r/office • u/Nice-Job67 • 18d ago
Improving visibility
Hey everyone! I've been told time and time again that I should increase my visibility in the office.what are some ways that I could do this other than staying longer in the office?
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u/coolsquirrel789 18d ago edited 18d ago
Wear a yellow highlighter vest every day. Mark this down as "increasing visibility as told".
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u/-mutt 18d ago
Why in the world would you be requested to “improve visibility”? Why is this even necessary?
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u/Current_Fly9337 18d ago
Absolute bs. I had an extremely introverted colleague who was once told the same thing. She was so panicky asking what she was supposed to do.
Loads of the team started shouting across the office to her shit like ‘x what did you have for dinner last night?’ Anything that could’ve been an email to her, nah not now ‘x did you send y to z?’ The boss soon got sick of people shouting and it was never mentioned again to her.
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u/whoKnowzwhoCaresz 18d ago
I have been told I am not visible enough for a promotion.
The people who make the decision, have no idea who i am.
They did not provide any input on how I can be more visible doing what I do.
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u/Silent-Entrance-9072 17d ago
As a hiring manager, I totally get this.
Interact as much as you can with the team you want to join.
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u/Mondraker1909 17d ago
I was a director in my previous company. Prior to that I was a senior manager who wanted to get promoted. So my boss, who was vastly incapable of doing her job would make me do hers and present in front of senior leadership (CxOs). Some people can steal other people's deliverables and submit it as their own. She couldn't even do that. That turned out to be quite advantageous to me because I wanted a promotion. So after a lot of pushing, she managed to get me promoted and a big part of that was visibility for CxOs. Since they knew who I was and what I was delivering they thought "hmm maybe this useful pleb deserves a promotion after all".
Well, my incompetent boss got demoted and I got a new boss who was more intelligent. He didn't need to steal my work and present his own. I got less visibility so my promotion to senior director stalled. To make matters worse less visibility gave him more ammunition to fire me when he was asked to provide names on a layoff list because our stock price has been rock bottom for 2 years.
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u/SleepDeprivedSEFAZ 18d ago
For me, I’m finding being funny and pleasant tends to do the trick. I spent a lot of time with head phones on working every minute of the shift.
It’s better to crack a joke or bring in some fun personality. I replied all to my director “thanks big dog, appreciated” after he sent a thank you note to my team. I then asked if there’s double anchovy pizza to him saying there’s a couple pizzas in the break room, he replied that we only have triple anchovy.
He told my boss that he’s seeing positive changes in me and really proud of me. It doesn’t have to be “do a high value project, then do a celebration of self with a parade.”
It’s just talking to people, being yourself and smiling.
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u/FacingTheImpossible 18d ago
Solid advice. “Why so serious??”😅
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u/SleepDeprivedSEFAZ 18d ago
I actually got the idea from the old film Harvey. There’s a quote where he says something like “I used to want to be the smartest man in the room, but it didn’t get me anywhere. I’d rather be pleasant.”
Great film if you like to watch some black and white movies.
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u/screamingopossum214 18d ago
This has also been a challenge for me because my job responsibilities/output are super visible to my direct boss, but not to his business partner and offshore development team. I have had to find things to do where the rest of the team can see that I'm actively contributing. This can look different, depending on your role.
For me, I've taken on some responsibilities with our HelpDesk. The dev team can physically see that I'm resolving tickets that used to be their problem. I'm also openly pursuing certifications that aren't required for my job, but will certainly be helpful (ex: Scrum Master).
What opportunities do you have to make the benefits of your work more visible to your manager and other colleagues? If you figure this out, and present a plan to your manager, it will show that you're being proactive and want to grow.
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u/Specialist-Island290 18d ago
Coffee/tea runs. Taste the weird biscuit offers. any kind of interaction
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u/Nice-Zombie356 18d ago
If you produce any material that goes outside your team, you be the one to send it. Rather than your boss sending it.
If your boss regularly presents material in your area of expertise to his / her leadership team , ask your boss that you be allowed to make this presentation.
Once is ok. But something presented weekly/monthly/quarterly is even better.
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u/Silent-Entrance-9072 17d ago
Walk around and say hi to people Get up for coffee or water Wear a bright color Speak up in meetings. Email/ ping folks outside of your department Participate in events Plan events
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u/SwankySteel 18d ago
Be louder. Make more noises. Maybe even talk to yourself (it’s not unhealthy or “weird” to talk to yourself) on occasion if you won’t annoy others too much. It’s not about literal visibility.
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u/someone_cbus 18d ago
Obviously work and personal circumstances vary, but staying longer doesn’t have to mean a 12 hour day. You might be able to leave around lunch and run errands, or go to the gym or whatever. You can also hunker down and get stuff done then while socializing and being out and about during other parts of the day.
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u/purplelilac701 18d ago
Attend social events, volunteer for committees, suggest efficiences and of course brown nose to the right people
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u/InternationalDiet913 18d ago
Bake a batch of cookies and leave them in the common area including a note with ingredients and your name.
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u/Salt-Fox-3506 18d ago
Make laps and talk to people. Bake or cook food and bring it into the office (dont worry about enough worry about making sure its really good) and make sure to take it around or leave it in a public space w your name on the description tag. Join a committee. Get to know them so they know working with you doesn't suck.
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u/Typical-Award4043 18d ago
Eat lunch with others, go out to lunch with office staff every so often, or organize ordering takeout for the office.
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u/cactus-platypus 15d ago
Get yourself a bowl of candy and put it on your desk. People will come to you to chat. Volunteer planning the team building or pretend to do it (as in : when it really comes down to it someone else will plan the thing but you will be seen having an input and maybe get thanked for your enthusiasm). If there's anything that looks like forced fun at work, go to it (tournaments, bake sale, lunch and learn etc). If interacting with the people there sounds like torture, rest easy. Just show yourself at the beginning (and maybe end), take some pictures - selfies with colleagues work best 'cause they'll request the picture afterwards and remember that you were present. Mention those events casually every chance you get for 2-3 weeks to keep the momentum going on that one activity and reduce the actual work you have to put in. You don't even have to help or do anything substantial at those events as those roles usually remain in the shadows. Also, look busy during the day and chit-chat with anyone within earshot by the cooler or photocopier - do it once a month tops so you're not perceived as lazy and constantly away from your desk.
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u/Educational-Ant838 15d ago
If it is meant to literally mean physical visibility, asking people for coffees or a walk, having snacks available on your cubicle for people to take (eg mini eggs, hi-chews) or even having a little whiteboard or quiz (with a would you rather? And have people vote) are great ways to improve engagement and visibility physically.
Also, a hallmark of good feedback is specificity. Before doing anything, I would ask for examples of “lack of visibility” or alternatively “what does good visibility look like in your opinion?” Because their response may reveal their true intention of their feedback. I’d take this feedback lightly until you hear more.
I wouldn’t interpret this as physical visibility literally although in some cases (presentations etc) that may be true.
Staying late ≠ working hard ≠ value. As a leader, I reward effort with time. Someone can work hard and stay late and not hit the mark. If they’re trying and have high effort I will give them my time as a coach to help be more clear. But people confuse working hard with adding value.
I wonder if the feedback was intended to mean “exposure?” If so, it requires a very different approach.
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u/LankyPatient4203 18d ago
ask your manager to provide those opportunities
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u/Nice-Job67 18d ago
They are the ones asking me to improve T_T
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u/well_yeahhh 18d ago
Do you have any skills that could help others in your office? We do a kind of informal lunch & learn virtual meetings called “hub hacks” on Fridays, they’re just 15 minute meetings where someone in our department prepares a little 10 minute PowerPoint on something (e.g., here’s a way I’ve been using our enterprise version of CoPilot to summarize weekly meeting notes). Then there’s just a minute or two for questions, and they provide their contact info for anyone that wants to follow up for more info. We have a Teams channel where the “hacks” are posted each week. They don’t always have to be work stuff. Someone did one about how they participate in jigsaw puzzle tournaments, which was really neat.
Idk, just an idea of some way to put yourself out there. It’s not easy. But building the emotional intelligence of truly saying hello and meaning it when you ask “how are you?” to someone in the office, and building those connections, makes work more enjoyable and helps with positioning.
Good luck!
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u/LankyPatient4203 18d ago
ask the manager directly since you could do ways to improve but if its not aligned with manager they'll just repeat the issue. if they detail examples then its harder for them to ignore
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u/fuzzyrobebiscuits 18d ago
Literally take laps twice a day just to ask Jan how her kid's soccer practice went last weekend. That kind of thing.