From 5-11 June 2017, it is Working Out Loud Week, a celebration of the practice of sharing work in progress in a relevant community. This WOLWeek the theme is Contribute and Create value.

Day 2: Connect

Working out loud involves sharing your work with a relevant community. It is all about creating new connections. Making your work more effective can be as simple as adding one more person to the conversation around your work.

New people bring new perspectives, new skills and experiences and new energy to your work. New people can contribute and add value to your work in ways you can’t yet predict.

If you want to take your work in a new direction, who are the allies who could help and who are the critics who might hold you back? Engaging both will help you learn more about your work and what needs to be done. Engaging both will increase the value of your work to you, them and the organisation. Widening your circle of connections is another degree of freedom.

Remember connections start small. You don’t have to launch into a room of strangers. Nobody has to become your new best friend over night. We don’t need you to network or pitch your work, just make a human connection. Just take the time to identify someone, understand them better and engage. Making a connection can be as simple as introducing yourself, saying hi, or following or liking the work of someone new. Once you make a new connection your work is forever changed.

So today, take a small step to contribute and Create value through working out loud.  We all have a list of untapped connections. Reach out to someone new and make a connection:

• Who could help your work?
• Who haven’t you connected with recently?
• Who has the potential to bring a new perspective or to surprise?
• Where might you discover new connections that aren’t on your radar?

Resources to assist you and your organisation with WOLWeek are available on WOLWeek.com.