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TIL, the hard way, about visibility at work
It's not enough to actually get work done, people (your manager & peers) need to see you doing it. Or see evidence that you're doing it.
If no one sees your work, it doesn't count. And you might even be punished for that.
It's not enough to actually get work done, people (your manager & peers) need to see you doing it. Or see evidence that you're doing it.
If no one sees your work, it doesn't count. And you might even be punished for that.
Had a conversation with my manager today about bi-yearly review feedback. And I realized that his perception of my performance only went up when my work started becoming more visible.
Which happened to be around the time when I shipped a thing I'd been working on for a while
Which happened to be around the time when I shipped a thing I'd been working on for a while
And by "a while", I mean, we (me, designer, PM) started talking about it in July. And then there was some related tech debt I wanted to take care of before working on the feature. And then I wrote a tech spec, and then I started working on the thing...
I guess for a lot of that time, from July to Nov, because my work wasn't very "loud", my manager just...didn't notice it?
But then around shipping time, I had to do things like coordinating with other teams, merging a bunch of PRs at once, etc, that made my work more visible
But then around shipping time, I had to do things like coordinating with other teams, merging a bunch of PRs at once, etc, that made my work more visible
We work remotely. He can't see what I'm doing on a day to day basis. I get that
But it's frustrating to be told "your performance was a bit shaky until around the time you shipped the thing"
It's like no, I've been doing fine. YOU just didn't see that, until I shipped the thing
But it's frustrating to be told "your performance was a bit shaky until around the time you shipped the thing"
It's like no, I've been doing fine. YOU just didn't see that, until I shipped the thing
Idk, I guess every time I accomplish a task, I should perform an interpretive dance related to what I did, get it on video, and post that to my team's Slack channel? Will that help people remember what I do? lol
I'll do it too. I love dancing.
Also I do generally like my manager, please don't drag him 
(ok you can drag him a little bit)
(ok you can drag him a little bit)
For those asking about daily stand ups, check ins, etc.
When I say "visibility" I mean more than just what tasks I'm working on. Because my manager definitely knows what I'm working on. Explained more in this thread. https://twitter.com/KeziyahL/status/1337153253428047872
When I say "visibility" I mean more than just what tasks I'm working on. Because my manager definitely knows what I'm working on. Explained more in this thread. https://twitter.com/KeziyahL/status/1337153253428047872
It's one thing for work to be visible. Like anyone can go onto our task manager and see what I've done.
But another thing is: did my working on these tasks change my manager's perception of me as someone who wasn't performing well?
It did, but only at the end of my project
But another thing is: did my working on these tasks change my manager's perception of me as someone who wasn't performing well?
It did, but only at the end of my project
Ok so maybe I'm talking about visibility AND something else entirely...
And since other people are asking...we have been having conversations about performance for a while. I did have some things we both agreed that I should work on, and we've been talking about it.
(There's more to the story but idk if I should put my job on blast lmao)
(There's more to the story but idk if I should put my job on blast lmao)
I was thinking about quitting my job in mid/late Oct, weeks before my feature shipped. I was overworking myself, had high anxiety, & was losing sleep.
So the implication that my work wasn't good enough (or wasn't seen) stings more for that reason https://twitter.com/KeziyahL/status/1321401500929851392
So the implication that my work wasn't good enough (or wasn't seen) stings more for that reason https://twitter.com/KeziyahL/status/1321401500929851392
This is good. I should do this. And aggressively shove it in my manager's face every chance I get. Like "DO YOU SEE MY WORK NOW, MOTHERFUCKER? DO YOU???"
Lmao I'm just kidding. Kind of. https://twitter.com/KatieFujihara/status/1337178981578117121
Lmao I'm just kidding. Kind of. https://twitter.com/KatieFujihara/status/1337178981578117121
