How to network with colleagues outside your team

Most of us know our own team well and almost nobody else. The person in finance whose spreadsheet you rely on, the engineer who built the tool you use every day, the colleague in another office doing your job slightly differently: they're colleagues in name only. Getting to know them isn't about collecting contacts. It makes work easier, more interesting and a lot less lonely, and it takes less effort than it sounds.

Why it's worth the time

• You find out how things actually work: who decides, who knows, and who to ask before you spend a week on the wrong thing.
• Problems get smaller. A question to someone you've had coffee with is a two-minute message, not a formal request.
• You hear about things earlier. People outside your team see a different part of the company, and they share it with people they know.
• It's good for you. Feeling that you know people beyond your desk is a large part of feeling that you belong somewhere.

Start with people you already half-know

The easiest first coffees are with people you've emailed but never met, someone who joined the same month as you, the colleague who presented something you liked, or the person on the other end of a hand-off between your teams. There's already a thread between you, so asking feels natural.

Ask for twenty minutes, with a reason

A small, specific ask is easy to say yes to. Say why you're asking, keep it short, and make it easy to decline.

Hi Sam, I've been using your team's dashboard for months and I'd love to hear how it came together. Would you be up for a twenty-minute coffee next week? Totally fine if things are busy.

Leave the agenda light. You're getting to know a person, not interviewing them.

What to talk about

Ask about their work in the way you'd ask a friend: what they're working on that they enjoy, what took them by surprise when they joined, what they wish more people knew about their team. Then follow the thread instead of a list. Share something of your own too, because a conversation that only goes one way feels like an interview.

If you work remotely or in another office

Video calls work fine for a first coffee. Keep them short, turn the camera on if you can, and bring a real drink so it feels like a break rather than another meeting. When you're both in the same office, suggest meeting in person: a coffee you walk to together is easier than one across a desk.

Make it a habit, not a campaign

One coffee a fortnight adds up to about twenty-five people a year, which is enough to know someone in most corners of a mid-sized company. A burst of ten coffees in a month tends to fade by the next one. Before you finish a coffee, ask who else they think you should meet. That one question keeps the habit going on its own.

Let someone else make the introductions

The hardest part is working out who to ask, and the second hardest is sending the message. That's what Let's Get Coffee is for: it introduces you to colleagues at your own workplace, one at a time, with a reason you'd be glad to meet. You can find your workplace and join with your work email, with no need to wait for anyone to set it up. If you work on a people team and want this for everyone, see how it works for a whole company.