Have you ever thought this about yourself in the workplace:
“No matter how hard I work, why do I never seem to get noticed for a promotion while the others seem to be breezing through?”
It’s true that in any organization, there are a few people who everyone seems to know. Whether it’s a social gathering or an official meeting, they are all over the place and seem to be stealing the limelight – the “true” all-round performers.
This may make you feel jealous or even frustrated. You may even come to terms with it because they truly deserve the recognition. Their understanding of people and situations is propelling them forward in their career.
This recognition in the corporate parlance is known as visibility.
The thing that truly tends to trigger you is when you come across people who don’t do much work but use their “gift of the gab” to get some “brownie points”. That’s when frustration hits the roof! As annoying as it may be, they’re just playing the game better than you.
So what do you do? You decide to quit and go somewhere else out of sheer frustration.
But you’re always going to come across people like this wherever you go, so this isn’t going to help you in the long run.
So, what’s the permanent solution to this problem?
Here’s 5 interesting ways to help you improve your visibility in your workplace:
1. Develop The Art Of Small Talk
Small talk is a ‘polite’ conversation about unimportant things. If you’re an extrovert you may be over-doing ‘small talk’ and if you’re an introvert, this may sound like a nightmare to you. Either way, it’s very useful when you’re trying to build workplace visibility. Understanding the state of a person and engaging in conversation with respect to their situation is an easy way to develop small talk.
How You Can Use Small Talk To Build Visibility
If you are of the mindset that ‘small talk’ is a waste of time, then that’s how it will turn out for you. Instead of dwelling on negative self-talk like “I’m awful at this”, “I hate small talk”, or “How do I get out of this?”, remind yourself that small talk is not a superficial act. It is an important part of building relationships or something bigger. You can have a simple template like FORM and have a conversation around the topics of Family, Occupation, Recreation & Motivation.
Why This Is Important For Improving Workplace Visibility
Small talk serves an important purpose – it helps build the foundation for authentic conversations and deeper relationships down the road. Think of small talk as the light appetizer before the main course, and approach it with renewed purpose.
Small talk is important in order to build your visibility in the workplace because it helps build genuine relationships and helps you get noticed. You can use the FORM template while trying to engage in small talk.
2. Speak Up In Meetings
There’s a saying that goes like this – “someone who thinks and doesn’t talk is considered someone who doesn’t think”. Speaking up in a meeting essentially means to convey what is going on in your head. It is not about stealing ‘air time’
How You Can Speak Up In Meetings To Build Visibility
Before getting into a meeting, set a goal as to how many times you intend speaking. For example, your first goal could be to acknowledge someone else’s statement and then follow-up with a question, or add something on top of it. It can be something like, “That’s a brilliant idea!” (acknowledgement) and ask “how do you think we can improve that?” (question) or “I am wondering how we can work together to improve on your idea” (adding something). Your goal also can be to clarify any doubts that you may have. The most important thing is to be ‘present’ and listen actively.
Why This Is Important For Improving Workplace Visibility
Speaking up in meetings is important for several reasons. When you share ideas or ask questions, you take part in the conversation, provide value, and show that you’re being an active participant in the workplace. All of this can lead to being visible, which can be critical for getting new opportunities, to learn something new and moving ahead in your career.
It’s important to speak up in meetings as it will let people know that you are active and engaged in what’s going on. It’s also a great opportunity to improve your visibility as it’s a place where you can share your inputs and show your value. You can do this by simply acknowledging someone’s statement and following it up with a question.
3. Discover Your Talents And Put Them To Use
‘Talent’ defines your true potential – the internal, innate ability to do something well. It is one of the most valuable assets that you can possess. In the competitive workplace, almost anyone can acquire knowledge and develop skills. Talent is a different species all together.
How You Can Use Your Talents To Build Visibility
Take the time to examine what has made you successful in the past and what your career aspirations are for the future. With this process, you will be able to identify the points when your talent hasn’t been tapped.
Do you have creative talent, ‘writing’, ‘painting’, ‘acting’ or people talent like, ‘mentoring’, ‘coaching’, ‘developing others’? I am sure you have something unique in you, something that others feel that ‘you have it in you’. To develop your talent, look for work assignments or volunteer opportunities that add depth to your skill base, value to your professional life, and exposure for your career.
Take this online assessment to find your strengths!
Why This Is Important For Improving Workplace Visibility
All of us start off with raw talent that needs to be shaped and developed. Developing a talent is like learning a musical instrument. You must practice consistently to become proficient. The more you exercise your talent, the more talents you will discover that you can use. Though your skills and expertise can be considered a great asset, your talent is what makes you stand out from the crowd. It’s your responsibility to nurture and grow your talent. That is what will position you for success.
Everyone is born with talent in a certain aspect, whether it be a creative type or people development type of talent. Find and develop your talents and look for opportunities to showcase them. This is what will help you stand out from the crowd, building visibility and positioning yourself for success.
4. Solve A Problem That No One Else Wants To
There are a few key things you need to remember about problems:
1. They happen all the time.
2. They are opportunities disguised as challenges.
3. They are there so that you can improve and make life easy for everyone around you.
How You Can Use Problem Solving To Build Visibility
Human beings are born problem solvers. The biggest obstacle we experience is to ‘solve’ it immediately. Before we get to solve the problem, we have to define a process (a step-by-step approach) to solve the problem.
A process may look something like this –
1. Define the problem and state in simple language that everyone can relate to.
2. Work towards a solution that satisfies everyone.
3. Ideate the possible options (solutions).
4. Evaluate the options.
Just remember that working through this process is not a linear exercise. You may have to cycle back to an earlier step. For example, if you’re in a dilemma on deciding on a solution, you may have to circle back to understand the interests.
Why This Is Important For Improving Workplace Visibility
Problems provide us with opportunities to stretch our grey matter, collaborate with people and find a solution that can improve everyone’s life. When you look at a problem in this manner you will start embracing almost every problem. People have their own perspective on a given problem, if you take the initiative to solve it, then you tend to bring everyone on the same page. It makes you feel inclusive, garner support and ideate the possible solutions with others. You will be invited to participate in solving future problems.
Solving a problem that no one else wants to shows that you are someone that’s willing to take initiative to get things done and make life easier for the people around you. It’s also a great opportunity to collaborate with people to find solutions. This makes you feel inclusive and make people invite you to participate in solving future problems.
5. Blow The Trumpet For Others
If you’re like me when I was in the corporate world, then you’re going to squirm talking great things about yourself, i.e., blowing your own trumpet.
However, you may be the kind of person who’s absolutely comfortable praising others even for the smallest of things. If this isn’t something that you do, then you should start doing it. There’s a good reason for it – What goes around, comes around.
How Blowing The Trumpet For Others Can Help Build Visibility
When a task is assigned to you and someone else helps you, even if it’s just a little help, just make sure to mention that contribution to your manager. When it comes to your performance evaluation, your manager may remark that as a part of the reason for a great evaluation for you.
Why This Is Important For Improving Workplace Visibility
Giving credit to others at work and letting people know also can be self-rewarding. More rewarding than that is the great feeling you get from ‘giving’. Essentially, what that means is that giving support to others reduces your own stress levels, enhances the social and emotional bonds you experience with other people, and helps you develop friendships and be socially accepted.
Blowing the trumpet for others is a great way to build workplace visibility as it helps build social and emotional bonds with people. Another great reason for this is because someday someone might do the same for you. All you have to do is give credit to others, no matter how small their contribution.
Summary
Visibility in your workplace is basically how well you are known and recognized in your workplace. It’s what sets you apart from the rest and grab the limelight whenever necessary. These are 5 ways to improve your visibility in your workplace:
1. Develop the art of small talk: Small talk is the polite conversation about unimportant things. It helps in building relationships and makes you known. Some evergreen topics to talk about are Family, Occupation, Recreation & Motivation.
2. Speak up in meetings: Meetings are the best place to build visibility. All you need to do is be present during the discussion and contribute to the meeting by either acknowledging someone else’s point or just posing a question of your own. This shows that you are engaged and shows what you can bring to the team.
3. Discover your talents and put them to use: Nearly everyone in the workplace can pick up skills and knowledge but being able to showcase talents is a different story. Find and develop your talent and look for situations where you can showcase them. This is a great way to grab the limelight when your time comes.
4. Solve a problem that no one else wants to: A problem is an opportunity to take initiative to get things done to make things easier for everyone around you. Solving a problem is a great way to build visibility since it’s something that’s best done through collaborative effort. It brings people closer and makes you known in the workplace.
5. Blow the trumpet for others: Blowing the trumpet for others means appreciating or talking highly of others. You simply have to just give people credit and show appreciation for any kind of contribution. It helps build social and emotional bonds, and helps you develop friendships.
