Working From Home

 

5 Tips To Grow Professionally While Working From Home

It can seem challenging to focus on career development while working remotely. Especially during COVID-19, when you might have the kids, pets and even extended family at home vying for your attention.  Fortunately, working from home doesn’t need to hinder your professional growth  

Advocate for yourself

During this time, you may be thinking, out of sight, out of mind. Without in-person meetings, your achievements may not be as visible. Make sure the people that matter are aware of your current projects and accomplishments. In group meetings, share your team’s activities and how you have set and exceeded goals. You can also ask your manager for a performance review or an informal check-in. This approach allows you to get feedback in a structured setting and summarize what you have been working on

Keep your network alive

As the nature of work shifts, you may find yourself working with some colleagues more than others.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t keep an open dialogue with everyone. Set aside time to brainstorm ideas with other teams. Seek opportunities to give recognition to employees or co-workers who are doing great work. This can be a massive boost to your team morale and culture. Staples describes one real-life example, “On our platform, bob, we've built-in features called Kudos and Shoutouts to provide a forum for co-workers to celebrate one another. We've seen that these are huge drivers of engagement and connection amongst colleagues, and celebrating your team members in different ways shows that you are a strong and supportive manager or collaborator.” 

 

Invest in learning

One significant benefit that employees gain through working from home is that they no longer have to commute to work