MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Reconnecting When Network Ties Go Dormant

We’ve known for a while that relationships that have fallen into a state of inactivity — or become dormant ties — can be resurrected. As people venture back into professional social settings after having experienced pandemic-induced disconnection, they are particularly keen to revive these inactive ties. Such connections have the potential to be incredibly valuable: During the period of dormancy, former contacts have been learning new things and developing new networks that could yield advice, referrals, emotional support, and even tangible resources.

We used to assume that reawakening a dormant tie was a simple process — just, you know, reach out and start talking to people. This view presumes that people can simply reengage as if no time has elapsed.

About the Author

Emanuela Rondi is an associate professor of management at Università degli Studi di Bergamo in Italy. Daniel Z. Levin is a professor of management and global business at Rutgers Business School — Newark and New Brunswick, at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Alfredo De Massis is a professor of entrepreneurship and family business at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in Italy, the Wild Group Chair in Family Business at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, and a professor at Lancaster University Management School in the United Kingdom.

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