5 ways to demonstrate your value - remotely

You must be worried about how long you will remain employed. Most of you are working from home and don't haven't the visibility of your colleagues and manager. When you were in office, you would have had informal interactions with colleagues many times a day. Now with remote working, you are out of sight and you may wonder about your importance to the organization.

Many companies are struggling to earn some revenue let alone turn in some profit. There is no guarantee that your position is secure and there are factors beyond your control. But you can make yourself and your accomplishments visible to the organization.

Do the following things to increase your odds of staying and thriving in your job and demonstrating your value to the organization.

Do your job

Getting your work done especially in difficult times is essential, especially when companies are taking the hard decisions about who to keep. During the initial period managers may be lenient of the drop in productivity or missteps here and there as one had to get used to working from home. Once you have settled down, set up a system to keep track of your tasks and marking as completed even if you have rescheduled some due to home constraints.

Tell others

If you have completed something significant, share it. This could be in the form of covering a few highlights with your boss during the weekly meet, speaking about what your team is doing in a meeting, giving a presentation on some best practices that could help others in a similar role. Focus on not only what you or your team did but also on how it benefited the organization. 

This gives you increased visibility as people understand the role you fill and the value add.

Help your boss

Look for ways to make your boss's life easier. Turn in your work earlier so that he has more time to go through the same before a meeting or be better prepared for a one-on-one meeting so it is concise and effective. If you have extra capacity, offer to help out with extra assignments. This will show you are not only someone who gets work done but also that you are proactive.

Play nicely

You should be seen not only as a valuable contributor but also as someone who will boost your team to higher performance. try to work out the differences with your colleagues offline. Escalate it minimally only if it is absolutely necessary when appropriate. This will show you are a team player, that you can communicate effectively and it will encourage your boss to put you in teams without a worry.

Spread positivity

Working from home is an unfamiliar way of working and it leads to stress a sometimes brings out the worst in people. Be different. When you are interacting with your team - talking, emailing, messaging, share pleasant happenings, thoughts to move their attention away from the epidemic and uplift the team.

Try humor. laughter and positive energy draws teams together and make people feel good. 

You cannot control what businesses consider essential, nor can you control organizational changes. However, you can do what you can o make a positive impact and prove yourself as a team player and dependable within the organization. 

5 ways to demonstrate your value - remotely

Elizabeth Grace Saunders HBR June 01, 2020