The role of professional SIA Licensed staff has changed dramatically over recent years and with the training standards now so high workplace responsibilities have developed too. A few years ago networking was defined as good communication, but regardless of what profession you work in nowadays networking skills are an important attribute especially if you want to find yourself on the first rung of the managerial ladder such as a team leader.
The marketing industry have always held effective networking as one of the most sought after skills in choosing recruits, this expertise has now filtered through the entire workforce and it’s a key ingredient if you want to further your career. You might think that working as a CCTVOperator, Security Guard or a DoorSupervisor means there’s no real requirement to be a practiced networker, but expectations have changed.
We’ve all experienced that feeling of dread walking into a room filled with people we’ve never met before or starting a new job; it’s exactly the same feeling of anxiety we experienced on our first day at school. Just take a deep breath and remember everyone in that room has been in the same position at some stage.
A good ice breaker in these situations is that you all probably have something in common and it’s either clipped to your jacket or hanging around your neck – your SIA License. This makes introductions easy. Ask about where the other people did their training or what sector they specialised in; that conversation should keep you going for a while.
Once you’ve made one contact in the room you’ll be surprised how infectious the feeling of conquering your anxiety is so try to extend your group and include other people – remember it might be their first time too. Often your confidence can run away with you, try not to let your nerves run away with you by getting too loud. It’s a bit like walking into a party and spotting one person telling all the jokes to a response of nervous laughter and a few raised eyebrows; always stay calm.
You learn more about a group and how they operate by paying attention, remember that part of your role as a security professional is to observe; you don’t learn anything by listening to your own voice. Being labelled as a good listener is probably one of the best attributes you can have tagged to your name, being attentive is an excellent managerial skill.
If you’re working in a big team remembering all their names is hard even for the leader of the group; I come from a big family and even my mother forgot our names occasionally. They’ll be wearing their license so be polite, make small talk and give yourself a few seconds to scan their badge whilst distracting them. A good trick here is to point out what a good likeness the photograph is, without being too schmoozy, that gives you plenty of time to read their name.
If you’re in a briefing meeting and there’s no real need to rush off to your post hang around. Most good working relationships are made before and after meetings, it’s at this time you’re more likely to get to know people socially as well as professionally and find out if you have things in common that you might be able to share out of working hours.
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