Submitted by Nasimiyu on
in
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Hi
I love manager tools podcast and would like to hear from you how to make friends at the workplace and network.
I know how to make small conversation with workmates but how to go beyond that..I dont know.
As a manager when going round to say hello to staff sometimes am stuck on what to continuously say or maintain rapport with my staff
Please share tips on how to network at the workplace, make more friends and have something to talk with them about
Thanks,
Monica.
How to maintain continuous manager rapport with staff
How do you maintain continuos rapport with sgtaff?
How do you always have something to say to them?
Hi Monica, I'm naturally a
Hi Monica,
I'm naturally a high C and I found joining network groups (particular Toastmasters) significantly helped me improve my small talk and conversation skills. It's always hard to get started if it's not in your nature, but the best way to develop behaviors is by practice ;)
Kind Regards
Mads Sorensen
Disc 4536
Let them talk about themselves
An easy way to start a conversation is to ask them about the weekend or an important event that has happened - such as "Carol, how did Johnny's football game go?" It's easy to listen to a few stories & learn what things each person is interested in.
One of my staff loves movies so we talk about that. She almost always sees the latest ones before me but I like to hear what she thought of it.
Also, some people don't want anything more than small talk in the workplace, so be cautious for that too.
pay attention
As MTCT always say, it's all about people. Good job on focusing on people.
What I've found is that I need to keep up on what's going on locally and in my industry. I'm in MKE - so I need to know if the Brewers are playing or how the Packers are doing whether or not I'm particularly interested. Just knowing if they played, who they played, and if they won or lost allows you to start a conversation "did you watch the game" or "Did the Brewers win?" I'm in IT, so its always good to know wht the cool new phone is, what Google is doing, etc.
As I type the above, I'm thinking of specific people I can talk about each of those with. Those are good, broad, general topics. As you talk to people more, they will give you clues about how much they want to share (do they bring up their family? friends? dog?) There's also the classic talk about the weather topic or "got plans for the weekend?" Remember the tennis model - answer a question, talk a little, ask a question back. That has helped me as well.
Start with broad topics and as you get into it, you'll be able to learn people's interests and their willingness to share those interests.
John