Staying visible at work

Do you feel that your competence, skills, potential, hard work, and inventiveness are going invisible at work? Do you think others with less input have been rewarded handsomely? Then it's time to get noticed at work.
It does not mean that you should get busy advertising yourself needlessly. This would only make you unpopular if there is no substance behind your publicity. You need to get noticed by indicating that you have contributed and that you are ready to contribute more in responsible ways.

Here are few questions that will let know if you need to get noticed at work or not:
1. Do you think that your great ideas just seem insignificant when offered to your superior or in a meeting?
2. Do you feel shy to speak up or share your good ideas in front of your superiors or others?
3. Are you conservative to make friends, particularly in working place?
4. Have your other colleagues of equal talent in the same role gone up on the corporate ladder much faster than you?

If all your answers are “Yes”, then you have probably not mastered the fine art of increasing your visibility showing the importance of your value and the value you add at your workplace.
Let's look at some tips that you can use to get noticed in the workplace.

Beep your own horn. Seriously
Going the extra mile is great, but it is significantly less great if no one knows about it. How can you politely spread the word about your accomplishment without sounding cocky? Well, you may send an email thanking everyone for their work on your project, and make sure to cc or direct the email to leadership. It's the smart way of letting everyone know that it was your project and you were driving the success of the project.

Communicate effectively
Remember that this is not just about how you talk only, your body language and dialogue should reflect a confident you. Speak up concisely and clearly. People would not take you seriously if you act or talk like a comedian always or someone who is unsure or scare. There is nothing wrong with jokes that can lighten up the mood. However, know the limit and never over-do it. Be serious when situation requires. Have a rational and strong opinion and share it with everyone.

Speak up at meetings
Many of us spend hours in meetings with our colleagues, typically lamenting over the time lost. Rather than focusing on the 'wasted time' that could be used doing 'productive work', make an effort to get fully engaged in the meeting, ask questions, offer alternative solutions, and volunteer to take on assignments. Contribute to the meeting by throwing in words, if not questions. It's a smart way of getting noticed by your superiors. Just be careful about not asking too many questions. You don't want the “question nerd” tag!

Volunteer for new assignments or responsibilities
Volunteering for new assignments, projects or responsibilities can expand your skills and develop your leadership capabilities – it will also increase the number of people with whom you interact, so they can see how talented you are. This doesn't mean that you should overwork yourself! But if you see a new project or role that will help you expand your skills, take advantage of it. Do this, particularly if it's one that has high visibility within the organization, or has a significant impact on the bottom line.
Challenge old-school ideas
Playing it too safe at work will make it more difficult to get noticed.   If you are looking to advance in your career and develop as a leader, it is imperative that you continuously test your ideas and ideals.  You need to know how your talents best fit within the organization.  It's healthy to challenge the old ways of doing things with the intention of making things better, creating new ways of generating results and improving everyone's performance.

Make your presence felt at every opportunity
Be very visible at work, meetings, and at important functions and be available when your colleagues or boss needs you. Don't just keep an act of busy working; inculcate the habit of adding value as well. If someone needs a favor, see if you can help. Even if you can't, try to be there for the person as much as possible.

Care about people
Genuine caring cannot be faked, and it goes a really long way towards building real relationships and reliance. To do that, have a few non-work conversations every day with your co-workers, and also try and grab coffee or lunch with someone new each week.  It'll do wonders for your set of connections. Increase your in-house network so more people will think of you if and when opportunities arise.
It needs to be remembered that being invisible in the work place has its attractions, but also makes it easier to disappear permanently when the company downsizes. Trying a few of the above suggestions will get you noticed at work. While you're doing this, make sure that you continue to do the core parts of your job well. If you fail to do this, you'll get noticed but for all the wrong reasons!

The writer is the Head of HR & Admin at Grameen Telecom Trust.