Rekindle a Dead Professional Relationship Without Awkwardness

Introduction: Rekindle a Dead Professional Relationship

Professional relationships can become dormant for various reason. They may change jobs, face limited information, experience poor communication, or encounter a simple misunderstanding between them. Whatever the case, one has to understand that a silent professional relationship does not always mean a failed one.

One can rebuild a professional relationship by reaching out politely, giving a valid reason, and avoiding high expectations initially.

How to Rekindle a Dead Professional Relationship Without Awkwardness?

1. Understand What the Problem Might Be Before You Try Contacting the Person

Before sending out an e-mail contacting the person, one has to think about what might have gone wrong. Was it a busy time for both of you? Did you leave the company? Were there any misunderstandings?

One does not need to fix everything that went wrong, but one should think logically about the best way to approach the contact for better results.

Do not automatically assume that the other person is angry with you. Silence in a professional relationship may result from a misunderstanding or simply because it was not the right time for the person to connect.

2. Never Come Straight Away to the Point of Ask for Something from Them

The worst mistake one can make when trying to rebuild a professional relationship is to assume that the other person will think they are being used and then do nothing to change that impression. If one reaches out for the first time after a long period of silence only to ask for a recommendation letter for a new job, the other person may simply ignore the message.

Instead, one should show an interest in what one is doing and how they are dealing with the new circumstances in their lives.

If one needs to ask for something, they should do so after rebuilding the professional relationship and creating a comfortable connection with the other person.

3. Do Not Expect Too Much Right Away

Depending on how busy one is, a polite and sincere message could go unanswered.

If this happens, one should not chase after the other person with e-mails asking about the message one received, and instead leave it at that for now, and re-establish contact at a later date.

One should give the other person enough time to consider the initial message before sending a follow-up if they do not respond.

4. If a Message Was Sent to Re-establish Contact, Follow Up if Nothing Is heard Back

A follow up e-mail stating “Just wanted to follow up on my message” and asking how everything is going is probably enough to get a response and start making progress towards rebuilding a professional relationship once more at a pace both can be comfortable with.

Whatever happens after that is up to the other person, but making sure the first message is not too demanding and gives the other person enough breathing room is one’s responsibility as the one who wants to re-establish the relationship.

5. Make Sure the Other Person Knows There Will Be Value in This Relationship Re-established

It does not matter what one is good at, one should be determined to establish what it is that one can bring to the table. Something as small as an introduction can be enough to show the other person that one is not contacting them just for selfish reasons. It is important to keep in mind that one’s value and effort will speak for themselves, and one should feel sincere and comfortable enough to reach out to the other person.

One must accept that they cannot salvage every relationship, or may simply choose not to invest the effort required to rebuild it.

One never knows if one will be able to re-establish old working circumstances, but a respectful message with an honest and understandable reason for contacting the other person can always leave one with satisfaction that one did the right thing at least, regardless of the overall outcome.

Conclusion: Rekindle a Dead Professional Relationship

Re-establishing a dead professional relationship does not have to be that awkward experience that one thinks it has to be. If the first message remains short and polite, refers to something specific to the professional relationship, and includes a follow-up when necessary, there is little else one can do to rebuild the relationship.

It is also important to not demand too much right away as a way to show sincerity, and instead show an interest in what the other person is doing these days.

There is always room for one to be able to help the other person if that is truly the case, but in the end one has to come to terms with the fact that every professional person who was truly worth considering as a colleague has to move on eventually.

A simple conversation today can always start to be a valuable professional relationship tomorrow, and one does not have to do much to help rebuild a dead relationship, only provide the other person with a comfortable reason to talk to one again.

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