One of the biggest challenges with remote work is reduced visibility. You may not get the same level of preferred interaction if you do not go into the office regularly. However, you can still do many things to advance your career and stand out as a great teammate.
Here are some tips to get noticed remotely:
1. Show engagement & visibility. Think about how you can show that you are invested in the team’s purpose and results, the company’s success, and each other. One way to show engagement is to participate often in the group’s collective wisdom but not dominate. When your cameras are on, and you offer verbal comments with those in the room and written ones in the chat, it shows your presence. You can be sure to ask questions to show you are listening and even volunteer for additional projects if you have the bandwidth. You can contribute to offline communication and post in Q and A forums, offer assistance, and share best practices. You can send congratulatory notes to acknowledge other people’s wins and be specific with your feedback other than just saying good job. Share what you have learned so that others may use that information to advance their work.
2. Be proactive. Do not just sit back and follow, step up and lead. You can raise potential challenges that you see on the horizon and offer possible solutions to show that you are being strategic and thinking long-term. Connect your work and that of the teams to the impact of the business, and keep in mind other cross-functional teams and dependents when sharing your initiatives, as it shows you as a thoughtful contributor. Be sure to procure a buddy who is in the room and can translate some of the nuances in the meeting. You can message each other during and after the meeting to ensure you have the essential pieces down. Be sure to make the most of your one-on-ones and seek out mentors as a prime opportunity to gain more visibility.
3. Create a friction-free experience. It can be easy to create unnecessary thrash in remote settings, and be the person who keeps things simple and easy. When sending emails, do not invite many back-and-forth interactions, rather, include the fewest steps possible. For example, if you want to request a meeting with your boss, do not keep it vague and say, I’d like to meet, and then you have to wait for them to ask about the topic and available times, and then you provide times and there all these extra emails when once could have sufficed. Instead, you can request to meet, state the topic, and offer several times that may work and if not, they can suggest 2-3 times during these available windows for the following week. They can confirm a time, and you can be all set. If you are looking for your boss to provide answers, instead of making it open-ended by asking what they think is the solution which can demand a lot of work, you can offer three avenues that you were thinking about and ask which one of these, if any, would they want to go forward with?
4. Build relationships. Since many organizations are matrixed where your work depends on the work of many others, it can be helpful to spend time intentionally building relationships and collecting goodwill. This is one of the most important things you can do to succeed in your career, yet it is never urgent for people. Your connections should not be transactional but more about building authentic connections. You can share information on your careers and roles and even think about how best you like to work with each other. Knowing more details about their work can help you better work together.
5. Be a good team member. Take part in team activities to get to know people outside their roles. Be a builder and acknowledger of others’ ideas, take time to recognize, praise, and elevate them, and do not diminish, embarrass, or engage in any cringe-worthy behaviors. Respond to emails timely and follow up on requests, so people are not wondering if you got their messages. Do not engage in gossip; when you have a challenge with a person, assume positive intent and always go to the person to explore what’s going on. It would help if you did not involve your manager unless it calls for an escalation because the two of you have gone back and forth a few times and cannot seem to settle the differences. If you do escalate it, do not send a private message to your boss to give your side, instead, you can tell the person, I think it is best if we bring this issue to the boss, and then you can send an email including the other person and your boss so no covert activities are occurring which can breed further distrust.
Working remotely does not mean you have to be invisible or reduce your value in any way. You can do many things to stand out and be a contributing force, it just may require a little more intentionality and planning.
Quote of the day: “Not finance, not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and rare.” – Patrick Lencioni
Q: What are you doing to stand out remotely? Comment and share below; we would love to hear from you!
The next blog in this series 9 /11 will focus on how to personally thrive while working remotely
As a leadership development and executive coach, I work with leaders to create enjoyable remote work experiences for themselves and their teams, contact me to explore this topic further.
Get noticed Remotely