Normally, we rely on information, agreements, and connection with individuals whose lived experience is similar to our own, but as we move through COVID and other disruptors our web must include new and different. But, our digital boundaries are becoming tighter and tighter.

With platforms like Parler, it quickly built a community of like minded individuals, how does one find trusted opposition to one’s own thinking or true news?

The above image was taken from the Institute For The Future. It outlines the four aspects for building trust in our current and future World.

Digital networks are in our pockets, in our eye glasses, in our homes, and in our cars. Moving into 2021, and beyond, means our work and connections will continue to rapidly span across the Planet. This is one reason why the Hazardscape Virtual Hub is powered by Virbela (I call Virbela the LinkedIn and Teachable of Virtual Reality platforms). Working, learning, and networking in Virtual Reality provides the same low-cost pricing as video conferencing but it adds a deeper level of trust due to unstructured social activity and the opportunity for ‘water cooler’ talk. With deep fakes, fake news, viruses, and our psychological data being used for marketing means Social Media platforms are quickly becoming places of distrust.

The institutions we used to trust (governments, universities, banks..etc) are losing ground quickly and not keeping up to global change. Tech companies like Facebook are becoming sources of news and lawyers are being left out of smart contracts facilitated by blockchain technology. Under the old system, it could takes years to develop a trusted and productive network that produces results. But as we move into the future we need to examine the elements that make up trusted systems in today’s world.

How do you build a trusted network today?

For individuals it starts with why and definition

• Why do you want to develop a network?

• What success do you want from your connections?

• How will you measure it and know you are gaining traction that will help you meet your goals?

After you understand the why…..which can include a new job, sales leads, more money, or career support…….you have to define networking so you can develop the appropriate behaviours.

What does networking or developing a network mean and what can it look like? If you were to fill in the following what would you write? Networking means____________________. Networking does not mean ___________________. Here are a few examples to get you started:

1. Networking means looking for new and better ways of doing things that will improve performance. Networking does not mean working with current methods and accepting the old way of doing things as the best way.

2. Networking means taking a real interest in sharing information with stakeholders in areas of personal expertise. Networking does not mean only providing information when asked.

   After you define what networking means and does not mean you can have a better chance of adjusting your behaviors to match its meaning.

Map

This one is quick. Take 15 - 20 minutes and whiteboard, list, mind map, or post-it-note your current network. You can list organizations and individuals but if you list an organization try to identify a contact and their positions. Do it quickly, focusing on your key relationships. Just write and keep writing.

The advantage to using a mind map is you can refer to it later and add organizations or individuals that you are currently not connected to but might be able to access through an existing contact.

Use different colors. Maybe blue for stakeholders you work with today and red for ones you want to connect with later in year.

When you are done let’s measure them.

Find

Now that you know why you want to develop a network, what networking means, and identified your existing network, it’s time to find new connections.

• Where do the people you need to meet hang out?

• Where do they work?

• What strategies and tactics do you need to meet with them and learn more about that they do?

• How can you support them to show that you are invested in the relationship?

• What challenges will you help them with?

Measure

I call this step network scaling. Start by ranking your relationships 1 through 5 with 1 being poor. I know this may sound cold but you need objective criteria to help you determine which relationships to focus on. You only have so much time and energy so make it count by scaling your relationships so you can focus on the important ones.

1 - Poor relationship (i.e. there are current serious problems that require resolution)

2 - Adequate relationship (i.e., strictly business/transaction orientated)

3 - Good relationship (i.e., some past success but nothing recent and not much current contact)

4 - Very good relationship (i.e., some recent success but room for improvement)

5 - Extremely good relationship (i.e., many successes, some social contact)

Now that you have a good idea of what networking means, who is in your network, and how they fit it’s time to make a plan

Plan

Identify the barriers that get in the way of your relationships with your stakeholders and identify specific actions you can take to remove the barriers. Include setting a date for improving the relationship with each stakeholder. Decide if you want to cultivate the relations that fall into categories one, two, and three and keep doing what you are already doing with relationships that fall into categories four and five.

Don’t forget to monitor your progress against your goals and re-evaluate each of your stakeholder relationships.

These are some of the steps we will work on during our Virtual Hub Group Coaching sessions. In the sessions we will also focus on how to talk about the future with your network and how to position yourself as a trusted advisor.

Author: Brad Ison is the founder and CEO of Hazardscape and a disaster management coach. A disaster and emergency management company that specializes in virtual reality training and coaching within its virtual 3D Hub. He’s held position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had a decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and Training, Accreditation, and Standards.