This can be a very helpful exercise and, if you invest some time and effort in thinking carefully about it, this can reveal gaps and areas for improvement. To begin, get a blank sheet of A4 paper and put your name, or your pharmacy's name in the centre. Using a mind map type of approach, start connecting yourself to those who you have a relationship with €“ local surgeries, care homes, other pharmacies, local forum etc. You may consider using a different colour or thickness of line to indicate the strength of relationship.

Keep going until you have mapped the whole of your professional network. You might be surprised how extensive it is. Now think if any of the people or groups on your map can connect to others who may be outside your original thoughts and could help enlarge your virtual network. Where are the gaps, opportunities and challenges in your network? How can you address them? The answers to these questions will start to define a networking improvement plan.