To pave the way for a successful Virtual Assistant career, it is fundamental to hone your interpersonal skills. In the business world, acquiring and maintaining a strong network is essential to thrive. You have to step out of your comfort zone to meet new people and establish professional relationships.
Although good people skills don’t come naturally for everyone, all of us are capable of connecting with other people. You could start small by developing business relationships with the people working at your company’s front and back office in the Philippines. Once you get the hang of it, you could branch your network outside of your business.
Here is a guide that could help you build strong and authentic professional relationships.
Build Genuine Friendships
When you expand your network, it’s important to observe professionalism. But, that shouldn’t stop you from building genuine friendships. Connections come naturally when you identify your shared goals, values, and interests. In professional relationships, you could share your experiences, and learn about each other’s family and professional history. You could exchange ideas by engaging in a healthy discussion. Authenticity is one of the foundations of strong business relationships.
Mutually Benefit From One Another
The same way bees and flowers benefit from the existence of one another, strong and lasting professional relationships require give and take. Having a broad professional network enables you to access information and insights from different fields. In the same way, the people in your network could also get knowledge and wisdom from you in your field of expertise. In order to maintain these professional relationships, you have to regularly reach out to them.
Develop Mutual Trust and Respect
Just like in every relationship, nurturing mutual respect and trust is essential for growing business relationships. People prefer to work with someone whom they respect and trust. In order to achieve this, you have to patiently invest time and effort. Involve yourself in chambers, professional groups, or online communities where you could reach out to other people and develop a healthy professional relationship with them.
Don’t Hesitate to Ask for Help
Often times, people who are in need have the tendency to wait for others to help them. Asking for help may make you feel uncomfortable at times – but when the need arises, never hesitate to seek for assistance. Most of the time, you have a better shot at getting what you want when you straightforwardly ask for help. It could also save the other party from the trouble of guessing how to effectively help you. And when you ask for help, it promotes openness in your professional relationship.
Connect Connections
Meeting new people inside and outside your company is an effective way to make your network grow. But, aside from that, you could also connect two or more parties in your network to expand connections. The parties you connect will remember you as the connector and they will be grateful to you for helping them. In the same way, the people in your network could also connect you to the people they know and help you branch out your connections. This move doesn’t just help you in making your network expand, it also helps you cultivating your business relationships to develop mutual trust.
