How to Build Your Professional Network with Seed Questions

With many IT professionals working from home due to the COVID pandemic, growing and building your professional network has never been more important, or more challenging. It is critical to keep your network strong particularly if you are trying to grow your skill set, connect with peers on best practices, or look for a new job.  

I want to suggest to you one way to network during this time is to become active in the IBM Public Cloud community.
If you are new to online community, one simple way to get started is to try creating a discussion thread with a seed question.  By starting a discussion thread, you're creating opportunities to "meet" peer professionals from other industries or countries, as well as establishing your expertise in your field. 

What is a Seed Question?

Seed questions are questions that you post in the community as a discussion topic to increase engagement.  

Anatomy of a seed question: 

Option1: Intro + Context  + Question 
Option 2: Background + Issue at hand + Call to action

Types of questions: 
Make sure you have a healthy mix of different types of seed questions (i.e.: open, closed, specific, and hypothetical). 

Here's a list of different types of seed questions you can try, with examples. 

● Open-ended 

 “What do you think about…?” 

● Low barrier to entry

 “Do you prefer [x] or [y]?” 

● Specific

“How much do you spend on…?” 

● Personal

 “Hi everyone! I’m new to this field and wanted to get your advice about…?” 

Do you plan to try posting a seed question in a discussion thread? Let us know if you try it and what the results were.