Subject 2:Activities 2

Empathy exercise
People nowadays are segmenting in so many ways than just gender, age, education, or work. Their hobbies, journeys, experiences, values, and lifestyles play a larger role in predicting and shaping their behavior. Psychographic shifts focus from a question “who?” to a question “why?” The activity helps formulate an in-depth psychographic portrait of target audience of your network. Use the provided canvas and try answering the following questions about your possible connections:

What are negative influences from the environment for networking?
What are positive influences from the environment for networking?
What are they afraid of?
What do they wish for?
What bad constant behaviour they have?
What good constant behaviour they have?
What they think they want?
What they really need?

Mapping your network

It is always useful to have a clear understanding of how your network looks like and what is the state of the art of it. Therefore, this exercise will ask you to evaluate people or organisations in your network according to the potential impact of your network members and the strength of your ties with them.

Use the following canvas to map your network and see which parts you need to work on more

Building effective network exercise

Networks enable you to offer more and have more impact. A network is a set of relationships that you depend on to get things done to get ahead in your career and to develop professionally. Here is a brief session manual in order to develop a strategy on building your personal network:

1. REFLECT (First 10 minutes)
Think about your experience. What do your networks currently look like? Do you have mostly close convenience networks? Do you have valuable weak ties in your network? What challenges do you face when cultivating your networks? How might you address these challenges?

2. SHARE (For the next 10 minutes)
Pair up and share with your partner your reflections on your networks. What are the strengths of your current networks? What challenges are your facing? What, if anything, holds you back from forming the kinds of networks you would like to have? Mention which strategies could help you navigate these challenges? After 5 minutes, switch and let your partner share.

3. DISCUSS (For the next 15 minutes, as a group)
Each person, share one key discovery or reflection from this education module. What resonated with you (or not) based on your personal background and identity? Then have group members share 1) How this concept relates to the challenges they face at work, and 2) Strategies they have used to address these challenges. For this discussion, share experiences, do not give advice.

4. ACTION (For the final 10 minutes)
Pick One Action you will do after the meeting. Imagine who, what, where, and when it will happen. Each person, share the one action with the group. Plan to report back at the next meeting.