6 Tips to Stay Visible When Working From Home in 2021

A guide to becoming more visible Working From Home during a global health pandemic. (4 mins) 

Happy New Year! Welcome to my first blog of 2021. Coming into this year there is hope and uncertainty about getting COVID-19 under control. Hope that the mass vaccination programmes will ramp-up and work at peak efficiency globally. I want you to remain optimistic, though it seems that we still have a long way to go with getting back to “normal”. The best thing that you can do for yourself is to accept how you feel. Work through any negative emotions, but crucially focus on what you can control and to keep taking steps to keep moving forward. It seems that we are going to be Working From Home for the foreseeable future, so it’s important that you remain visible and top of mind for promotions and career opportunities. Let’s make you stand out virtually this year and help you to create the career of your dreams. 

Today’s blog is about how to stay visible When Working From Home. I’m going to give you 6 tips to help you dial up your visibility in the remote working world. Let’s dive into those tips:

1 Video On! No hiding

In order to be seen in the remote working world, you need to embrace being on video. I know it can be tempting to dial in just using audio, but that makes you seem invisible! Without showing your picture you seem out of sight and crucially out of mind! So remember that, when you dial in. Put your video on and show-up fully. 

2 Speak up in Meetings

If you’ve not been very proactive about speaking up in meetings, now is the time! You need to practice sharing your update and the progress that you’ve made at virtual team meetings. It goes without saying, those that speak up will be noticed more. You don’t need to worry about saying anything ground-breaking, but you do need others to regonise that you are there and contributing! Because unfortunately your work doesn’t speak for itself. Use your team meeting to demonstrate your knowledge and increase your visibility. Prepare what you want to say as your update beforehand. Get used to making it a point to contribute something at every meeting. Build that habit! 

3 Share your wins and those of your team/colleagues

Since you are now going to speak up in team meetings and 1-2-1’s with your boss, it’s a good idea to let people know when you’ve had success, a client has given good feedback or your colleague has helped you to succeed. Some simple ways to do this are to share your wins over your team messenger, team email or at your virtual team meeting. Feeling brave? You might even want to start a process with your team to have an occasion to share individual or team wins. Just remember to keep the focus on the impact that you’ve made and how it contributes to your personal or team targets. 

4 Connect with your Boss on a regular basis 

You need to communicate with your boss on a regular basis and not just before your end of year review! Take the time to get to know your boss. Find out what their main objectives are, how can you add more value to the team and what opportunities are there to raise your profile. Ask your boss for opportunities to be on high-profile projects. Let them know when you receive positive feedback from colleagues or customers/clients. 

5 Build the brand and reputation of your company - Represent your company at Virtual Industry Events 

Take the opportunity to build your own visibility by sharing your knowledge and representing your company at virtual company events. Seek out relevant opportunities to become a speaker, share a blog or be on an industry relevant podcast. Now if you’re not used to being visible, this is going to be one that you’ll need to work up to. Take a deep breath and think about what are your options to get started? Why not start with doing a virtual brown bag lunch/show and tell or sharing a blog on your company intranet before going public. The main thing here is to take action and demonstrate your knowledge internally or externally to a wider audience than just your immediate team. You’re aiming for other teams and company leaders to know your name! 

6 Build a Visibility Mindset - Ditch Perfectionism! 

I know that it can be hard to build the confidence to speak up and to be more visible at work. One of the greatest things that you can do is to shift your mindset about what it means to be visible and how you approach putting yourself out there. My biggest tip is ditch perfectionism, believe that your content has value and will improve overtime. So get out there and start to build up your visibility muscles! 

Resources:

Optimise your Career Visibility for Career Success in 2021 Workshop - 28th Jan, 6pm - 8pm 

Be Your No.1 Cheerleader, By Ekua Cant 

If you’d like help with embracing your online visibility for your career, please check out the details of my up-coming workshop on 28th Jan for ambitious career women. Join us to learn how to build confidence in being visible, so that you get the recognition that you deserve! To get the discount code, get in touch via email (iammyowncheerleader@gmail.com) or send me a LinkedIn Message.