Managing connections requires a lot of bandwidth. And adding more people to your plate can quickly become unmanageable. Taking the time and effort to handle family and friends can feel overwhelming, not to mention networking connections. It can feel as if there’s a limit to how many people you can manage within your life.
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar first decided that limit in the 1990s. But does that number hold true today? In this article, we will uncover Dunbar’s number and how it holds up to modern communication.
What is Dunbar’s number?
Dunbar’s number claims that humans are capable of maintaining up to 150 meaningful connections. This number came from Dunbar’s studies of non-human primates and the relation between brain size and group sizes. Dunbar theorized that once a human makes more than 150 connections, the social group becomes less cohesive and will begin to split off or collapse.
According to his original theory, beyond those first 150 meaningful connections, humans can maintain as many as 500 acquaintances and 1,500 people they can recognize.
Is Dunbar’s number true?
Thiry years after proposing Dunbar’s Number, Robin Dunbar still defends his research. He states that his research methods hold true today and that 150 connections were seen as accurate across all of his studies, proving that his number is correct.
But just because there is a set limit on the number of connections a human can maintain, that doesn’t mean you can’t exceed that number with the right tools.
How many connections can humans maintain?
Meeting new people and making connections is easier than ever. We can instantly reach out to anyone in the world, exponentially growing our relationships, but managing all those relationships isn’t as straightforward.
The more connections you have, the harder it is to manage them all. And managing more than 150 connections isn’t possible according to Dunbar’s number.
But with the help of HiHello, humans can maintain more connections than ever before. Check out our tips below to learn how to surpass Dunbar’s number and manage more connections.
How to manage more connections
1. Create a plan
The first step to managing more relationships is getting organized. Whether you're a pro at networking or just starting, trying to grow your networking quickly can be daunting. So before you start sending out those LinkedIn requests and signing up for every networking event, take a moment to plan how networking will fit into your schedule long-term.
Don’t put in hours on the front end only to burn out when it’s time to follow up. Instead, develop a sustainable plan for creating new connections before you start.
2. Perfect the contact exchange
Paper business cards are dead, but swapping phone numbers will likely land you in the hundreds of phone numbers in their phone, leaving them asking, “wait, who is this?” Instead, opt for a more memorable contact exchange with a digital business card. We recommend HiHello—the leading business card app for individuals and businesses. You’ll be able to share any information you want, and they’ll be able to follow up with their contact information, helping you keep track of your connections.
3. Keep connections organized
Managing more relationships takes more than a good memory. The key is to keep your connections organized, and your phone’s built-in contacts app isn’t going to cut it.
One alphabetical list of contacts might be fine when you are only maintaining a few connections, but once that number hits a couple hundred, it becomes unmanageable.
Our favorite tool to manage your contacts is the HiHello smart address book. With the free smart address book, you can easily track and organize your contacts into groups. Customize your groups using tags to easily manage your contacts based on where they fit into your life, and add notes to remember important details about each connection.
4. Maintain relationships wisely
Following up with connections can be time-consuming, especially when expanding your network. But maintaining strong relationships, even with hundreds of contacts, is simple if you do it right.
Create a schedule
Establish guidelines for how often you want to reach out to each connection, and build a schedule to keep up with your conversations. We recommend reaching out once a quarter to keep a strong relationship.
Be opportunistic
Did you come across an article that they might like? Did you meet someone who would be perfect to introduce to one of your previous connections? Take those opportunities to reach out to your connections. Not only will it feel more personal to them, but it will also create a quick and easy conversation, keeping the relationship strong.
Take note
A big part of strengthening relationships is remembering personal details, but that doesn’t come easy with a large network. Keep notes about your connections' interests and use those to facilitate future conversations.
Don’t overdo it
Everyone is busy, and getting too many messages can get overwhelming. Keep outreach to once a quarter.
