Who do you miss? The pal with whom you regularly went out for lunch? The woman who brought in the best homemade treats? The one with the great attitude, who always made you feel seen and appreciated? Whether you’ve been separated by COVID or career paths that diverged long ago, this is your nudge to reach out and reconnect.

Nothing fancy needed here. I’ll probably make a phone call—or three, because I can think of a few candidates. (Sending an email or message through LinkedIn would also work.) And since we might both be working, I might first reach out first to schedule a coffee break + chat.

Here are some prompts that might help the conversation flow:

“I was just thinking about you!”…

• “Remember that project when we…had a big win / had that crazy client / won that award?”
• “Are you working from home? What’s your home office like?” (Maybe we’ll exchange photos.)
• “What do you miss most about our old office?”
• “Whatever happened to our old boss / assistant / crazy client?”

It strikes me that this is the heart of networking. Sure, we all want to make professional connections that help us get ahead, but it’s the personal connections that make it all worthwhile.

By the way, if  a new job comes out of a reconnection, I want to hear about it! 😉