Bit 'n Java

Camaraderie or the fostering of relationships among colleagues is critical to an organization. Not only is it needed internally, but externally as well for marketing reasons.

It was once said that “No man is an island.” That statement is so true. Part of being human is interacting with other people, talking to and getting to know them personally. That small bit of interaction with others helps solidify relationships between people.  If people don’t get to interact with each other, camaraderie is lost and the potential connections are missed.

Camaraderie is not just something that is among friends which starts in school. It is the key ingredient to making connections with people in business. Small businesses thrive on it because the number of people working in the organization is small. As the organization grows, the concept should be kept alive and fostered by management, but often it fails thus causing the organization to fall apart.

A new generation of businesses is being born with the advancement of Web 2.0 technologies, but that doesn’t mean that online relationships are going to replace old fashioned face to face relationships. It is actually now more important to do the face-to-face so that we continue to develop our social skills which have gotten lax. So, we need to come reinvent old fashioned ways of fostering camaraderie with customers, employees and contractors.

Getting repeat customers could also be  a result of comraderie. The person making the sales contacts should make an effort to get to know potential clients and do what is necessary to gel with them. If a strong connection is made, a repeat customer for life is made.

It is also important to establish relationships with existing customers through simple gatherings somewhere on a scheduled basis. For example, I know of a small business located in Celebration, Florida called Owner’s Locker where the founder meets members for a glass of wine at the France pavilion in Epcot Center. Not only does this allow the owner, John, to get to know his customers, but also allows him to get direct feedback. It’s also a means of promoting the business itself.

One of the newest things that can be done is to setup a private social networking site and combine that with some sort of social event, such as a happy hour. This combination not only puts a face to a name, but we also get to really know a person outside of the online relationship.

Once we’ve established these connections, these connections with others will help build an organization from the inside out and the outside in. These relationships will be a form of public relations, in a sense, for the organization. This reputation will allow the organization to grow in leaps and bounds. But…without putting the effort into building the camaraderie, the potentials will be lost entirely and people will be driven away, customers, employees and anyone else that works in conjunction with the organization.

So, one of the biggest goals that can be set for an organization is to establish a sense of comraderie with all constituents, internal and external. You will be glad it was done because it will pay back in multitudes at the end.