Your work… Does NOT speak for itself
A common misconception that a lot of Software Developers have! This belief that somehow just writing amazing code will get them noticed and lead to raises and promotions. Except… It’s not gonna happen.
*** Check out the video I made for this article: https://youtu.be/T1w29ooOd8c ***
If the work did speak for itself, my husband would sing praises about everything I do in our house. Yet, somehow, I find myself very often pointing to the things I did, so he actually would notice.
Yes, he loves and appreciates me, BUT… he also has a completely different set of daily tasks and priorities on his plate every day, and so his attention is directed elsewhere.
His attention is not 100% devoted to what his wife does all day long, and that’s why he might miss some of the valuable stuff I do.
The exact same thing happens at work.
Have you refactored a piece of code lately and thus contributed to saving 20 minutes of your coworkers’ time? Great! Now, tell your manager about it.
Have you taken up 3 extra items from the backlog and your team will deliver more points this sprint? Woohoo! Make sure you get credit for that.
You see your coworkers and manager, just like my husband, have their own set of daily priorities and all the valuable stuff you do, well… they may not notice, since their attention is directed elsewhere. Not on the work you do, but on the tasks they are dealing with.
That’s why the work doesn’t speak for itself. Instead, you gotta learn how to toot your own horn and educate your coworkers on all the great contributions you have provided to the team.
One way of making sure you have your contributions handy is keeping a list. A simple folder/file with all the accomplishments measured and saved, so when it comes to your yearly review, you have evidence of doing an excellent job (and proof you deserve that raise that comes with a glowing review!)
If getting praised at work doesn’t naturally happen for you, and you can’t quite understand why — let’s jump on a call (you can schedule one here: https://www.themindfuldev.com/get-in-touch). I’ll be happy to help you figure out how you can communicate more effectively and make sure that people you work with, actually notice your contributions.
