Advancing Your Career in a Remote Work Environment

The 2020 pandemic created new opportunities for remote work for many employees who had previously never had this option. Working remotely offers a wide variety of benefits but also presents some unique challenges when it comes to career advancement. When teams and leaders aren’t in the same physical space, staying visible and connected (two requirements for advancement) can be more difficult—but certainly not impossible. With the right strategies, you can still grow your career even when working remotely or in a hybrid capacity.

Understanding the Challenges

With limited face-to-face interaction, building relationships in a remote environment usually means you need to be more deliberate in your approach. You can’t just rely on spontaneous breakroom conversations and hallway chit-chats to make connections.

Further, working remotely increases the chances of miscommunication and delayed communication. You can’t just pop into someone’s office for a quick question or knock on their cubicle wall. Again, you have to be more intentional.

The reduced visibility of remote work also means that you may struggle to get the recognition you deserve. After all, if no one is there to physically witness your achievements, they may go unnoticed. The responsibility falls on you to make sure you’re highlighting your contributions and making them visible even for those who can’t physically see them.

All of these things can make it harder to advance your career when the time comes. If you’re working in a remote or hybrid capacity, the following strategies will help you stay visible and position yourself for advancement.

Strategies for Career Advancement

• Build Intentional Communication Structures

As a remote employee, responsiveness is your greatest asset. Be quick to respond to emails and phone calls. The more people have to wait to hear back from you, the more they will detach and work around you in the future—and that’s a recipe for irrelevance. It should be easy and fast for people to reach you during regular business hours.

It also helps to schedule regular one-on-one meetings with your leaders and key team members. This gives you ample opportunity to stay connected, update one another on progress, and continue building rapport. Video meetings are the best option since they allow you to see facial expressions and body language.

Lastly, share your successes with the team on a regular basis. If you’re not yet tracking your accomplishments, now is the time to start. Keep a comprehensive list of your contributions so you’re prepared to talk about them when the opportunity arises. And don’t be shy about sharing these things! In some cases, it may be smart to send a regular “report” or debrief document to highlight the work you’ve been doing. Remember that remote work can easily get hidden so it’s up to you to make it visible to those who need to know.

• Stay Visible and Engaged

Visibility is a physical sense—when you’re not literally, physically visible, it’s easy to forget you’re there. “Out of sight, out of mind.” For this reason, as a remote employee, you want to take every opportunity to be seen. That means doing simple things like turning your camera on in meetings. Don’t hide behind your computer screen. The more people SEE you, the better.

Likewise, you also want to participate actively in virtual meetings. Don’t just observe. Ask questions, offer insights and volunteer for tasks during team calls. Active participation shows leadership and initiative—and demonstrates that you’re still a fully engaged part of the team, even from a distance.

Beyond virtual meetings, you can also use other, internal collaboration platforms, like chat groups or forums, to share ideas and updates and continue building relationships.

You may also want to consider volunteering for projects beyond your immediate team so you can increase your visibility with a wider group of people and build cross-functional relationships.

• Cultivate a Strong Remote Work Routine

For some, remote work can be a challenge to maintain focus and productivity—for others, it can be an invitation to overwork, since there are no clear “end of day” indicators like in the physical office. Either situation sets you up for problems, especially if your aim is to advance your career.

Be sure to set up a dedicated workspace, away from your home life if possible, and maintain a consistent work schedule. Regular hours make it easier for people to connect with you and help you to maintain work-life balance. Taking regular breaks throughout the day, just as you would in a traditional office, can also help to avoid burnout when working remotely.

While it’s much easier when you’re not in the office to dress casually and fall into unprofessional habits, this kind of behavior can negatively impact your mindset and interactions. Treat your work and how you show up for it as seriously as you would in a standard work environment.

• Invest in Professional Development

This final tip is true for all professionals regardless of environment. There’s no better way to prepare yourself for advancement than by honing your professional skills. There are countless ways to engage in professional development—through traditional learning activities, stretch assignments or mentorship, for example. Find the right programs and resources that focus on the skills you care most about and align with your career goals.

Finally, consider sharing your career advancement goals with your manager and ask for their support and feedback—but use your discretion. Not all managers are interested in helping their staff grow, though many are. A supportive manager can help you focus your development efforts on the right things and possibly open doors for you in the future.

Advancing your career in a remote work environment requires many of the same strategies you would use in an in-person environment. You want to build strong connections, demonstrate your value, and stay top-of-mind when opportunities arise. The trick for remote employees is that you have to be a little more thoughtful in how you do these things. By leveraging technology and being intentional about your interactions and visibility, you can overcome the challenges of distance and position yourself for growth.

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