You might be part of the 74% of U.S. workers who are now working in a hybrid model – some days in the office, some days from home. In the past, working in one space gave you a sense of certainty, you knew how you planned your day, and you were also visible to those that could be helpful to your career advancement. If you are now working hybrid, how do you stay productive when working between two spaces and how do you stay relevant and visible to stay top of mind for advancement opportunities? Here are seven ways you can stay productive and relevant in a hybrid work environment: 

 

1. Be prepared

Be sure you have all the tools you need to go seamlessly from the corp office to the home office. Do you have all of the tools you will need to do your job effectively? Things like, laptop and cell phone chargers and the like. You may now be in a “hot-desk” type situation where you don’t have a permanent location in the corporate office any longer.  Best to make sure you have everything packed up the night before. Use a checklist to be sure you don’t forget anything.

 

2. Use your time in the office wisely

Anytime you are back in the office is a time to be seen. As we move more and more to remote work, those casual conversations that used to happen as you walk to meetings or bump into your manager in the break room are no longer. When you know you will definitely be in the office, think through who you might want to meet with – and message them prior, find out who will be in when and set up some facetime. Human to human interaction is something that cannot be replaced completely with virtual tools. 

 

3. Organize your tasks

What tasks do you need to do from the office and what can you do more productively at home? Perhaps you are in HR and the planning of hires can be done in the office but interviewing is better done at home where it may be more private. 

 

4. Share your successes

Don’t assume that your manager knows the full scope of your work, much less the results you’re producing. Share your successes consistently by sending an email each Friday with a brief summary of the week’s work along with 1-2 successes. This gives your manager a simple report and gives you a tracking system to refer back to when completing your annual review. When you have a 1:1 with your manager (and if you don’t have one you should weekly), make sure to have a clear agenda and include your successes in this as well as what you think they could do to help you improve.

 

5. Connect outside the group

It’s important to stay top-of-mind with your manager and to network with your peers, but they’re not the only influencers when it comes to your advancement.  Make it a goal a minimum of once per month to schedule a coffee chat or lunch meeting with someone outside of the group, such as a lead on another team or a manager of a different department.

 

6. Find other ways to get involved

We are all busy but a great way to get more visibility in your organization as a remote or hybrid team member is to get involved in something like an ERG (Employee Resource Group) or other types of opportunities that your employer may offer. If they have a mentoring program, register as a mentee AND a mentor if you can. This way you can give back as a mentor for others and also get the benefit of a mentoring program. 

 

7. Invest in your learning

With time saved from no longer commuting into the office each day, reinvest that time into yourself.  Read more, take online courses, and increase your personal development skills. Not only should you share your learnings with your manager, but find ways to incorporate these new skills into your work or leverage them to take on a new project or be part of a high-visibility task force.

 

By incorporating these tips, not only will you proactively capitalize on your time in the office, but you may discover even greater opportunities to be more visible and productive while working from home.

 

This article was written in partnership with getWise - a technology platform that provides on-demand expert advice for small businesses and women to accelerate their business or career. 

Colleen's getWise profile