Es hora de reflexionar sobre sus relaciones profesionales

Here are three easy steps to take advantage of the momentum of the holidays to foster deeper connections that carry into the new year.

1. REVIEW YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.

Taking stock of your relationships and professional connections will help you determine who you want to reconnect or strengthen your bond with, as well as which relationships no longer serve you.

First, create a list of colleagues, connections and professional acquaintances from your phone contact list, LinkedIn and other social media sites. Then, build a three-column table with the headers: Active Relationship, Infrequent Relationship, Lost/No Relationship. Distribute your contacts into those three columns.

Just like a stop light with red for stop, green for go and yellow for caution, in each column, highlight the relationships you want to maintain or strengthen in green and the ones you’re no longer interested in maintaining in red. Red doesn’t mean you need to cut people off right away; it just means you won’t be putting in effort. Highlight the contacts you are unsure about in yellow.

When looking at re-establishing or deepening a relationship, it’s never all about your needs or desires. Relationships are mutual investments in each other’s lives, successes and failures. Therefore, it’s important to look at not only what the relationship brings to your life, but what value you can bring the relationship. For the people you’re unsure how to categorize (your yellow highlights), ask yourself these three questions:

— Can this relationship help me take steps toward achieving my personal and professional goals or will it only help them achieve their goals?

— Do I have a positive feeling when I think about my relationship with this person?

— Can I be authentic around this person? Do they understand me and I understand them?

If you answer no to any of those questions, consider what specifically stops you from wanting to maintain or strengthen the relationship.

2. RECONNECT WITH LOST CONNECTIONS.

Aside from a chance encounter at a holiday party or event, it will take effort to reignite a connection with someone you’ve lost touch with. Just making the effort to reconnect, even if it’s not the right time for the other person, shows you’re open to creating a future relationship.

A simple, personalized message can be the perfect icebreaker to reconnect. Acknowledge the time that has passed since you last communicated, express your genuine interest in their life or career and reference a shared experience.

Rebuilding relationships can feel like starting from nothing, even if you share a substantial history. However, asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and showing genuine interest in their journey will rekindle an authentic connection. When it’s your turn to share, catch them up on your challenges, milestones and growth since you last spoke.

3. NURTURE CONNECTIONS FOR LASTING IMPACT.

While reconnecting is an important first step, maintaining and strengthening relationships requires consistent, thoughtful follow-ups. Regular check-ins, rather than sporadic outreach, are essential to nurture the bond and demonstrate that the connection truly matters to you. Otherwise, the effort you put into rebuilding can easily fade away.

Consistency truly matters when it comes to relationships, and the holiday season offers a natural springboard for reengaging. Once you’ve reestablished the connection, commit to connecting at a cadence that makes sense for both of you.