It’s not the actual cup of coffee that guides your career, and it may not even be coffee. The important component is having that cup WITH someone else. There are notions that having a strong mentor, a good advocate, and a personal board of directors can lead you to success. But it is the informal conversations that really lead to the domino effect of defining your own path in something you truly enjoy. A domino effect in this instance is about having a conversation with someone to learn new tools, resources, organizations, people, etc that you can them reach out to. It creates a path that when you turn around you can see what pieces fell that helped you get to where you are today. Without that conversation you may not have discovered some pieces, or it may have taken longer for you to find them on your own.
Build Connections
You never know when a conversation will lead to new connections, life lessons, or career possibilities. Looking back, you can remember the conversations that started a friendship, but you could not predict the connection. It is the same in the professional world. If there is someone that is doing something that interests you, or you want to learn more about, just ask them to grab a cup of coffee, lunch, or a drink after work. You will often be surprised how receptive people are to this, even those who seem standoffish to you.
2020 has shown us that there are no limits to where this casual conversation can come from. It may start with a coworker that sits near you, but they may connect you with someone from another firm, organization, or city to learn more. Virtual work and learning have shown us this is possible. Virtual coffee chats and happy hours are the new norm. Fitting in a quick 30-minute virtual chat is easy to slip into a workday. I have enjoyed starting or ending my day with an informal coffee chat.
The reason these informal chats are so beneficial to helping you define your career is that they create a natural domino effect of discovering resources as explained above.
You could learn how someone got to where they are today. Was there an organization they got involved with? Is there a book that inspired them? A professional they admire? How long did it take to build that expertise and respect? What conferences to look out for? These types of questions can help you build your knowledge, spark interest (or find a lack of interest) and lead you to discovering more possibilities.
It could create an informal advocate for you when new work comes in the door. I’m an advocate for expressing the work you want to do with leadership, so that when that work comes into the office, they know the people who are interested. In Architecture, the work is always stronger when you have professionals that have a passion for that architectural specialty, project type, particular role, etc.
Where to get started?
The easiest place to start is speaking with someone you are currently working with and comfortable around. Beyond building upon your current relationship, you learn more about their experiences, and practice asking open-ended questions. Whether your office has 3 or 30 people it is a great place to start. For those of you in a small office a good place to start may be joining a local organization or community. That helps to expand your network beyond your office to create initial relationships that could build into an opportunity to reach out in the future.
A great way to practice with someone you know, especially if you are currently uncomfortable reaching out to senior leadership or those you do not know. It is also a great place to start because they may have someone in mind that they would really like to introduce you to. It creates a ripple effect that increases your network, meeting someone through a common connection, and most likely meeting someone more related to what you are interested in.
Be prepared
You should have a general idea why you are reaching out to this person. You may reach out to someone that has a particular certification with their title. (LEED, Well, CDT, CPHC, etc) There may be a project they worked on recently that really sparked your interest regarding design, client, construction method, process, an award received, or project type. It could be their specialty within a firm that you want to learn more about what they do and how they got to that point in their career. There are infinite number of possible reasons why you are reaching out, but you should know what that is to reach out successfully.
That is the lead into the conversation. “I heard you recently accomplished _____. Do you have some time for a 30-minute coffee chat regarding _______ and any advice with focusing my career on ______?” Most of the time you want to discuss something the individual is passionate about, so most people are more than willing to share and talk with you. If you reach out to individuals cold turkey, it can be really hit or miss if they get back to you or right away. I have had a Principal from a different city and a different firm get back to me after a month apologized for the delay. (And sometimes you may just not hear from them. Do not take it personally.)
Before the coffee chat, you need to ascertain what you are hoping to learn, what you learned about the individual and why you are reaching out to them, and 3-4 questions you’d like to ask them. The questions you plan on asking are to be open-ended to create a dynamic conversation and learn as much as possible. A meeting of 30 minutes can keep things short and sweet during busy schedules, but often the conversation may go longer. If you are meeting with someone within your firm, you can likely see their calendar. I’d recommend suggesting a day/time where you both are available for an hour in case the conversation goes over 30 minutes.
You need not follow up formally unless there is something else, you would like to ask them, or if a job opportunity presents itself. I have had a lunch chat turn into a “please send me your resume”. Take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves.
The point of the coffee chat is to have informal conversations with professionals to generate a chain of events that help focus your career path based on your interests. It may lead you to taking your career in a different direction or excite you more about a passion or interest. Both can be crucial to understanding yourself. When you look back, trying to figure out how you got to where you are, it just very well may be from a specific conversation over a cup of coffee.
Written by
Katelyn Rossier, AIA, LSSBB