Juliet was at a company off-site when she learned an IT project she had been working on for nearly two months would not serve the needs of her internal customers.  Over drinks one evening a colleague mentioned that his department had acquired new software that would make her efforts obsolete.  Like many women, she assumed that information is shared freely and openly.  After all, if you have “a need to know” you’ll be given the information, right?  Wrong.  Information is power and, as such, there are those who hoard rather than share it.  It can be frustrating and downright demoralizing when you’re trying to add value to your company only to realize you’re not in the required information loop. 

Adding these behaviors to your routine will enable you to successfully manage your career by proactively garnering the data needed to remain relevant and “in the know.” 

• Stayed connected to the grapevine.   Sure there’s plenty of gossip you might have to endure, but there’s also valuable information that is passed along.  Acting as if you’re above it all or not making time to stay tuned in will cause your grapevine to dry up.
• Learn about your business, not just your job.  The mistake made by many women is focusing narrowly on becoming an expert in their jobs to the exclusion of learning about other operations.  It won’t help you much to be deep but not wide.  Learn how your work impacts the work of others and vice versa.  Build relationships with people from departments other than your own.  Exhibit curiosity about functions that are not obviously aligned with yours. 
• Be an information broker.  Again, it’s a fine line between gossip and being known as someone who has information and is willing to share it.  The trick is to share public information that you dug up and is readily available, but others might not know about.  Similarly, forward articles that you find through research or from professional associations that are of common interest.  If information is power then being a broker of information makes you more powerful. 
• Provide outstanding customer service.  To provide your internal and external customers with what they most need you have to ask a lot of questions.   The answers to these questions helps you to build your information data base. 
• Go to meetings.   Many times women will skip meetings because they think it’s more productive to stay in their offices and work.  They’re called meet-ings, not work-ings.  Meetings provide you not only with information, but with the opportunity to show what you know and build relationships with co-workers and management. 
• Ask for what you need.  It may seem obvious, but women often don’t ask for the information they need.  They think it’s too intrusive or if they really deserved to have the information they would.  Don’t be naive.  Asking for the information you need to do your job is never intrusive — it’s just that some others might be withholding it with the worst of intentions. 

TAGS: Company grapevine, sharing information