Next Wave
Staying Connected

• Carly Burnham
• December 2020
• 

Insurance has always been a relationship business. Career opportunities are found by word of mouth. Deals are closed on the golf course. Innovation occurs outside the conference room. Many companies have resisted remote work policies for these very reasons. COVID-19, however, has forced all of us to function in a new reality. In addition to staying productive, we have been learning new skills and finding ways to accomplish necessary tasks through different means. One important part of our work lives that may have moved to the back burner this year is networking. If you are finding this to be true for you, let's rethink four ways we typically network within the insurance industry—and make those old practices valuable in today's paradigm. We'll likely need to continue exercising our virtual skills in the coming months.

Conferences

While virtual conferences may not have the same opportunity for serendipitous meetings over lunch and impromptu conversations between sessions, there is still opportunity in this new format. I have made many a friend live-tweeting conference sessions, and the same potential exists through live-tweeting virtual sessions. Another option is to invite conference attendees, by using the conference hashtag, to meet in smaller groups outside of the scheduled sessions. If your tweets are getting traction, use that to invite others to join you in a video conference.

Coffee/Lunch

When we were all in the office, it was easy to swing by someone's desk and set up a time to take a break together. While working remotely, we may not be able to drop by unannounced, but we can be intentional about scheduling time with teammates. Set a goal to have a virtual coffee or lunch with someone from your team as often as appropriate, maybe once or twice a week. If you can't stand the thought of eating on video, stick with coffee. You can even do this over the phone if video still feels too intrusive. But go ahead and have offline non-work-related conversations.

Happy Hour

Many teams I've worked on have a monthly, standing, happy hour. We haven't been able to experience this camaraderie this year, though I know many are doing smaller virtual happy hours. I have trouble with large groups in video meetings, so my advice is to limit it to four or five people so you can all interact. I've fallen out of the habit of organizing these events in recent months, but I'll be getting back in the swing of things as patios close up and virtual gatherings are our main options to socialize through the cold winter. One way to make these valuable for networking is to connect with people from outside of your organization. Invite people you wouldn't often get together with due to the constraints of geography.

Golf

The good news is this activity is still safe! Though many courses are closing for the season in the northern parts of the country, we can be almost certain we'll be able to golf together in the spring. If you don't want to wait, consider other socially distanced physical activities that are a great way to stay healthy and get to know your colleagues in another setting. I'd recommend skiing or snowshoeing for the winter!

There is no doubt that events of 2020 have forced us all to rethink how we conduct business and how we stay connected while working remotely. With a little intention and forethought, we can continue our important relationships and establish new ones. It is no less true at the end of this year that insurance is a relationship business; maintaining these relationships just looks a little different than in years past.

Carly Burnham, CPCU, MBA, has been in the insurance industry since 2004. She blogs at InsNerds.com and can be reached at bestreviewcomment@ambest.com.