Join committees or working groups

Large projects may be bureaucratic, but they are also hidden opportunities to meet people across departments or even geographic locations, therefore serving as a conduit to individuals you would rarely make contact with. 

If you have the bandwidth and the project in question doesn’...

After a long time of working online, it can be tempting to grab that laptop and hide in a cubicle or side room, even when you’re in the office. This is a missed opportunity to maximize your run-ins with others—and negates the value of being in the office in the first place. 

Camp out in...

Events that involve an entire team, department, or even company are more than just about sharing information. They are also hidden opportunities to meet people you wouldn’t have otherwise met.

Do your homework on a particular speaker you care to impress. Then, ask a well-researched ques...

Being cc’ed on an email or invited to an instant message group is a new opportunity for you to look at who’s in the “room”—and introduce yourself.

• Reply directly to the message sender with a compliment.
• Identify someone with a shared background to you and tell them, “...

Even if you don’t quite get along with your company-assigned mentor or “buddy,” they can be a gateway to meeting more people in the firm. A question like, “Do you happen to be connected to anyone who . . . ?”

A simple question like this can be all it takes to spark the first connec...

Each time you have a comment or question that you didn’t get a chance to raise in a meeting is a new opportunity for you to approach and spark a conversation with someone later, one-on-one. Whether it’s congratulating someone or asking a brief question, you will have a few conversation t...

When you find yourself in the office, make a list of colleagues you’ve only met over email, phone, or video chat and figure out where they sit.

Then, approach them with a “just thought I’d introduce myself in person given that we’ve only ever met online!”