Building relationships and social capital at work

Not a typical conversation topic for WSO but still very relevant for everyone who to have a successful career in finance (or any industry)

Does anyone have any insights, beyond "make conversation" or "ask people for coffee", on how to effectively branch out and build good relationships internally within a mid to large size (financial services) organization?

To elaborate- there are numerous barriers for interacting with people outside of one's team or department. In a large organization, one doesn't regularly interact with co-workers outside of one's immediate vicinity This prevents one from building relationships in a more natural and fluid way. Although reaching out to people, getting coffee and meals is most certainly a way to branch out. However, it can resemble more to networking and might not foster natural relationship building the way regular natural interactions would. Given that building social capital is essential to a successful career, and to a fulfilling and satisfying work experience, does anyone have any insights on how to better manage the social landscape at such organizations? What are some strategies you use to get to know people and build strong relationships? What are some atypical approaches you adopt to managing the social landscape? Looking back, are there anythings you would od differently?

Thanks for the help everyone! Would love to hear how everyone handles this very important aspect of work

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Most Helpful

Try to find something that you have in common outside of work. For those people who aren't in your immediate vicinity or even in your department, learn about what they do so you can talk to them about it, and ask them questions about their work. Also see if you can connect with them on a level that isn't related to work. When I had an interview recently, I found out that the person who was interviewing me enjoys playing guitar. I play guitar as well. This way, I was not only able to connect with him based on work, but also on something that wasn't based on work. I have found that if you can do that, it really helps you to build social capital.

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