Networking is a social and professional activity that is aimed at quickly and effectively solving various life tasks with the help of friends and acquaintances.
Types of networking
The word "networking" can be translated from English as "networking". This phenomenon is based on the theory of six handshakes, developed by psychologist Jeffrey Travers and sociologist Stanley Milgram in the 60s of the XX century in the United States. The essence of the theory is that each person through a chain of common acquaintances is connected with any other inhabitant of the Earth. This chain includes an average of six people.
Business and social networking are distinguished. With the help of business networking, various business issues are resolved, for example, finding new clients, hiring the best employees, attracting investors, etc. Such actions are based on the desire to build long-term and trusting relationships aimed at mutual assistance and mutually beneficial assistance to each other.
Social, or personal, networking solves various everyday and personal problems. Here, the goal is not business needs, but the individual values and aspirations of the individual. Social networking usually serves to acquire a certain circle of contacts. It can be the basis for forming friendships with new people. Through networking, you can carry out a targeted search for a future spouse. Now personal networking is actively developing in social Internet networks.
Networking is not an acquaintance with the "right" people, but a special ethic of relations in which each participant remains himself. It is a lifestyle that is suitable for people of all social groups, which consists in the ability to maintain friendly relations with a large number of people on equal terms.
Networking in Russia
In Russia and other former Soviet Union countries, the networking culture is still relatively poorly developed. Many people confuse this concept with such phenomena as cronyism, nepotism, pickup and even network marketing. Some, based on the literal translation of this word into Russian, consider any work in shopping or social networks to be networking.
However, this phenomenon gradually penetrates into Russian business. In large cities, seminars and conferences devoted to netwalking are held, sometimes with the involvement of foreign specialists. However, the fashionable word "networking" is often used to make certain events more significant. For example, regular speaker breaks or coffee breaks can be called a networking session. In fact, such events do not in any way affect the effectiveness of the relationship between the participants.