Task 3b
When first starting on the topic of
professional networking, I understood it as a way of branching outwards to
other work related practitioners, connecting and building up good contacts/
relationships to help in further opportunities within your own professional
practice, whilst maintaining a good professional reputation.
By studying Reader 3 with the different theories
on cooperation, affiliation and social constructionism, connectivity and
communities of practice, it explained more in depth to what extent networking
entails. With the use of different technologies/methods, it led to show how
much it could benefit an individual to succeeding in their career.
There is a fine line between professional and
personal relationships within a networking field and in your own personal
working field. I think a balance between the two is something that needs to
always be considered and strategically thought through. This in turn links to
Axelrod’s idea of ‘cooperating until the maximum benefit’ to then ‘defect.’ To
cooperate, work side by side with other practitioners whether they are your
colleagues, teachers, directors with other choreographers etc, there is this
certain relationship that is formed to be able to benefit from one another.
Regarding the Prisoner’s Dilemma game, it allows the players to ‘achieve mutual
games from one another’ ‘allowing one player to exploit the other’ or otherwise
it gives a possibility of ‘neither cooperating.’ (Axelrod, R. 1984 pg vii) It’s
concept brings up a good point of how real life interactions work in many
industries where there is this need to be strategic with other contacts in
order to move forward, going to the extent of exploiting others. The idea of defecting afterwards I don’t
agree totally with, where I believe there is a certain humble reputation that
should be kept in order to sustain a good networking base. As I said it is ‘all
about connections’ and ‘who knows you!’ (Task 3A)
Taken from the social affiliation model, the principle of homeostasis suggests that
regarding the desire to affiliate, “people control their level of contact with
others to keep it stable and as close as possible to a desired level.” (O’Conor
& Rosenblood, 1996) Could this be a solution in keeping the balance of
personal v.s professional interactions?
Co-operation is a necessity within the dance
and performing arts world. Without equal or certain inputs of effort from all
sides, the final product (production, dance piece, project) would not be
produced. The process in putting on a production, take for example a ballet,
requires trust, commitment and cooperation between the director, dancers,
teachers, choreographers, stage crew and other practitioners involved. To be
able to have all this work done smoothly, there consequently requires a good
affiliation with one another in order to be able to gain each other’s benefits
to the max and use the values learnt to be able to cooperate.
Researching about social anxiety, what
resonated with me was the fact that it can ‘lead to negative behaviors that
elicit negative reactions from others and lead to the avoidance of social
situations.’ Something I have recently learnt is that there needs to be a
certain positive energy as well in order for any sort of process/work to
continue in operating and growing. The company works hugely on each other’s
energy, especially during performances. When there is a connection that is when
the performance comes together. If not, and even if the steps are executed
well, there is this empty feeling for the audience. Any dance company is always
looking for new contacts, and possible sponsors in order to keep running.
Without dance companies, the arts industry could not be whole. Therefore when
this vibe of passion and love of the arts is created, this contributes to sending
out good energies towards the general audience and whoever might be there. They
want a good product that is worthy of supporting, and so in order to network
and reach out, a positive atmosphere is a big factor to help develop a sound relationship
and future networks with sponsors, certain contacts, dancers, choreographers
and even the audience!
‘Through our interactions, we can make
meanings which might be the values we attribute to a particular network, our
preferred ways of engaging the network or the extent to which we are willing to
contribute selflessly to a network.’( Reader 3)
We all have our own values, own morals that
we hold as an individual, pulling us towards the most attractive networks,
distinguishing our certain interests. This leads to the idea of why people affiliate
with certain people, and what is the stimulus of their decision. It is simple-
common interests/ value. The more interest a person shares with another, the
more they will be able to interact and learn from each other’s views and ideas
that they can relate to. Reader 3 mentions that we all engage in affiliation
and that our networks within our own profession form an important part in the
need to interact, no matter what our position. It contributes to the whole idea
of businesses evolving and growing.
However there are always barriers that any
industries meet, one being cultural differences. I am familiar with this issue
as I have firstly moved to a few different countries and right now I am working
with a multiracial company.
Relating to my own experiences at school in
England, when I first started it was a total culture shock. I could not
understand many accents, and the sense of humour with it being sarcastic and me
being too literal. Eventually I grew to learn from each other’s personalities
where good friendships and relationships were formed with both dancers and
teachers.
Moving onto a more serious matter, dancing in
Singapore has been an eye-opening experience so far. Unfortunately there is a
general mentality here towards dance not being considered as a proper
profession. Being a first world country, it was hard to believe at first how a
lot of the children or even young adults are directed by their parents on what
career path they must follow. (Evolutionary concept, Hofstede 1980). When we
first started there were more dancers, but unfortunately lost a few due family
issues and certain cultural differences, even though their first passion was to
dance.
One of the company’s main aims is to reach
out to the community and share the love and joy of dance, show them what it is
all about. Trying to break through this barrier has probably been one of the
toughest challenges as of yet. When succeeding in reaching out and receiving
feedback and interest, it creates pathways and is always very rewarding.
Therefore a good strategy to follow by is to ‘grow
a network sideways as well as upwards.’ (Reader 3- Affiliation) “As Heideger
and Merleau-Ponty repeatedly state, the world is ‘always already there.’
(Crotty, M. 2005) It is what we make of it that matters. Through the whole idea
of social construction, when affiliating networks operate find the best meaning
and understanding between each other where individuals are willing to ‘contribute
selflessly,’ we collectively construct this whole networking system. To be able
to grow those contacts, gain trust and belief within the Singaporean community
(for example) will help the company to grow upwards!
‘Technology has reorganized how we live, how we
communicate, and how we learn.’ (Siemens, G. 2004)
A powerful statement, and true! To be able to develop a sound networking
platform, a variety of knowledge and information needs to be attained in order
to plan the development of the practitioner’s network. For example, an
unemployed dancer needs to gain knowledge about different companies and
auditions, see what repertoire they do etc. in order to know their chances of
fitting in to a dance company. Through sites like network dance and ballet
news, even YouTube, these days it is so much more accessible to be able to
retrieve useful information via the Internet. It has in a way reorganized the
way we live, therefore work; applying for jobs, a necessity of having
technological devices with Internet, email, Facebook accounts and access to
websites and blogs. How we communicate is so fast paced between industries,
colleagues and friends. Basically everything is available online, making
learning way more accessible and easy to obtain, where decisions are ‘based on
rapidly altering foundations,’ and ‘the ability to draw distinctions between
important and unimportant information is vital.’ (Siemens, g, 2004)
This shows how important connectivity is in todays
whole networking ‘system’ where knowledge about any place or any one can be
exposed within an instant whilst being easily accessed to. Touching on the
ethical considerations of networking, ‘what can be shared’ amongst each other
is a caution that should be considered. ‘Making choices about developing useful
online communities’ (Wegner in. al 2009) is a smart strategy in keeping ones
dignity and reputation online.
Social networking and general communication
via Web 2.0 brings huge benefits to be able to interact with many different
practitioners around the world, but coming back to interaction having its
benefits, sometimes the personal level or knowledge from experience can be
lost. During a dance class, what is learnt is an example of ‘in-action’
experience where the dancer is able to apply the correction and through the
real life communication, he/she obtains the knowledge. This knowledge cannot
fully be learnt from just watching a YouTube video or a DVD.
Linking to the last topic- communities of
practice. This concept I find is a mixture of all the other key concepts stated
earlier on. The learning process
is directed towards ‘a process of engagement in social relationships,’ which I
find is a big factor towards helping in professional networking. However in
order to keep a good social relationship or interaction, cooperation is needed
in order for everyone to get on well. Affiliation and social constructionism
help in creating and keeping the different networks and interests alive and
connectivism is vital in branching out and maintaining the status of a
network.
The concept of communities of practice is the
cherry on the top, and I believe it is what completes the whole package to
developing a successful network.
What is key to gaining knowledge is the fact
that through social interaction you can learn from the other’s experiences.
Take for instance the relationship between a teacher and a student. The teacher
will correct and help the student improve to the best of their ability using
his/her experiences and knowledge which is passed down, however the teacher
will learn from the student’s experiences too by teaching and discovering
different ways on improving the dancer that might not have worked directly for
the teacher before.
I can relate to this concept from a past
ballet teacher (currently ballet mistress for Ballet Theatre U.K). The first
year of auditions, I did not get in to any ballet school having just moved from
South Africa. This made me more determined to try for the next year, and I was
very lucky to have found this amazing teacher as my private coach. Without her,
(in addition to my other dance teachers) I would have not been able achieve a
place at Elmhurst. This is because I learnt from her experiences as a dancer
where she inspired me, coached me and helped me improve a tremendous amount to
ready myself for the standard of the real dance world. And a lot of it was
through the power of the mind and motivation.
Another example is my few encounters with
Jean Paul Comelin- mentioned in task 3a.
There are many other social relationships
within similar communities of practice, such as friendships with dancers from
different companies. You are able to share experiences on the different ways of
working, hear various opinions on ways of moving and training, advice about
injuries, corrections. This leads to sharing certain interests and values,
therefore visions for the future of dance.
Other examples include interacting with other
artists and musicians. This has been a great step forward for JSLN! When we
connected with Sa Trio, a music band using traditional Chinese instruments, it
opened up many doors to future opportunities and performances. We took them to
China, they invited us to collaborate in one of their shows, and now we have
many other projects coming up. Connecting with other artists has also brought
up new and interesting ideas for us, including venues to dance in (shop houses
and galleries.)
Professional networking is a skill, but is
also a great addition to success and enjoyment in a career. It can be a whole mixture of formal and
informal networking, but one thing is certain is that everyone ‘brings much
greater benefits’ to one another where a certain ‘sense and symbolism of what
is to be..’ is created. ( Reader 3- communities of practice)
'The value you gain from engaging with the
ideas of others aids in further development for the future…'(Reader 3- Professional Networking)
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