How To Build A Community By Running Industry Events

I have been well aware of the importance of global communities since I started working freelance at home and also in an office environment.

Digital communities are so important, especially in our industry as we continue to grow.

The global digital advertising and marketing market is set to reach $786.2 billion by 2026, which is up from $350 billion in 2020.

This means there are more opportunities for events as the global search community continues to grow.

The important thing about being online is that you have access to global reach and have no borders to contend with. Therefore, events help expand our own network.

COVID was possibly the single most influential factor in creating global digital communities.

Post-COVID, digital users are still attending events. I ran a survey on LinkedIn about the number of events running per year, and the majority (57%) are attending 2-5 SEO events per year, which demonstrates how significant they are.

Screenshot from LinkedIn, October 2023

I was fortunate to speak at the International Social Summit in Barcelona in May on a topic I feel passionate about: how events can help build and support international communities in our search industry. The following is a summary of my presentation with advice on how events can help to build communities.

Objectives for setting up an event

When setting up an event, it is important to keep in mind your objectives. This not only helps draw an audience but can also help lead to a following and a community.

At Search London, my objective was to promote a wide range of speakers, including first-time speakers, and have them share actionable tips.

I wanted presenters to share results of what worked at their agency or company instead of talking about SEO, PPC, or social media theory.

There are many events in our industry, and it is important that companies support them as they are working to grow and support our community.

Some of the events I feature in this blog post were set up because there was a gap in the market.

I found out about many of these events from running Search London, which led me to write for State of Digital and connect with many in the industry.

Search London

I took over Search London in October 2010 from Judith Lewis. I rebranded it and launched the first event in January 2011.

I wanted to be part of a community, even though I was not experienced; I had been in the agency for just one year and worked in SEO for less than two years.

I wanted to have a safe place (in person) where people in SEO, PPC, and social could get together to discuss ideas and learn from one another.

Attending events in person for the first time can seem daunting. I did a State of Digital Roadshow in 2012 and met many international SEO pros in their home countries – and then I met some of them again later at SEO conferences.

International Search Summit

Through State of Digital, I was able to attend events and write about them on the State of Digital blog.

I found out about the International Search Summit and attended my first one in September 2012. It had started in London in October 2008 before expanding to seven locations.

International Search Summit was set up as there was a gap in the event market, and there still is.

There are not really other conferences focusing on international search, both the audience and the international content.

Digital Marketing Union

From running Search London, I discovered the DMU, short for the Digital Marketing Union, which is run by Dan White.

Dan set up the DMU in February 2019 as he was feeling somewhat isolated being self-employed. The DMU is a global community that has grown outside of events.

Only about 20% of the DMU personnel have met one another in real life. In this way, this community supports events, not the other way around.

Turn Digi

With the experience gained from running Search London, I decided to set up Turn Digi in March 2020 as COVID took hold.

As an entrepreneur, I saw that meeting others and networking has a positive impact on business.

However, due to the lockdown, I wanted us to have a safe place to network online.

I noticed the other events were not setting up any online conferences, so I created Turn Digi. I live-streamed the events via Streamyard to YouTube.

I had clear objectives from the start:

• Provide a platform to connect those in the search and online marketing industry together – globally.
• Help others in the industry promote themselves, especially small businesses and self-employed folks.
• Attract a diverse range of speakers.
• Encourage more women to take part.
• Run events in Spanish, French, and English.
• Have actionable tips – no theory.

SEO Mindset Podcast

The SEO Mindset was set up by Sara McDowell and Tamzin Suleman, who again found a gap in the market.

There were podcasts about how to do SEO, but there wasn’t one focused on personal growth and career development for SEO pros – and this podcast is focused on helping people optimize their careers.

The SEO Mindset podcast is now at BrightonSEO, as they teamed up with Jack Chambers-Ward from the Search with Candour podcast.

They do a live podcast the evening before BrightonSEO, with the first one being in April 2022.

They pick topics that are relevant to attending a conference, including dealing with anxiety when at conferences and managing your energy levels when at conferences.

They create a safe, judgment-free space where people can have open and honest conversations about topics that matter.

Women In Tech SEO

Areej set up the Women in Tech SEO community in 2019 with their first event in June 2019. She saw there was a lack of diversity at conferences, especially the more technical and advanced SEO tracks.

That was the impetus for starting WTSEO which is a global support network aimed for women in the search industry at all stages of their careers. WTSEO is “the place where you can ask any question, anytime.”

WTSEO is a safe and judgment-free space which is kept that way by following a code of conduct that was set up from the beginning. This is extremely important and the community values are:

• To be kind.
• To be helpful.
• To be respectful.
• To be a safe and judgment-free community.

The last one particularly resonates with me. In the search community, it is important that we can be part of a judgment-free environment.

Many of us unfortunately may have been in toxic work environments where we have been criticized for asking questions or doing things differently.

The Results From Setting Up These Events

Search London

Search London will soon be turning 13 years old, and it always has a diversified lineup of speakers and topics. There have been over 75 events over the years, both online and in person. The birthday parties attract the highest number of attendees – nearly 100 at each one.

During my time running Search London, I have formed relationships with many SEO pros globally.

I have increased my brand visibility, was invited to be a co-host of WTSFest in 2021, and took part in mentorships at the WTSEO and the FCDC. It has also helped me with my business.

If running events and creating a community in my free time has such positive results, imagine what could happen if a company did this itself or even sponsored these events.

International Search Summit

Over the past few years, the company behind the event has focused on hosting one event per year, which is Barcelona International Search Summit.

I was fortunate to attend their first Barcelona event, which was in 2017 and had 50 attendees. They expect over 500 in Barcelona this November.

From their initial event in October 2008, they now run webinars and LinkedIn Lives and are well known in the industry for their international search perspective.

DMU

There are now 89 members who are based in 14+ countries, and when Dan set this up, he wanted to make sure the emphasis was on the digital aspect – meaning nobody is excluded based on their geography.

The DMU has given Dan a wider support group he can recommend to his clients for specialist knowledge when they require it.

It has also given him access to other individuals in online marketing, many of whom have become good friends; Dan achieved his goal of bringing people together to form a community.

SEO Mindset Podcast

The SEO Mindset Podcast has over 2,000 followers on Twitter and 700 downloads per month.

They found that having regular episodes, picking topics that resonate with their audience, sharing episodes with the WTSEO community, building the podcast following on social media, and having guests have led them to more than double their downloads compared to when they first started.

Turn Digi

I wanted to help others in the industry promote themselves, especially small businesses and self-employed folks.

At the first Turn Digi, there were 18 speakers, and 12 had their own business.

At the second Turn Digi, 5 out of the 12 speakers had their own business.

I also wanted to attract a diverse range of speakers.

At the first Turn Digi, we had 18 speakers calling in from 8 different countries and 3 different continents. Some were not on the regular speaking track, including Sheri Mandour and Lily Dedman, who both spoke about diversity and disability – topics not always addressed.

I wanted Turn Digi to be international, and we had it in English, Spanish, and French.

I also wanted to encourage more women to take part. At the first Turn Digi, 14 out of 18 presenters were women, and at the second Turn Digi, 8 out of the 12 presenters were women.

I launched with 18 speakers from 8 countries on April 30, 2020. This generated a lot of visibility, and I had 77,300 impressions over 28 days (by May 16) on Twitter, a platform I do not use very often.

From one post I shared, I generated 3,000 views on LinkedIn, and in one day, I had 682 YouTube views.

If I could achieve such results running this in my free time, what could a company achieve if they supported an event or a global community?

Setting Up Your Own Event

There will always be a gap in the market, and if you are passionate enough and have the time, then you can also set up your own event.

I found that with Turn Digi during the pandemic, there were not many in-person events being turned into webinars or online events.

When setting up an event, think of the objectives and make sure you are consistent.

How Can You Get Involved And Help Build A Global Community?

There are many events in our industry that need support.

Find out what events are happening in your area. Many people run events in their own free time, so they are looking for sponsors to help them with a venue or pay for food or drinks.

Many event organizers have a “buy me a coffee” initiative, so even if you cannot afford to sponsor the full evening or part of the day (such as food or drink), you can still support them.

Common Objectives

When supporting an event, think about your company’s and the event’s objectives:

• How do you want to align with the event?
• How can you best support them? By free trial? Working on a study or survey together? Buying scholarship tickets for their event?
• Have a consistent brand image to promote.

There are many smart search professionals in our industry working hard to build their events and a community.

Companies with budget (time and resources) should be there to help them grow.

The community in our industry is key and is what has kept me and many others working for so long in search.

Without a search community, this is just a job where we are working day in and day out on individual tasks without building toward a future.

More resources:

Featured Image: Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

10 Tips For Mastering SEO Interviews: A Guide From A Hiring Manager via @sejournal, @HelenPollitt1

I have interviewed many people for SEO roles during my time as a manager.

I can say that certain mistakes are made during interviews that can easily be avoided.

Unfortunately, all of those generic “top tips for interviewing” guides out there don’t tend to address them due to the specificity of SEO interviews.

During the heat of an interview, it can be easy to lose focus, ramble, and appear unsure of your SEO knowledge.

If you are looking for a job currently or want to brush up on your interviewing skills for your next opportunity, take a look at these SEO interview-specific tips.

I’ve approached them from the perspective of a hiring manager who has seen her fair share of probably great candidates lose out on a role due to a bad interview.

1. Research The Role

This may sound like an obvious tip, but you’d be surprised how many people will turn up to an interview with little knowledge of what they are interviewing for.

If you are in the position where you are being interviewed for an SEO role, this can be even more important. Our industry is a multi-faceted one; “SEO manager” means something different at every company.

It can be obvious when a candidate has been referred to the role through a recruiter who doesn’t really understand what an SEO professional does.

If you are in a position where the job has been explained to you by the recruiter, make sure you do a bit of further research yourself.

In general, it’s a good idea to check the following;

• What are the key skills the company requires for the role?
• Does it lean toward any particular SEO focus, e.g., local SEO, technical SEO, or digital PR?
• What is the current team structure – is this the only SEO pro or one of many in the company?
• Does the role report to a manager with SEO experience, or will this role be the most senior SEO pro in the business?

In addition, you may want to find out:

Why Is The Role Available?

In your initial conversations with recruiters or contacts at the company you have applied to, try to ascertain why the role is available.

Is it a new role due to expansion, new markets, or new clients? This will help equip you during the interview to answer questions from the right perspective.

For example, if you are asked about a time when you have successfully completed a technical campaign, and you know from conversations that the role is coming about due to the company’s expansion into Europe, it would give you the right context to talk about that tricky hreflang tag implementation or French keyword research that you had success with.

Who Has It Already?

Is there someone else in the company that does this role already? Are you expanding the team or taking over from an incumbent?

If so, see if you can find out some information about what sort of experience they have. This might mean looking on the company’s website for their bio or even looking on LinkedIn.

Be respectful, though; not everyone wants a ton of new LinkedIn contacts from people who are after their job!

Are You Taking Over From An Agency?

If the role you are applying for is at a brand, you may find it useful to identify if the role has been created due to the company bringing it in-house.

For example, is the work this new employee would be doing replacing that of an external agency?

If so, it would be prudent to know so you don’t end up talking about how much you would want to rely on agencies for support if you land the job.

What Industry/Clients?

One of the most important pieces of research you can do is around the industry, or industries, the company operates in.

If you are applying for a role at an agency, their website is a good place to start to see what industries they work in.

They may specialize in one vertical, for example, or their case studies may show a variety. This knowledge will allow you to tailor your answers with their target industries in mind.

2. Reach Out To The Hiring Manager To Ask Questions Ahead Of Time

Some hiring managers love this approach. Others do not.

Ask your recruitment contact at the company if the hiring manager is happy to take questions before the interview before you go outside of the prescribed hiring process!

I’ve had some great conversations with candidates via them reaching out on LinkedIn or through SEO groups we’re a part of.

It has allowed both me and them to get an idea of whether they might be right for the role before they go into the trouble of applying.

3. Prepare 5 Examples Of Successful Projects

During the pressure of the interview, it’s easy for your experience and knowledge to fly out of your mind.

A good tip for anyone interviewing for an SEO role is to write down five examples of clients or projects they’ve worked on that directly relate to the skills and requirements listed in the job advert.

This has saved my bacon personally when interviewing for SEO roles!

It can help with your confidence when answering interview questions and will likely result in you providing an answer that is clear and directly applicable to the question.

This will help you to avoid the dreaded situation where waffling takes over!

4. Be Specific And Use An Answer Structure

Be specific when you are answering questions. It is horrible as an interviewer to have to dig through a verbose answer for the piece of information you are hoping is there.

I’ve had candidates answer in such a confusing manner that I’ve struggled to identify if they answered the question or not. This can often result from nerves or not fully understanding the question. It doesn’t have to happen, though.

There are several techniques for structuring answers to interview questions. A well-known one is “STAR,” which stands for “situation,” “task,” “action,” and “result.”

It allows a candidate to ensure their answer includes the key details needed.

Whichever one you choose, make sure you are picking up on the intent behind the interviewer’s question.

Remember, interviewers often have no training in interviewing skills. We can be quite bad at it! It is okay to ask clarifying questions if you’re unsure of what the interviewer is trying to ascertain.

Once you are clear about what skill or experience they are trying to uncover, you can directly tailor your example to showcase the relevancy.

This is particularly important during SEO interviews because the projects we might want to use to showcase our experience can be complex, containing many stakeholders, activities, and results.

Using an answer structure can make sure you include everything that is pertinent to the question.

Choosing a technique and practicing answering questions with it can help you overcome the initial panic during an interview. It will enable you to provide clear and structured answers.

5. Be Prepared For Not Having An Answer

You may be asked to give an example of a time when you have carried out an SEO task that you simply haven’t done before.

Don’t worry. No one matches a job description 100%.

What I look for during interviews, especially with candidates who are new to the industry, is their ability to think around a problem.

This is especially the case if they haven’t directly encountered a situation before.

Some of my best hires have been people who have said, “I haven’t dealt with that before, but this is probably the approach I would take.”

You can use examples from case studies you have read about or draw from presentations you’ve seen at conferences. You can talk about how you would go about finding an answer to that issue or resources that you might use for help.

SEO is an incredibly broad discipline. It’s unlikely you have encountered every SEO issue out there! However, theoretical knowledge applied well can be just as effective as experience.

Draw on your knowledge and understanding of a situation if you can’t draw on your experience of it.

6. Consider Your Answers To Probable Questions

You are likely to encounter similar questions across SEO interviews.

Typically, you will be asked to give examples of times you have worked well with stakeholders or solved a complex technical issue.

You may be asked about a time when a project did not go to plan and how you handled it.

If you have been interviewing for a while, you might want to list some of the questions you notice you get asked often. Practice those answers. Ask your wider SEO network to help you refine them.

There will always be nuances to how interviewers interview, but there is a limit to how off the wall the questions are likely to be and still be relevant to SEO!

7. Don’t Criticize A Potential Colleague’s Work

Sometimes, interviewers will ask candidates to audit their company’s or their client’s website. You may choose to do so unprompted.

Be careful if you are likely to be pointing out errors or missed opportunities with a site someone on the interview panel may be working on.

As we all know, there are often internal processes and problems that impact an SEO pro’s ability to fix glaring issues.

When answering these types of questions, just be aware that you don’t have the full context of why the hreflang tags are missing, or there are terrible cannibalization issues.

Don’t be afraid to highlight these improvements and opportunities; just do it sensitively. Lean on the side of caution.

Assume that you are not uncovering some previously undiscovered technical issue. Presume that the SEO expert in charge of that client’s account isn’t lazy or incompetent.

Even if you are correct and they have missed an issue or made a mistake, no SEO pro wants their work criticized on a call with their superiors. Instead, take an empathetic approach.

Don’t forget, it’s not just your practical SEO knowledge that is being tested at the interview, but your approach and team fit also.

8. Tailor Your Answers To Who Is In The Room

It is a good idea to be aware of who is interviewing you generally, not just so you don’t accidentally criticize their work but also so you can tailor your answers appropriately.

There is a big difference between being interviewed by someone with specialist SEO knowledge and without. It is likely that you will be interviewed by both during a company’s hiring process.

If your interviewers are SEO pros themselves, you can afford to go more into the technical details of your experience.

You can discuss the impact a content pruning exercise had on the crawling and indexation of your site. Or explain how you handled a tricky website migration. You can discuss these with some assumption that they will know what you are talking about.

If your interviewers are not au-fait with SEO, you may want to focus more on the business impact your changes made.

They may not want to hear about how going from client-side to server-side rendering impacted the visibility of your pages in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

They may be more interested in how you brought stakeholders along on your project and the impact on revenue your changes had.

You may need to explain the activity in a bit more detail than you would with another SEO.

9. Demonstrate Your Desire To Learn And Develop

Our industry is one that is changing a lot. One thing I tend to look for when interviewing SEO candidates is their attitude to learning and development.

I will ask questions to see how they solidify and expand their knowledge.

Good answers will often show that a candidate takes responsibility for their own learning and growth.

Everyone learns differently, but good SEO professionals are always trying to learn more about their discipline.

Whether you are an avid reader of case studies or listen to all the SEO podcasts out there, just be ready to explain your process for keeping up with industry developments.

10. Use It As An Opportunity To Learn About The Company And Refine Your Choices For Your Career

You’ll often hear it said that interviews are just as much about the candidate deciding if the company is right for them as it is the other way around. In SEO, this is extremely important.

You could be fighting a battle to get your recommendations implemented. You may be faced with strong stakeholder opinions and push-back.

Whilst you are interviewing with a company, use it as an opportunity to understand what level of SEO-literacy the team has.

• Is SEO something that is new to the company, and your focus will be on training and selling in the benefits once you join?
• Are they already aware of the importance of SEO and have been working towards a goal for a while?
• If so, are your ideas going to be welcomed, or will you be expected to just continue your predecessor’s work?

Questions you could ask during your interview include:

• “What is your company’s current approach to SEO?”
• Or, “What importance does the senior management team give to SEO as a growth lever?”

The answers will help you determine whether the issues and opportunities at that company are the sort you want to face.

Conclusion

SEO interviews can feel overwhelming.

There are so many aspects to SEO that it can feel impossible to showcase your strengths in all of them.

Take some time to review the above tips and practice your interviewing where possible.

Most mistakes in interviews seem to be the result of nerves. Good interviewers will understand that.

Do yourself a favor and prepare for these interviews so that you can reduce the nerves as much as possible and feel confident in your ability as an SEO professional.

More resources: 

Featured Image: fizkes/Shutterstock

10 Ways To Get the Most Out Of Business Networking Events via @sejournal, @jasonhennessey

Whether it’s Pubcon or MozCon, Dreamforce, or SXSW, SEO conferences and business networking events can be a great way to freshen up your skills, tune into industry trends, and connect with other professionals.

In fact, getting the most out of networking events requires more than just listening to panels and handing out your business cards.

To maximize the benefits – whether that’s new connections, new clients, a new job, etc. – you must be an active participant rather than a passive attendee.

Here’s how to get the most out of business networking events to benefit your life, your business, and your networking goals.

1. Set Your Intentions

It may sound cheesy, but setting your intentions and goals will help you get the most out of the event.

Many of us walk into networking events and end up walking from table to table, or not connecting with anyone at all.

While staying in your comfort zone can be convenient, this doesn’t help you get the maximum benefit from the experience.

Take some time to define your objectives for the event. These might include expanding your network, forming new partnerships, landing a future speaking slot of your own, etc.

Some examples of goals to set for attending a networking event include:

• Promote your brand by engaging in discussions and sharing your business information.
• Discover new tools or strategies to incorporate into your business.
• Connect with industry thought leaders to form collaborations.
• Research industry competitors and their branding, marketing strategies, etc.
• Discover investment opportunities.
• Recruit potential employees or contractors to work with you.
• Find a business mentor.
• Share your resume with companies hiring for relevant positions.

No matter your goals, this practice can help guide your interactions and outcomes from the event.

2. Research Attendees

Before attending a business networking event, research key attendees or speakers. Most events will advertise the speakers at the event, including their businesses and accolades.

Doing some research before the event will help you make smart conversations, prepare relevant questions ahead of time, and even guide your intentions to connect with thought leaders.

You can even connect with attendees before the event, arrange to meet up for coffee, or connect at the event location.

For example, there are many Facebook groups that allow you to connect with conference-goers, ask questions, and arrange meet-ups.

3. Spruce Up Your Personal Branding

Whether you want to attract more clients or just form new connections, it’s best to have your personal branding on point so contacts know where to find you, what you do, and what your business is all about.

In the days leading up to the event, take some time to review your online profiles (website, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.) to make sure your visual branding and messaging are consistent across all platforms.

Use a professional headshot and optimize your bio to showcase your expertise, accomplishments, and services.

By sprucing up your personal branding, you’ll be in a better position to leave a lasting impression on potential clients and have contacts reach out to you directly.

4. Make Friendly Introductions

Business networking events are not like Pokemon GO – you don’t have to catch ‘em all.

When it comes to networking, it’s best to build meaningful connections instead of accumulating a ton of business cards.

This means making friendly, personable introductions and having quality conversations. It is best to cultivate relationships that could turn into potential clients or collaborators rather than leave with a bunch of random email addresses.

When connecting with new people, introduce yourself and mention why you wanted to speak with them (“I’d like to hear more about your business,” “This product looks really cool,”etc.).

Ask them questions, talk about shared interests, and, if fitting, ask for their contact information so you can stay in touch!

5. Be An Active Listener

Let’s be honest. Sometimes, business networking events feel a little self-serving.

With many people just trying to get new clients, sell their own services, or land speaking gigs, it can be easy to get caught up in “promotion mode” instead of actively listening.

Again, the key to getting the most out of networking events is to form genuine connections. Active listening – paying full attention, asking questions, and showing sincere interest – will help you form lasting relationships instead of just a few handshakes.

Who knows – you might learn about a new product, a new way to level up your services, a new niche market, etc. – all by listening to other attendees, influencers, and business owners.

6. Speak Up During Sessions

Instead of being a passive note-taker, consider speaking up and asking questions during sessions. Whether it’s a webinar, panel, or Q&A, asking questions can help you learn more about the topic or even share your own expertise.

Another way to engage is to join live chats or discussion forums (often hosted by the events themselves). Here, you can share your insights, offer advice, ask questions, and connect with other professionals.

Though less common, speaking up could also land you media attention, getting you featured in journals, articles, or interviews about the event.

7. Attend Breakout Events

A lot of networking happens outside of the conferences themselves. While it’s a good idea to attend the small group sessions at the event, don’t sleep on attending breakout events as well, such as coffee meetups or happy hour.

For example, MozCon hosts happy hour events outside the conference at local restaurants or bars. This is another way for people to connect in a more casual environment.

Virtual meetups might be an option as well. So look out for these for other opportunities to connect with people, share insights, and swap information.

8. Get Active On Social Media

Networking events and conferences can also help drive your business’s marketing efforts. With many events backed by promotional materials, hashtags, articles, and the like, you can capitalize on this momentum for your own brand.

For example, you can monitor social media for online discussion before, during, and after the event – sharing your insights and information.

Or, you could publish an article recapping your experience at the event as a way to drive traffic to your website.

“Live tweeting” is also very popular.

During sessions, you can share key takeaways, quotes, and your own insights on X (formerly Twitter) using event-specific hashtags. This can attract followers and engagement from other attendees.

9. Follow Up With New Contacts

Continue your connections by following up with contacts after the event. Depending on the contact information they provided, you can reach out via email, phone, or social media with a personalized message.

Even more, consider making plans to meet up again when you are in town or if you live in the same area. This shows initiative in keeping the connection going, which may lead to future partnerships.

Even if you don’t get a chance to meet up, you can stay in contact and periodically check in to nurture the relationship.

Share resources, insights, or ideas that align with your conversations during the event. Offer encouragement and keep the door open to future conversations and opportunities.

10. Become A Member

Many networking organizations and conferences offer membership programs to help you get more out of the events, network connections, and resources.

For example, I am a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) (a global community of chief executives) and Vistage (a CEO coaching and peer advisory organization).

As a member, I get even more access to exclusive events, resources, tools, and mentorship opportunities than I would as a regular attendee.

While this may not be an option for everyone, it may be worth the application process and/or investment to join a cohesive, reputable network.

You can build rapport with other members, form partnerships, or even become a leader yourself.

Bonus Tips For Business Networking Events

As a CEO and entrepreneur, I’ve attended my fair share of networking events – locally, nationally, and internationally.

I enjoy meeting new people, sharing insights, and catching up on industry trends.

I encourage you to get the most out of networking events by being open, genuine, and intentional about building real connections.

Here are a few bonus tips for attending business networking events:

• Be friendly: Introduce yourself with a smile and keep open body language to encourage others to connect with you.
• Practice your elevator pitch: Think of a concise yet natural introduction that communicates who you are and what you do.
• Diversify your contacts: Aim to connect with people from different industries and backgrounds to broaden your network.
• Take notes: Jot down key points from conversations or sessions to remember important details and apply them to your business.
• Bring business cards: Even for online events, digital business cards or contact details can be handy for staying in contact.
• Stay in touch: Keep track of the connections you’ve made and check in with them to keep the connection going.

More resources: 

Featured Image: El Nariz/Shutterstock

Oh, the 4-Day Workweek? We Crushed It. So Can You. via @sejournal, @Amanda_ZW

I have an abnormal nostalgia for a phenomenon from my grad school days known as “Thirsty Thursday.”The combination of evening classes on Thursdays and no classes on Fridays led to the MBA Students’ Association enacting a weekly … well, Thirsty Thursday. We were tired. We were ready for a break. We were parched.

So when the opportunity presented itself for Thursday night to mark the start of the weekend again, I was intrigued.

Obviously, the four-day workweek (4DWW) isn’t about Thirsty Thursday. It’s not even about kicking off the weekend one day earlier. Not even close. It’s about putting a laser-sharp focus on operational excellence. In other words: shedding light on a company’s inefficiencies and doing something about them. (A terrifying prospect, I know.)

When we set out to trial the 4DWW, we knew from the start that this wouldn’t be an exercise in working longer hours during the workdays we had left. Nor would it be about doing less work. We would adopt the program’s “100/80/100 rule”: 100% productivity with 80% of the time, all while maintaining 100% pay.

Understandably, this freaked a few people out.

What were we thinking? We already had an arguable excess of deadlines. And now we had one less day to meet them? Please.

It would never work if we didn’t have total buy-in. And that was the beauty of kicking this off on a trial basis: If it were a failure, then, well, we would learn something. We’d know it wasn’t for us. And, if we did it right, we’d find out where there was a true excess of work – that is, work we could toss. (Yes – another terrifying prospect.)

As it turns out, experimenting with a four-day workweek will reveal a lot about boundaries – especially with a global workforce representing several time zones. When working to uncover inefficiencies in our workflows, we had to answer many questions. Questions like:

Can this wait until tomorrow (or Monday)?

Am I interrupting this person’s offline or focus time?

Does this need to be a meeting, or can it be done asynchronously?

Is this urgent?

As it turns out – everyone has different answers to those questions. As my Bubbe would say, “Oy vas mir.”

Even more questions arose from the ones that were already nebulously answered. Should we experiment with a no-meetings model? Should we use different channels other than Slack during offline hours? But whose offline hours are we talking about – the employees in Idaho or the ones in Manila?

It did not bode well for 100% buy-in.

I’ll let you in on a secret: Your team is just as savvy as you are (if not, more so), especially when it comes to their own projects, experiences, and challenges. In our case, that’s why it made sense to let our staff take the wheel and cultivate a genuinely safe space, without executives, to address the challenges of this particular experiment.

It didn’t take long for our staff-led committee to discover ways for all of us – leadership included – to find ways to be more productive, and better define and honor boundaries while doing it. We had tools at our fingertips, like async meetings, Slack statuses, video messaging, and the ability to schedule messages and emails in advance. We just had to figure out the best way to use them.

And that was just the first step.

We experimented with canceling all meetings for a month. Then, we only added back the ones we truly missed and needed. In many cases, that meant replacing former live meetings with asynchronous ones and, for some, eventually removing them altogether. We created an anonymous form for anyone to make suggestions and give feedback to the committee. With all our staff did to make the 4DWW successful, wouldn’t you know? We now had a springboard for answering some of those other lingering questions.

Spoiler alert: We got buy-in. We have no plans to go back to the five-day workweek. SEJ has maintained 100% productivity and learned to thrive in a 4DWW. I know I have.

Looking at the outcomes of this experiment, it’s hard to say which spoke the loudest volumes. And it wasn’t just about identifying places where we could “work smarter, not harder.” Our results aligned with the global ones in that our teams are experiencing a better sense of work-life balance. That might be where I observed the greatest impacts and takeaways.

First and foremost: Burnout is real. In a way, it’s a “silent killer” in that conventional wisdom says we must power through our work, no matter what.

I believe this experiment taught us that premise is simply false. Make no mistake: Our shared dedication to our work is palpable, as is our commitment to SEJ’s success. But the past several months have forced many of us, for many reasons, to take a hard look at our priorities. Sometimes that’s meeting an ebook deadline or chasing the best news story. But sometimes, it has nothing to do with work. We know now that powering through has limits and that when we’re at risk for burnout, we’re not primed for success. Is it always that deep? We learned that, sometimes, the answer is “no.”

That led to another key takeaway: We can say “no” to things and still not just maintain, but gain productivity. Some of my colleagues noted, for instance, how many fewer meetings they have now than they did before the experiment. When we notice ourselves getting dangerously close to excess, we now have the experience to know when to cut back or go asynchronous. And we’ve learned how to make that meeting-free time more focused, thanks to boundaries we’ve learned to set. “I’m working on a deadline right now; I’ll be back online around 1 P.M. EST, but if this is urgent, send me an SMS!” Slack statuses for the win, indeed.

And the third takeaway: The people working here are very cool, multi-dimensional human beings. They write books. They grow delicious-looking vegetables. They throw great parties. They go on amazing road trips. When you give people more room to be themselves, you also give them room to do their best work. It’s been wonderful and fascinating to see how people use this redefined sense of time and, more so, how each is individually making it work for them.

That’s perhaps the greatest takeaway: Adopting a four-day workweek will look different for every company.

There’s something I like to call “the facial effect.” After a cosmetic facial, many people break out with pimples and blemishes. That results from things being cleared on the skin’s surface, encouraging what’s beneath it to emerge. Adopting a four-day workweek is akin to that; it leads to the facial effect for many. It certainly did for us – and we couldn’t be more grateful.

My advice to companies considering a four-day workweek is an enthusiastic “Do it.” But expect the unexpected. Expect the facial effect. And know that no company can fix every inefficiency. The world simply moves too fast, and to err is human. But every company can afford at least a bit of this introspection and get a common understanding of things like, “What is a work emergency?” or, “Do I/you/they need to be in that meeting?”.

So. Here’s to the new and improved Thirsty Thursday – the one where we ask the tough questions, listen more than speak, and understand that the road to better productivity never really ends, but that you can do profoundly excellent work along the way. Cheers.

Featured Image: WINDCOLORS/Shutterstock