How to feel ‘seen’ when you’re working remotely

Ever felt a bit like you’re invisible at work? You show up on time, you get the job done, and you do it well. Plus, you make it a priority to be a team player. But despite this, it’s your other colleagues who are getting all the plaudits and promotions.

There are a few reasons why this happens. One can be that those same colleagues are just really good at self-promotion. They make sure that the boss knows what they’re working on, when they’re working on it, and how amazingly well it has turned out.

You may have a different approach, preferring to simply do your work without blowing your own trumpet, trusting that leadership will see your achievements regardless. Or you may excel at what are often called ‘invisible skills’. These are things like curiosity, empathy and compassion, or emotional intelligence, for example.

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Ultimately, these soft skills are the lubricants of a happy workplace, but they’re hard to set KPIs against, and therefore your boss may find these contributions much harder to place a value on.

Remote work invisibility

Another factor that may be creating a barrier of invisibility is that of remote work. When WFH became popular during the Covid-19 pandemic, it brought with it both pros and cons. Workers tended to like the flexibility it offered, as well as the savings from the reduction in cash-grabbing commute, lunch and cheeky post-work pint costs.

Remote work suits many people, notably women and care-givers, as well as the sort of employee who enjoys the focus it offers for ploughing through their tasks with minimal distractions.

The biggest downside of remote work, however, is that many workers began to feel invisible, and outside of scheduled meetings, had little to no interaction with colleagues or their managers.

This has given rise to what’s called ‘proximity bias’. It is a very real workplace phenomenon where people in positions of power––aka your boss––may give those who they see more often preferential treatment.

So if you’re fully remote or only in the office for important meetings, proximity bias in action may mean that your manager overlooks you for new tasks or projects, simply because you’re not sitting right in front of them.

Ultimately, it stems from an often-held assumption people in the office are more productive than those who work remotely. This isn’t necessarily true, but as more and more companies are issuing full return to the office mandates to their staff, it is becoming increasingly accepted as fact.

Some companies are even telling their employees that they won’t be in line for promotions if they want to remain fully remote. Even if your company hasn’t issued such a memo, visibility is important, because it matters that your boss understands and appreciates the value that you bring.

Given all that, is there anything you can do as a remote worker to shed that cloak of invisibility?

Turn your camera on

Sounds simple, but can be transformative. Depending on your company’s working culture, it can be the done thing to sit in remote meetings looking at a wall of black tiles, simply because no one turns their camera on.

As a result, you may feel a greater sense of distance from your colleagues, and they from you. Not only can you not put a face to a name, you’ve got no real connection to the people you work with, so one easy solution is to turn your own camera on. After all, if you’re one of few people in meetings who is always visible, you’re much more likely to be remembered.

Make sure you interact

Having your camera on is a starting point, but interacting in meetings is equally as important. We all have that colleague who sits mute on team calls, only piping up at the end to say ‘nothing more from me, thanks’, as a way to garner visibility.

But this isn’t going to win you any fans, or recognition. While it matters to speak up, it’s key to only do so when you can add something valuable to the conversation or can offer a solution to an issue, for example. Un-muting yourself to parrot someone else or to say ‘I agree with Dave’s point’ isn’t going to get you where you need to be.

Send daily or weekly updates

Take a leaf out of your colleagues’ self-promotion playbooks and make sure that your manager is fully aware and informed of what you’re working on, the state of play with each of your tasks, as well as your successes and achievements.

You can send a daily email with a bulleted list, or you may prefer to send a larger update on a Friday so they can see everything you’ve achieved over the week.

Ask for a regular 1:1

One of the downsides of WFH can be a lack of access to managers and senior leaders. A solution to this form of invisibility is to ask for a scheduled one-to-one chat with your manager that happens on a set day and time each week.

In this call, you’ll be able to take advantage of focused time to explain what you’re doing, ask questions, and get support. And crucially, your boss can’t just forget about you.

Do dual promotion

Lastly, many people find it difficult to talk themselves or their achievements up, worrying that it will make them seem arrogant or braggy. But there’s a clever way around this, and it is to call out the achievements of your team members or those who you’re working on specific tasks with.

Known as ‘dual promotion’, by using company channels or your professional social media account, you can compliment a colleague on a job well done, with the aim of sparking some similar appreciation for yourself to boot.

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