Is working from home killing your career? Here's how to stay visible

Personal impressions often determine your chances at a promotion or recognition in the workplace. If you're mostly working from home, how can you stay relevant and help keep your career on track? Berlin (dpa) – Working from home has become routine for many of us, particularly since the coronavirus pandemic. There are perks aplenty: You don't have to commute or even change out of your pyjamas, can attend to your family's needs – and the fridge isn't far. On the other hand, you're out of your superior's sight. Yes, they're not around to breathe down your neck, but you could be "out of mind" for promotions and raises. Is there a way to avoid career stagnation while working remotely? Two experts weigh in: How much of your working time should you spend at your home workplace? Not all employers have fixed rules on when and how often employees have to come to the office. Given the choice, employees often prefer to work from home. From a career perspective, this isn't always advisable though, says Bastian Hughes, a career coach and host of a career advice podcast. So long as your job isn't supposed to be entirely done remotely, he recommends showing up at the office regularly. Depending on your individual needs and any arrangements you have with your co-workers, he suggests that it be about once a week or even once a month. This allows you to make or deepen personal contacts, which can be advantageous for your career development.  Video conferencing can't always make up for personal interactions. "Meeting face to face promotes trust, a feeling of belonging and empathy," remarks career advisor Ragnhild Struss. In a "world of digital sensory overload and artificial intelligence," maintaining human presence is becoming the new currency, she says. "This is one of the reasons that employees who also show up on-site are more likely to be promoted, since their superiors feel more comfortable with them." How can you stay visible while working from home? First of all, here's something that should be self-evident: When there's communication via an online team collaboration platform, always turn on your camera so that you're visible during the discussions or meetings," Hughes says. It's also important to be proactive – for example to communicate, for everyone to see, what you're working on, your results, and where you need support.    Another way to stay visible is to arrange short, informal talks. "You should use these conversations with co-workers and superiors not only for the purpose of coordination, but for relationship management as well," Struss says. Warmly passing along your appreciation to a co-worker for something they've done – naming them and specifying the reason – can also be helpful, according to Struss. By making others more visible, you become more visible yourself. Make it clear what it is that motivates you by talking about it on occasion. "People primarily follow attitudes that impress them," Struss says. This, too, helps you to stay visible. Network with people outside your immediate work team. It can be useful, for instance, to initiate an exchange of ideas with co-workers from other departments. "Not least of all, it's important to show interest in the big picture, beyond your own concerns," says Struss. What other guidelines should you follow? Employees who split their working time between their home and the office should clearly communicate when they can be reached. Hughes recommends, for example, that you keep your availability status up-to-date using a collaboration platform such as Microsoft Teams or Slack. You shouldn't be permanently available, however. "Being visible doesn't mean always being online," remarks Struss, who says true presence comes from being focused. This means protecting your deep work time, scheduling breaks and setting limits, she explains. As Struss sees it, an employee who regularly, reliably delivers, both on a professional as well as on a personal level, will be regarded as a stable factor in the team. "Reliability, particularly for someone working remotely, is the strongest form of visibility," she says. How do you, as a remote worker, avoid the urge to appear especially busy? Some remote workers feel a need to show they're very busy by immediately answering every email, constantly creating new projects, filling their calendar with numerous meetings, etc. But this isn't necessary, according to Struss, noting that not every work lull is a sign of inefficiency. "You need to be confident in your performance and in your worth," she says. It helps to ask yourself, "What's really important right now?" And, "What's part of my job, and what's simply pressure that I'm putting on myself?" "You should show, in conversations or in meetings, what you're accomplishing, rather than try to appear that you're more or less always sitting at your computer," Hughes says. How best to speak with your superior? If you feel you've fallen through the cracks by working from home, you might want to bring it up with your superior. Simply emailing them isn't advisable, in Hughes' view. It's better to request a face-to-face meeting during which you dispassionately voice your fear, along with your wishes and expectations. It's important to share your sense of things in a non-accusatory way. Struss recommends pointing to concrete examples, say, projects you feel you were left out on. A constructive approach is helpful, she says, namely by asking your superior how you can jointly ensure that your skills are put to better use. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn eut yyzz a3 bzl amb amc ob

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