Is Schmoozing a Good or Bad Thing?

I read an interesting blog by Steve Tobak, one of my favorite bloggers, on BNET this afternoon that talked about the fine art of schmoozing. To me this word usually brings with it some negative connotations but after reading the blog I changed my impression. As the article points out, business success is all about relationships, and schmoozing enables these relationships. Merriam Webster defines schmoozing as : to converse informally : chat; also : to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favor, business, or connections. In this context I can see where the ability to schmooze appropriately might be an invaluable skillset.

The blog offers some tips on how to schmooze in an appropriate manner:

• Be credible.
• Focus on the other person, not on you. Connecting with others means finding things you have in common, not so much about what you think.
• People like to be schmoozed. Some folks go way overboard in their attempts to schmooze, but in general people like to be noticed, to connect and engage.
• Be open and genuine - in other words, be yourself. People see right through you when you're not.
• Don't overdo it. I suspect this is where most of my negative connotations with schmoozing come in. A little goes a long way, too much is not appropriate!
• Be respectful of people's time and boundaries.
• Don't talk at people. People like to be engaged, which means you're doing as much listening as talking. As the article points out, give a little, get a little.
• Let yourself be schmoozed. Its not just you who wants to develop relationships, others want to develop them with you. Give them the chance.

What I like most about the article is the emphasis on relationship building. At Pinnacol we all operate in a team environment where relationships are key to our success. And its not just internal relationships. Developing effective relationships with our customers and other stakeholders is what keeps Pinnacol a leader in our industry. So the next time someone tries to "schmooze" me, maybe I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and avoid automatically jumping to negative conclusions about what they are doing.

In a similar vein I came across the following video from the folks at AARP who have been nice enough to recognize our company as one of the best places to work for people over 50. For some of you web wizards it may be simplistic, but for the rest of us its a good synopsis of the value of networking and how do it.