No matter how far technology takes us from face-to-face interaction, human communication or networking is still needed in the business environment.

GoogleTalk, MSN Messenger, Facebook and Twitter – these are some of the services that allows us to communicate and network with friends, family and even complete strangers. Though they may seem like a godsend in terms of practicality, cost and time, you begin to wonder: are we relying on technology too much to interact?

Avryl Au, National Director of BNI Malaysia seems to think so. “I feel that as technology becomes more advanced and widely available, we are losing a lot of our communication and interaction skills. You can see when you are interacting with people, some of them don’t even know how to start communicating with each other and interacting effectively.”

More and more interactions are happening on these sites, be it between friends or even strangers. It’s quite bewildering that boisterous conversations between two individuals can happen through these mediums. Yet, when they face each other in real life, they may not be able to emulate their lively dialogues.

Personally, we couldn’t agree more. Sometimes you don’t even need to go far from your own office space as you can find colleagues chatting on GoogleTalk instead of walking a few steps to his or her place to ask a question regarding work – it’s practically “office etiquette” to do this.

Human Communication

Some of you might already be thinking that networking face-to-face is a thing of the past, and technology has made things easier for businesses. Nevertheless, Au believes that no matter how fantastic a product is and how much technology is used in it; a business still needs a human being to make the decision to purchase it.

Whether they put (the product) online or in front of someone, a person still needs to make the decision. Interested parties would then need to contact the business to purchase its product. As they say, first impression is everything – more so for businesses.

Au shares the golden question remains to be: “In a very short time, how do you influence or communicate your points effectively to (your customers)?”

Thus, she believes that through BNI’s “Networking Like A Pro” Congress this month can help educate business owners the importance of networking and how to do it successfully. She adds: “We got the idea to start such networking congress (in Malaysia) based on our observation and experience. Since networking is a part of BNI’s core function, we want to bring this knowledge to the public and give awareness that networking is actually very important and it is not replaced by technology.”

The congress aims to inform networking or face-to-face human interaction is still as important as it was in the past. As we often do not receive a formal education on honing our networking skills, be it through books or guidance by an expert, Au believes that BNI can help business owners be aware of the importance. “We still need to meet people; we are not created to live alone and do things by ourselves. We need people to interact with us in order to work anything out,” she adds.

Networking 101

One may ask what is the difference between BNI’s Networking Like A Pro Congress and other business networking events. Murphy Lum, Founder and Chief Executive Coach of People Coaching Works shares: “Most of the time, people who are attending these networking events will firstly exchange cards and then only start talking to each other.

“The moment they leave the location, they are most likely leaving the relationship behind. There are no more steps taken to build on the relationship and to understand each other’s personalities and businesses.”

Through Lum’s observations of the many business networking events he has attended, he strongly believes that many lack proper listening skills. “People (business owners) are listening for social reasons, not so much of listening to refer businesses,” says Lum.

Within BNI, there are specific steps that are being inculcated among its members and one of them is listening. Questions such as whom and what kind of business people are you looking for and how can we be of help to grow the other party’s business, will definitely be one of the discussion topics.

Lum reiterates: “In BNI, we are not only exchanging cards, we go beyond by developing the relationship and cultivating the understanding between each other. If at any time I speak with someone, I will immediately know who I can refer them to in order to help their business. In layman’s term, we act as a business matching agent.”

To Learn More …

During the congress, notable speakers, including Au and Lum, will share their experiences and what other steps business owners should take to effectively networking.

While effective networking include listening and questioning skills, there are still other specific steps that needs to be taken.The key differenciator of BNI’s congress and any normal business networking events lies in these specific steps – a method that all BNI members are trained in, not only in Malaysia, they are also used worldwide.

“This method has been working for the past 25 years,” says Lum. Au concurs: “It has been relevent in the past and it is equally as relevent today – in terms of needing those skills in a business environment.”

The BNI Networking Like A Pro Congress is happening on the 28 and 29 October 2010, at Bukit Damansara Community Centre, Kuala Lumpur. For more information, visit http://bninetworklikeapro.com/

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