Virtual Relationships: The Doughnut

Written by: Bill Sherman on Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 6:06 AM

If you live and work within the virtual workplace, you run the risk of creating the doughnut. A doughnut occurs when your national or global professional network exceeds the strength of your local network. Few people plan to create the doughnut. However, if you’re a consultant, it’s easy for your network to develop this way.

I live in St. Louis. I’ve skimmed my inbox and cell-phone log. Today I connected with clients, prospects, and colleagues in the following locations:

• Pittsburgh
• Milwaukee (x3)
• San Jose (x3)
• Los Angeles
• Dallas
• New York City
• Las Vegas (x2)
• Phoenix
• Springfield, IL
• Chicago
• Las Vegas (x2)
• Bangalore (x2)
• Regina, Saskatchewan

I interacted with two of our employees here in St. Louis, but those two contacts are outweighed 10:1 by virtual relationships. My interactions today represent the virtual relationship doughnut. Most of my contacts and touchpoints were outside of my home city. Few of my contacts were face-to-face contacts. When your workdays include a preponderance of virtual relationships, it’s important to schedule times to expand your network within your hometown.

You must be logged in to post a comment.