We have been talking about choosing groups to participate in that meet your needs and goals as a business professional. Once the decision is made on which groups to belong to, then a certain level of participation is required in order to achieve the individual goals set by the business professional.

Whenever I attend a function, I always have a goal of meeting ten people whom I do not already know, and finding out how I can best help them in their business. What happens, though if, when I enter the function, someone who I already know, approaches me and begins a lengthy conversation that could best be handled at a different time and place? How do I break away to complete my goal of meeting ten new people?

This has happened to me frequently and I have found this technique to work well. As soon as there is a break in the conversation, I let the person I am listening to know that I need to excuse myself, because I must meet some new people to accomplish the goal I came to the function for. I usually say what the goal is- to meet 10 new people. I also state that I would be happy to continue our conversation as soon as I have "hit my quota", ( I always say that with a smile), and also offer to continue the conversation at a later time if necessary.

The idea that someone would come to a networking function with a specific goal in mind is foreign to many participants. I suggest that you have a goal for all functions that you participate in . It is an easy way to track accomplishments. If my goal is to meet 10 people and I have a certain amount of time to work with, I know how much time I can devote to each person to accomplish my goal.

There is no reason to walk away from a networking function with unfulfilled goals because someone that couldn't help you accomplish your goals monopolized your time.

Your goal may be to meet a specific person who you know would be able to help you, if you had a chance to speak with them and build a relationship with them. Next week, I'll tell you how to break into "cliques" that may be formed around the person you would like to meet.