There are some things in life that you just have to do, like asking for seconds of your mother-in-law’s Jell-O salad or putting on a name tag and going to that networking happy hour.

• Grumble all you want, but it’s crucial to have a strong network built way before you need to tap into it for advice, job hunting, etc., which means that we should be building connections regularly.

And to all you remote workers, don’t think you’re off the hook. Even if you’re on the midday shower train, you can still be working on those leads remotely. So instead of waiting until your CEO decides to pull an Elon and call everyone back into the office, here are some tactics for building your network virtually:

Join a few professional Slack channels. Lean in if you don’t already know this secret: Slack isn’t just for pinging your coworkers. You can also get the tea (or spill it) with industry- and community-specific Slack channels.

• For example, try Online Geniuses if you’re in marketing or Notion Champions if you’re obsessed with organizational tools.

Be a human on LinkedIn. Repeat after me: You do not need to be a thought leader on LinkedIn. You do not need to post deathless prose or photos of waterfalls. You just need to add to the conversation.

• That means commenting on people’s posts, reposting things you find interesting, and following up with DMs after webinars, online conferences, or hearing someone talk on a recent podcast episode.

Fear not the cold email. Keep it short and state why you’re connecting (e.g., here’s why I’d be a value add on your team; I’d like to get your take on X; are you interested in being a speaker at our next event?). But please, don’t ask to pick someone’s brain.

• If you’re not ready to commit to the inbox, go with a direct message on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Create a portfolio to showcase your own work. Sometimes you’ve got whole novels of nuance to tell and that LinkedIn “About Me” section just isn’t doing the trick.

• Take it one step further and create a professional website that illustrates more of what you do, why you do it, and anything else you feel is relevant.
• Just don’t forget to include a “Contact Me” page.

Virtual networking can be exhausting, especially if you try to take on conference-level chitchat all at once. Start small, make it a habit, and before you know it, you’ll be competing with Kyle for king of the socials.—CS

Dive deeper: Pick up a few more virtual networking tips here, plus a few things to avoid here.

Hidden within Apple’s mixed-reality headset hype last week came another, possibly more life-changing update: The iPhone will no longer autocorrect your fiery expletives to “duck.”

• We’ve all been griping about this for years, and our “damn autocorrect” responses have long gotten stale.
• Happy that Apple finally picked up on all our sassy cues to fix the ducking problem.

Customers will always find something to complain about, but there are often at least kernels of wisdom in these critiques. The key is knowing how to separate the rude comments from the truth bombs.

Here are three ways to actually get valuable product feedback from your customers:

Watch them. Slow down, Lovely Bones. Within reason, seeing how your customers interact with your products or services is a clear way to better understand their needs and frustrations.

• For example, if a certain product page is getting a ton of clicks but your customers aren’t actually purchasing, that may indicate a pricing strategy problem.

Survey the scene. Want to know what your customers are thinking? Ask!

• Just remember that while surveys are a key portion of feedback collection, they aren’t completely reliable—turns out, asking someone if they’d buy something is very different than getting them to actually buy something.

Embrace the rant. While many social sites may feel like cesspools of negativity, there can be nuggets of truth in trending conversations about your product. If you’re seeing more than a few comments about some element of your business, it’s probably worth investigating.

But don’t blindly follow your customers, either. As Henry Ford famously said about the Model T, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

You’ve finished Succession; you’ve finished Ted Lasso. You’ve even powered through The Ultimatum. So what’s next in your queue?

The Brew’s New Manager Bootcamp is now available on demand.

Take the popular course on your own time and learn how to:

• Build a team culture that encourages results without the Roy family toxicity
• Coach better than Ted himself
• Communicate with your team without needing to go on a reality TV show to get your points across

Get instant access right now.

Summer air travel this year is expected to be a hotter mess than ice cream abandoned at self-checkout, and business trips aren’t dodging any bullets.

Here are a few tips, tricks, and choice items to stay strong and still get work done at the airport:

Expense exclusivity. A lounge day pass is like VIP access to the library—at least that’s what you should tell Accounting when you ask the company to foot the bill.

Stand around in style. Even with lounge access, you’ll still be on your feet trotting to your gate. Keep looking professional with these slip-on women’s sneakers and these men’s ones with laces.

• Both are washable, too, if you happen to step on a loose ketchup packet in the LaGuardia food court.

Stick to an airport to-do list. Don’t expect to write your annual shareholder letter while loitering at Gate 34b. Instead, batch tasks based on the brain power required.

• Low-bandwidth activities include finally organizing your inbox, submitting your expense reports from the past three months, and creating that LinkedIn post about your promo from last quarter.

Stay hydrated. Don’t let TSA commandeer your full Hydro Flask. Keep a foldable water bottle like this one in your backpack pocket.

🪫 Always have a charger backup plan. Low power mode, charging station in sight line, external battery—go with your instincts here.

• Just make sure you have enough juice to Slack your boss to start the meeting without you; your flight was delayed.

Questions or comments? Feel free to ping the TSA Instagram for other travel tips and horror stories.

Office Hours is where industry experts explain why we should care about topics, jobs, and trends that we might not know much about.

Usman Rahim lives in Washington, DC, where he’s SVP of Federal Government Relations at Bank of America and a member of the Alumni of Learning Brew Advisory Board. Here’s his take on why we should care about government affairs in the nation’s capital:

“More than ever, engagement between the private and public sector is necessary.

Every citizen and American company has a home state representative. Interacting and sharing your story or your company’s story with that representative is critical in shaping policy.

• For example, states, cities, organizations, and individuals are eligible for various competitive streams like infrastructure dollars or tax credits.
• This process involves coordination on program deadlines and requirements, grant writing, and developing strategies to apply for various programs.

Being present in Washington, DC, via a government affairs function is only increasing and will continue to. This level of engagement internally and externally helps integrate viewpoints from both sectors to help address our nation’s greatest challenges.”