Networking and Social Media for Lean and Quality Professionals

On ASQ’s blog this month Paul Borawski shared the news of ASQ’s updated online communities which led to the question of online communities:

The overhaul of ASQ’s Communities got me wondering about which online communities you take part in for professional networking with others in quality.

Networking is the single most powerful approach to accelerate and sustain success for any individual or organization. It provides the most productive, most proficient, and most enduring tactic to build relationships. Personal relationships enable you and your organization to stand out, rise above the noise and remain top of mind.

The network I prefer the most is the blogging community. This is the single most powerful online resource for learning and sharing. A blog is a good platform for reaching out to others. Bloggers spend most of their time sharing their ideas and insights with their readers. But I have found that my readers share a lot with me, too.

If you’re looking for an incentive to keep up to date on all of the latest information on lean or quality, starting a blog is a great start. Your weekly quest to put up new content will lead you to always be searching for new information and sharing it with your readers. Every good blog helps its readers. The power of a blog to educate, inspire, and bring like-minded people together makes blogging a great way to help people.

Facebook is another favorite platform of mine.  I enjoy the ease of sharing information and the convenience of interacting with individuals and companies. Facebook has over 1 billion users and they are interacting on Facebook. These interactions provide a tremendous opportunity to engage with like-minded individuals. Done correctly, these interactions can create value.

LinkedIn is another good community but doesn’t offer more value than blogging in my opinion. It has the professional conation that Facebook doesn’t however it is a bit clunky. There are few useful groups but many are not managed well. The networking is more useful in job hunting than professional groups. I find it helpful in managing contacts and interacting one-on-one via messages.

I am not a big fan of Twitter due to its limitations (140 characters). While it is easy to follow and be followed it doesn’t offer the conversation power of other social networks.

Considering all these things I am active on all these sites and some others like Google+, Slideshare, Youtube, and about.me because you sort have to with social media. However, with so many sites engaging can be diluted so you need to find the networks that work best for you.

Social networking sites allow us to communicate with others and express ourselves easier. These sites help you find people you have not seen in a while, chat without actually going places and learn things that are happening today. Social networking sites are basically joining us to the world apart.

I’m part of the ASQ Influential Voices program. While I receive an honorarium from ASQ for my commitment, the thoughts and opinions expressed on my blog are my own.