On being visible, not noisy

Why being heard matters more than being loud

Bueller? Bueller?

Dear Dave,

It’s that magical time of the fiscal year: performance review season (for us at least!). Managers’ calendars are covered in hours-long blocks to calibrate, while everyone otherwise mostly forgets what happened last year so they can start this one!

Lately I’ve been asked frequently about a hot performance season topic: visibility.

Say it with me: 👏 visibility is important! 👏 But also: 👏 noise is unproductive! 👏 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times: both these things are true.

So how many times exactly must one post on Slack in order to have their work be visible? How many all-hands must you share in, or workshops must you run?

I wish I could tell you the answer is 17. But alas, that’s just my remaining number of brain cells after a calendar-jammed calibration week.

The good news is that the answer is likely fewer times than you think. But we first must ask some different questions: why are you sharing what you’re sharing? What outcome are you trying to influence, whether personally or for the product?

And then: who can help make that outcome happen?

For example, since we’re in performance season, let’s say the outcome you want is to demonstrate your or your report’s readiness for promotion. You would benefit from identifying: who, specifically, makes decisions about your team’s growth? Who, specifically, would make a strong endorsement of their growth, or your own? These are great questions for your manager, and their manager, too.

Now we have an objective and a specific audience in mind for our content (sound familiar, designers?). You may still cross-post into oblivion to catch their eyes, but remember: visibility isn’t won by volume. By being everywhere, you get drowned out in the noise, because you are the noise. Instead, by determining who specifically needs to know what you have to say, you can make sure you’re visible to the people who can influence the outcomes you’re sharing for.

Build your Need to Know List, and make sure that the people on it not only see the message, but hear it — whether that’s by setting up time to show them your work, checking in with them for feedback after you share it publicly, or having your manager shine a light on it themselves.

On that note, as people leaders, our side of the bargain when it comes to visibility for our teams is to identify the right message to share to the right people at the right times. This takes forethought, and plenty of diplomacy — and there’s no need to keep that a secret from our teams. Let them in on your strategy so they can see you follow through, and more importantly, so they can model your approach.

As with many things, what separates true visibility from noisiness is being intentional with the noise you make.

From under a pile of surely equally important Slack notifications,

Danielle

P.S. Thanks for reading our first ever letter! Next week, Dave writes.