The benefits of networking during Residential Week

Oladoyin Adelowotan, Global Online MBA participant, shares the benefits of face-to-face interaction and expanding her network during Residental Week.

I love the fact that Warwick Business School (WBS) Global Online MBA incorporates the social aspect of life to the programme by providing face-to-face engagement and interaction with the teaching team and my cohort during Residential Week. This is a week where we all come together as a cohort to integrate and collaborate with our lectures, work together as a syndicate, brainstorm on group work, and attend social events.

I am an introvert, but leveraging the social events organised during the Residential Week has helped me to be intentional about networking and socialising. I am sure other people in my cohort or on the MBA journey would echo the same. Now, I have a growth mindset that leadership is also about networking and interacting with others beyond the strategic meetings and Teams calls at work.

The Residential Week brings groups of students to WBS from all corners of the globe. Students get to know each other beyond the classroom environment and develop lifelong relationships. The different unique cultures, diversity, perspectives, and experiences made the Residential Week dynamic and enriching.

I have been able to develop a unique relationship with Ana Maria who is from Peru, a different country at the far end of the world to Toronto, Canada, where I reside. Ana and I had the opportunity to work together for my first module “Organisational Behaviour” from the start of my MBA programme. Ana and I gelled together from working as a syndicate on our group assignment to brainstorming on our assignments, planning our Residential Week trips together, and calling each othereven  late at night when there were no assignment deadlines just to talk about our work or personal lives.

Without any doubt, I would not have met Ana and my cohort if I had not taken the leap of studying the MBA programme at WBS. I have made amazing networks and friends that are going to transcend beyond WBS.

The overseas trip also allowed me to explore knowledge beyond my horizon, taking me to the corners of the world. This gave me exposure to the diverse business environments, cultures, and practices around the world and I was able to develop my global business perspectives and re-orientate myself about the business dynamics within the macro environment. Also, I love the scenery, photos, and memories that come with all these trips and experiences that I can share with families and friends.