What is Professional Networking and Why is it Important?
The professional connections you have and can build up can make a significant difference in your career and business. That is why many professional and business people focus a portion of their time on networking and growing their contacts. By understanding the purpose and importance of professional networking, you can develop a strong professionals network that could benefit you in the present time and coming years.
What is professional networking?
Professional networking is about reaching out to, connecting with, and developing professional relationships with established and upcoming professionals in your field or related industries and with prospective clients. You may network in person or online. The networking can happen at live or online networking events, seminars, conferences, lectures, workshops, and training programs. You are also networking when you connect with people at your workplace, at college alumni clubs, at sports events, on social occasions, while traveling, on online professional sites, and over social media. Volunteering your professional services for social causes can be another important way to network.
Building a strong professionals network can take time and effort. Several factors can influence it, such as your professional knowledge, soft skills, work experience, and industry standing. Rather than just considering the favor you can ask from people in your network, you should think of ways to help them in return and build mutually beneficial relationships.
You may benefit from setting practical networking goals to get the most out of your networking activities. For instance, you might plan to share at least one new insight with your network every week or connect with four new people in your industry in a month.
Why is professional networking important?
Professional networking is important for the following reasons:
• It can help you to establish yourself as a skilled, dependable, trustworthy, and ethical professional.
• It can help you to increase your professional visibility in your industry.
• It can enable you to connect with knowledgeable people in your field.
• It can keep you informed about industry trends, developments, and opportunities.
• It can offer you access to valuable industry information and resources.
• It can help you to reconnect with previous clients, employers, colleagues, and employees.
• It can enable you to meet with prospective clients, employers, colleagues, and employees.
• It can help you to find business mentors, partners, and investors.
• It can help you to find well-paying jobs and business deals not advertised elsewhere.
• It can help you to hear about new skills and learn these to foster your career development.
• It can help you to stay ahead in a competitive business environment.
• It can help you to get professional feedback on your work and projects.
• It can help with marketing your talents, products, and services.
What are some professional networking tips?
The following networking tips may help you to benefit from your interactions with your professionals network:
Focus on establishing connections with the right people: you will benefit more from your professionals network if you focus on connecting with people in your field who are more advanced in their careers and are renowned for their expertise.
Remember to follow up with your new connections: a crucial step in professional networking is to follow up on the contacts you made or initiated during your networking activities. Many people forget or neglect to do this and fail to move the new relationship forward. It may help to get in the habit of sending a brief, personalized message after meeting someone new. You can let them know you enjoyed interacting with them and that you look forward to sharing mutually beneficial professional information and insights with them. You can also send them a connection request via social media or a professional networking site.
Keep in frequent touch with your existing connections: it will help to regularly communicate with your existing contacts and continue strengthening those relationships. You need to make a point of showing your genuine appreciation and thanking people when they help you out with anything. Even if it is a small thing, it is important to let them know that it mattered and made a difference to you and your career. You should also demonstrate your willingness to return the favor and offer professional advice and assistance whenever necessary.
A Guide On How To Select The Best Commercial HVAC Company
Choosing a commercial HVAC company is something that sometimes gets shrugged off until you need one in a hurry. That’s when you begin dialing numbers hoping to find a company that meets all your needs. What are your needs, what do you need from an HVAC company, and better yet, how do you choose a company that is the best fit for you commercial needs?
What are your HVAC needs.
Reputable commercial HVAC companies are able to offer a variety of services, and although you may not require them all, you should know what they offer so you can ensure that they can meet your needs. The first thing to ask yourself is, why are you calling a professional out? Is your commercial business too hot or too cold? Do you need a cleaning or is this an emergency? Does your commercial business have kitchen exhausts, dryer vents, or air ducts that need to be cleaned? You should also find out the make and model of your current system so you can ensure that the technician is knowledgeable with your specific system’s requirements. Getting this information before you call can save a lot of time and hassle.
Learn about the technicians
When time is important, often people just hope that the person who comes to do the work is capable and able to do the job to their satisfaction. However, when looking for commercial HVAC companies, take the time to ask about the people that they will be sending out. Learn about their credentials. HVAC technicians should all be licensed when coming to work on your system. Ensuring their credentials can also help ensure that they are well trained and competent. Technicians should also be insured for the work that they complete. A reputable HVAC company will gladly give this information to potential clients. If a company is not willing to provide information about their technician’s license and insurance, you may want to consider looking for a different commercial HVAC company.
Obtain quotes and proposals
Commercial HVAC systems are expensive to purchase and maintain. When maintenance is required, ensure that you receive in writing a quote. In the event that you are replacing a system, ensure that there is a written proposal of the breakdown of cost. Not everything goes according to plan, and there may be changes that are needed to maintain your system; however, a written quote will ensure that you are getting all the work you’ve agreed upon at a cost that was agreed upon. If appropriate, learn about guarantees and funding, such as money back satisfaction guarantees or no payment financing for one year. If commercial HVAC companies are not willing to give written estimates or proposals, consider searching for another company.
Search and review potential HVAC companies.
Gone are the days when you would hear, “I know a person who knows a person that can do what you want.” In today’s digital age, you can take advantage of any information you do hear ad then do some research to find out more for yourself. There are many online review sites for businesses. Google reviews is a quick way to learn what others are saying about the commercial HVAC companies that you are considering. A reputable company will leave the negative ones on the site with a response. There will always be positive and negative reviews, so read through to see if there is a pattern of negatives or positives and how any concerns were addressed. Other review sites may include YELP, indeed, or glass door. These review sites may also include comments from previous workers about their experience. Also, do not hesitate to ask the company for references from their current customers. Follow up with these references to see what their experience was, how the work was, how the worker’s attitude was—and did they stay in budget and on time?
There are many commercial HVAC companies that are willing to do the work. Take your time and ensure that you are getting the best company to meet your needs. Ensure that you research and compare quotes and reviews from multiple commercial HVAC companies.
Office Space: How Do I Calculate How Much I Need?
Whether you are establishing a new office or shifting to a new business address, you need to determine the workspace that you will need. There is no exact science to calculate how much office space is ideal for your business. It completely depends on your preferences and business requirements. However, having an estimate can be extremely helpful.
Your real estate agent can ask you for an estimated space requirement to check the availability in your desired location. Also, you will be signing a lease term, and any miscalculations can negatively impact your business and finances. Hence, determining your office space requirement becomes necessary.
Let us discuss in detail how you can calculate your required office space.
1. Determine the number of employees
The first step in calculating your office space is determining the number of employees. This number does not only consist of your current workforce but also takes into account the future employees of your company.
For most offices, you will need to sign a lease term for three to five years. Depending on your lease term, you need to determine how many employees will be joining the company each year to arrive at the final employee count.
2. The layout of your office
Some workplaces may require a private office for their employees, while others can use an open area workspace where multiple employees sit with each other in close proximity. Depending on the work culture of your office work area can also be separated into cubicles providing some amount of segregation and privacy.
The choice for layout will differ from business to business. For example, law firms may prefer private offices as the occupation requires confidentiality and privacy. However, open area workspace can be used for call centers or sales agents. Cubicles can be preferred by designing firms.
Choosing the layout of your office depends on your preferences, and you can also use a mixed layout to suit your business needs.
3. Categorize the employees based on their space requirement
Not every employee in your office will be allocated the same office space Manhattan. After you have chosen the layout of your office, you need to determine how many employees will be needing private offices, cubicles, and open area workspaces.
Presidents, vice presidents, and managers from different departments may require a private office. Cubicles can be provided for engineers, secretaries, programmers, customer service representatives, accountants, etc., and employees for data entry and clerical work can be allocated open area workspaces.
The space requirement for private offices can be 200 to 400 square feet. Employees in cubicles can be given a working space of 150 to 200 square feet, and employees in the open area can be allocated somewhere between 100 to 150 square feet.
This area is not just the workspace but also consists of common-use areas like conference room, reception area, walk space, canteen, etc.
4. Permanent rooms and spaces
Your office area will also include some permanent rooms and spaces like meeting rooms, reception area, board room, conference room, kitchen, file room, library, etc. If your business has advanced technological needs, you may also require a place for computers and servers.
Space requirements for these rooms will depend on your business needs. However, a rough estimate can be 150 to 200 square feet for permanent spaces like file room, library, mailroom, etc. However, the size of the reception area, canteen, and conference room will depend on the total number of employees in your organization.
After you have successfully determined the space required for each part of your office including, the additional area for growth, you can easily calculate your required office space. However, other factors like the cost of the property also need to be considered. The shape of the estate is also crucial as it can lead to wastage of space, and you may end up paying for the area you may not be able to use.
Top Reasons to Install Access Control System
If you are responsible for building security access or a commercial property owner, you have to look for various ways to enhance the convenience of protecting the employees and the business assets. Installation of a high-quality access control system can decrease the security threat. Most private and commercial business centers include a building where the desired access needs this type of system.
With the implementation of the access control system, there are multiple system alternatives. You can select any one of them to fit your specific needs. Now let us take a quick look into some of the reasons to install the access control systems.
• Offer complete protection to the valuables
Does your building have any valuables that need protection? The security is especially applicable if you have any products or items sold, fenced, or transported. With the controlled keycards for access, you can recognize who will enter the area at any time of the entire day. These security measures will prevent any item from missing and assists in catching the guilt if any wrong happens.
• Controlling the specific access to a particular area
For most of the structures, every person who enters the building does not necessarily need complete access to each inventory, office or record room, storage or equipment area, lab, or floor. For instance, the accounting department of the business includes some confidential or sensitive information, which should not be accessible to staff from other departments.
The installation of the access control system is priceless in these scenarios. It will allow the owners or the managers to restrict access to only those who have to enter those areas. You can also manage the entry and exit of the janitorial or the maintenance staff who will work at a particular time of the day.
• Remote controlling
Through an access control system, you can manage the locks of the buildings on your smartphone or tablet. With the help of this kind of system, you can easily trust an individual to a specific segment with no necessity to meet them on the location or lockdown the entire premises if there is an emergency. This process will also allow the user to remove or add the credentials as required.
• Track and control access to the Employee
What will happen to the employee who quits or is fired? With the installation of the access control system, the code or the card they are using to enter the building or certain areas can be deleted or changed with ease. In this way, they can no longer enter the premises and collect the keys from the ex-employee. With this system in place, both the personnel and the property gets secured from any unwanted infringement.
• Complete monitoring system
With the installation of the access controlling system, you will get a complete report of which door is opening for all the segments of the entire building. You can also check who is entering in which part of the building at what time. If there is any dispute or problem of some kind, you can look into this information to check out what exactly has happened and who has done it. The owner can also implement the system to track the employee’s work time.
Importance of Access Control System in our Life
Accessing control systems implements real value and lower costs to the users. They are the best ways to replace the security guards with virtual ones, which are also reasonably priced. These systems can also easily maintain both employees and public access simultaneously in a building. The technology can seamlessly record the exits and entries. When implemented in the confidential areas, access control systems let the user set various security level accesses.
These technologies offer enhanced security and make sure that the employees are honest in their workplace. These relatively simple to maintain and monitor systems are difficult to override and tamper with. Access systems are housed on the local or cloud servers and are categorized according to discretionary, mandatory, and role-based controls.
Business Seminars and Conferences – Are They Worth Participating in During a Down Economy?
It’s the talk of the town if the industry has a big seminar or conference coming up. Everyone is making preparations, and you’re wondering, “Can I be doing that as well?”
True, business conferences can be costly, but you can get much more value for your money. In reality, a great conference will set you up for years of success on its own.
Many small business operations are now done online, remotely, and sometimes immediately, thanks to a wide variety of low-cost technological solutions. Meetings can be held, tools can be shared, presentations can be given, preparation can be given, and so much more can be done without ever leaving the workplace.
Have you ever considered attending a business meeting, talk, or conference but weren’t sure if it was worthwhile? “Why attend business conventions, lectures, and events?” you might wonder.
There will be weekly, monthly, and annual conferences and conventions where like-minded people congregate to discuss a wide range of subjects specific to your field.
It does not matter if the economy is going up or down. Business conferences generate new thoughts, ideas, and ways to tackle several problems.
They particularly help us with subjects that are beyond our reach. If you want to market your product in China, but you live in London, you might want to go to a China Business seminar in London. This China Business seminar in London will help you gain insights about the marketing policies in china and also the know-how of the Chinese market.
A China Business Seminar in London will consist of companies and people that deal with the Chinese market and possibly are successful in doing so. Therefore, interacting with such people at a China Business Seminar in London might enhance your expertise.
Some reasons to attend a business conference are:
Learning from people.
One of the most appealing aspects of most business conferences is the chance to discover something new. Although there are many excellent small business conferences hosted across the Internet, through online conferencing, and over teleconference lines, some educational advantages are only available in a live, face-to-face environment.
You can watch and observe from visual cues, body language, and the overall mood and experience at live events. These nonverbal features, as well as the ability to see, sense, touch, and comprehend the content being conveyed, will provide a different dimension of learning that is difficult to achieve by online events.
Marketing
Conferences can be a perfect place to advertise your business to prospective customers if you’re a B2B organization. Speaking with customers who may like your goods or services one on one may be more successful than sending them an email or calling them. It encourages you to demonstrate your enthusiasm for your company and clearly respond to any concerns they might have.
Getting to know your competitors
If you’re going to a small business meeting to learn about programs, your competitors will be there for the same reason. Live events allow you to see who your rivals are right up close, learn more about their companies, collect knowledge on their strengths and disadvantages, and do analysis to help you give your company an advantage.
Networking your way through…
A great conference will draw business professionals from all over the region, if not the world. Like so many people in one venue, it’s a fantastic way to meet new people.
Those new contacts will help the company in a variety of ways. To list a few possibilities, you might find new clients, sellers, prospective buyers, and collaborators for new products.
Networking at a business meeting can be overwhelming for certain people. After all, in such a crowded setting, how do you know who to talk to and how do you have fruitful conversations?
The trick is to have brief encounters with a lot of people and then pick out the ones with whom you want to have more in-depth conversations.
In conclusion, you can almost guarantee that if you spend the time and resources to attend a live event that is beneficial to your small company, you can return home with new tools, important connections, and a refreshed strategy that can help you handle and expand your business more effectively than ever.
