Make yourself visible at work

How do you make sure you stay 'in the picture' now and don't become invisible to managers and colleagues? We give you the 13 best tips!

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tips jezelf proflere op je werk

Make yourself visible at work

How do you make sure you stay ‘in the picture’ now and don’t become invisible to managers and colleagues? We give you the 13 best tips!

make yourself visible at work

13 tips to stay visible

If you were just climbing the career ladder, the COVID-19 pandemic is here to spoil the party. Missing out on the small talk at the coffee machine and no more face to face encounters. How do you make sure you stay ‘in the picture’ and don’t become invisible to managers and colleagues? How do you make sure that your growth doesn’t come to a standstill? By profiling yourself during this pandemic as well. We’ve collected the best tips for you to stay visible while working from home.

1. Plan contact moments with your manager

Make sure your supervisor doesn’t lose sight of you. Try not to communicate by email too much, especially during this time it is important to speak to each other on a regularly base. It’s to make visible what you are doing and to hear what else you can do. Determine together what a good frequency is for both of you and what you report by email in the meantime.

2. Share what you are doing

You often assume that everyone knows what you are doing. But in practice this is often not the case and certainly not now. Give a brief explanation during (online) meetings of what you are doing and what you have achieved so far. Also ask the other participants to give an update. This way you stay involved with each other and you can actively offer your help with interesting projects.

3. Show interest in others

It’s not only you who misses the dynamics of office life with colleagues around you. That also might apply to your colleagues. Ask how they are doing and see where you can help or strengthen each other. That’s not only kind but also makes your own work more interesting. Moreover, empathy and sincere interest is important to be seen as a (potential) leader. If you haven’t spoken to a few people yet, plan to call someone on a regular basis and show interest.

4. Be proactive

This might not be the time to quietly wait and see what will happen. Beware of opportunities or points for improvement, let them be known and offer to help with the realization. Try to think as an entrepreneur and not only as an employee, so you can see even more clearly what is good for the company and what can be improved. If there are interesting projects or new project groups are being set up, register in advance. Show your enthusiasm. Especially if these are projects that are a bit further away from your own work, they offer an opportunity to show other people within your organization what you have to offer.

5. Prepare meetings well

By starting meetings well prepared, you show that you take your work seriously, that you are knowledgeable and that you are trustworthy. Moreover, this makes you a pleasant colleague to work with, which increases your chances of being asked for interesting projects.

6. Ask colleagues for help

Feel free to put any issues on the table that you may encounter. Being able to show your vulnerability is seen as very valuable for leadership. It is also fun and valuable to get input from others in solving your bottlenecks. It gives your colleagues the opportunity to show their expertise and that only increases your favor and sympathy.

7. Be transparent

It can also happen that due to the changed situation there is no work to do and that you actually have less to do than normal. Actively look for opportunities to make yourself useful and discuss this with your manager. Honesty and transparency are preferable to hoping that no one will notice.

8. Also mention the successes of colleagues

Give others their moment in the spotlight as well. So name who else contributed to your success. Or indicate that you wouldn’t have succeeded without him/her. A compliment costs nothing and makes all parties feel good.

9. Create content

Whoever writes, stays. Those of you who are responsible for communication and marketing are always looking for interesting content. With interesting articles for the (internal) newsletter or a vlog or other content for social media, you help them and yourself. Discuss what you can contribute, give it an interesting interpretation and make yourself visible. In this way you make your expertise and enthusiasm known to everyone.

10. Try to see each other (outside) from time to time

If possible, use the hybrid model. So work from home as much as possible with an occasional day at the office to actually be visible. If that is not possible or safe, you can see if you can make a walking appointment with the person you would like to talk to. A walk in nature is good for you and for inspiration and can be done with the necessary distance.

11. Share information

Do you come across an interesting article or is there webinar that might be of interest for other colleagues? Share it with a small explanation why you would recommend it. Sharing knowledge with the right people shows insight and the willingness to let others grow. Two qualities that will certainly take you further.

12. Join networking and organize activities

Be creative. See if there are interesting networks inside or outside your organization to join. Think for example of specific groups on Linkedin. In this way you make sure you stay up to date with your field of expertise, you can profile yourself and get to know more people. And if you meet interesting people at such an (online) network, invite them to share their expertise during an online meeting with your colleagues. Or turn it into an internal webinar.

13. Talk positively about yourself and others

Stop marginalizing your contribution. Too much modesty is not going to help you. So receive compliments without watering them down and name your share of projects or successes without bragging. The same goes when you talk about others, don’t talk anyone down. It is much more powerful when you start from your own strength. Remember, a positive can-do attitude is always better appreciated than the sad-tounder attitude.

Good luck with profiling yourself at work.

Do you have any more tips, tricks or success stories?

Let us know! Together we make each other better.

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