How to Get Promoted While Working From Home

how to get promoted while working from home

How has working from home changed your life? Sure, you no longer have a commute, but now you are at work 24 hours a day, literally. It’s easy to feel disconnected and invisible in some ways while working from home. If you went to an office full-time pre-pandemic, then your life changed drastically during the pandemic. Finding your groove while working from home also means continuing to advance your career. The trajectory of your career didn’t stop because the pandemic hit.

If you think about it, working from home has completely leveled the playing field. No longer does anyone know you were the first one in the office or the last one out of the office. The smoke and mirrors have been taken away and finding out what value everyone adds is front and center. It comes down to staying relevant at work, you can read my full post about that here.

8 Tips on How To Get Promoted While Working From Home

Even though your working environment has changed your work ethic hasn’t. Moving your career forward is just as important now as it was pre-pandemic. And to be blunt, the pandemic has either made you or broken you. The pandemic has really showed how individuals handle change, stress, and adversity. And for those who handled it well, the following are my tips on how to get promoted while working from home.

Set Your Intentions

Whether you are working from home or in the office you should always be clear with your manager on what your career goals are. Whether you want to be promoted this year or the following year, let your manager know. Together you can work on a plan to achieve your goal and make tweaks along the way.

Write It Down, Often

Keep a running list of your accomplishments and add to it monthly. Use this document as a road map to guide your conversations with your manager about moving forward. And while it might sound like overkill, keep in mind time moves quickly and you can easily forget everything you’ve accomplished.

Raise Your Hand

Always put your hand up for a project or extra work. No, this isn’t sucking up to the boss, it’s showing your commitment to your team. While you need to do your job first, you also need to contribute to the team’s overall goals. Partaking in extra projects that come along provides you experience, exposure and extra credit.

Check In Frequently

If you don’t have regular catch ups with your manager you need to start having them. You know the saying “out of sight out of mind?” Well it’s true. So stay in front of your manager. And when you schedule those catch ups, make them via video.

Connect Outside of Your Team

You need to continue to connect with colleagues outside of your immediate team. In the office you can catch up and talk shop with others in the break room, kitchen, or at their desk. While at home you need to make a conscious effort to stay connected. Pick up the phone and talk to them, move away from messaging and email to keep the personal connection alive.

Value Add

Be thoughtful in how you add value. Don’t talk just to talk, speak up when you have something important and additive to contribute. Be a good source of value to your team and other departments.

Get Aligned

Things are moving very quickly these days and that includes your company’s goals. Be sure to stay aligned with your firm’s goal and your managers. When things shift you may need to adapt to those changes as well.

Stay Current

Adopt the latest technology your company has to offer. Participate in group chats, video chats and anything additional your employer is offering. It’s easy when you are in the office to pop around and connect with colleagues. You need to get creative in the virtual world to create the same connections.