Working outside traditional offices becomes a growing trend in today’s professional environment. Widespread availability of VPN, remote desktops, common Internet access, cheap phones and VoIP made working from home, hotel room or cafe on the corner not only possible, but just as efficient as staying at the office. Yet, even if remote work quality remains high and physical presence at your downtown office requires time consuming and exhausting commute, it has its benefits. A recent study done by Daniel Cable of the London Business School and published in MIT Sloan Management Review proved that being present at the office increases your chances of promotion.
Visibility=Value
As evolutionary explanations, historical references and cultural convictions may prove, the hard fact is this: the more visible an employee is the more value he or she seems to have for his managers. This belief has nothing to do with actual quality of employee’s work. It is based purely on subconscious beliefs that go far beyond what people control. Being present creates an illusion of dedication, dependability and industriousness. And this illusion is created purely by presence; one may lark around on Facebook for most of his time, but is visible and this fact alone is sufficient to create positive associations in manager’s mind. Showing up at the office has additional benefit: socializing. It is easy to engage in small talk in the corridor or during lunch. Small talks leads to closer personal bonds with other workers and “nice guys” are more likely to be promoted in comparison to someone you only have professional ties with.
Invisibility=Unknown
And when you are not in the office? Who knows what you actually do? Yes, you send your reports, your analysis are perfect, you show up on every single conference call on time. Good. But maybe you create all the results in 5 minutes a day and then you go on a nice trip, or have a dinner, or go to the movies? Absurd, but since no one sees you working – maybe you do not work? Remote employees can’t have their daily portion of chitchat with their office colleagues, can’t compliment their boss on his new suit or car. And even if employee tracking system can prove every single minute spent on company tasks someone deciding on future promotion can pose a question: who is this someone I hardly ever get to see? Is he nice? Is he cooperative? Is he friendly? Will I grant him a promotion with so many unknowns?
Tackling the superstitions
I doubt existing mind setup of managers around the world can be changed, so it is better to accept and utilize it rather than be passive about it. To put it simple: create an impression of visibility.
Use your company’s staff tracking system. If the company has its own online messenger which shows your status – be present virtually. If you work remotely because you are a freelancer or a contractor bill your time with company’s invoicing software. Plan online meetings or phone calls early or late proving your ‘virtual office hours’ are just as long as they are for everybody else. Don’t hesitate to use real time task tracking software which, later on, will provide hard facts about time you’ve spent on company issues. Web-based time tracker may help you share your current activity with whoever might be interested. Do this even if the company has some periodically reviewed time sheets, you’d be better off recording your engagement twice than leaving any uncertainty about it.
Last, but not least: show up in physical office from time to time. It will help you create personal bonds with other employees and your managers. People will recognize your face and link it to the voice they heard, informative emails, catchy presentations, deep analysis you provided. But even showing up at the office may be done in a smart or less than smart way. Visit your manager on Monday or Friday. It’ll indicate that your weekends are not extended to 3 or 4 days.
All of the above advices may seem like little games that do not belong to professional environment. This is not true. What all of these activities try to achieve is overcoming undeserved penalties remote workers face simply because they do their job away from physical offices of the company. It would not be fair to allow anyone to underestimate you only because they can’t see you! You can act and you should act to be treated equally!
