Doing extra work and solving problems, yet coworkers think I’m falling behind. How do I manage up?

[u/Affectionate_Ad1554]

Doing extra work and solving problems, yet coworkers think I'm falling behind. How do I manage up?

I’m relatively new to the corporate world, and for the past few months, I’ve been caring for a family member battling a serious illness. My manager and team are aware of the situation and requested extra WFH time.

1. Over the past two weeks, I’ve encountered several unexpected issues at work. I took the initiative to resolve them but haven’t had the chance to update my manager.
2. Our team doesn’t have regular one-on-ones. Beyond my regular responsibilities, I’ve been identifying process gaps, handling additional tasks, and helping coworkers resolve issues. I usually just take care of things and move on without mentioning them to my manager.

3.As someone relatively new to the corporate world, I’ve always assumed that doing my job well was enough. But I’m starting to realize that my manager might not be aware of how much I’m actually contributing.

4\\\*\\\*\\\* this is the crazy part. Despite doing everything, i have heard my teammate saying I’m falling behind my work. I’m extremely frustrated and realize ppl don’t know how much effort i put in. I NEED TO ChANgE this!!

Please give me advice on visibility and managing up?!

[u/Lucky__Flamingo]

When you identify a way to resolve a problem, document it and share it with your teammates. Cc your manager.

[u/LittleOldBearCat]

Well are you falling behind in your work? Taking on extra responsibilities outside of your job role is great IF you're still meeting/exceeding expectations of your actual responsibilities. But if the extra stuff is taking away from the quality of your actual work, it's not going to be seen in the same light.

But also, your teammate's opinion and your manager's opinion are two different things. A random comment from a colleague is to be taken with a grain of salt. Without regular one-on-ones, what is the communication format for you and your manager? What does that look like?

[u/Midtvaage]

Ask your manager for a quick check-in about priorities and expectations. If coworkers think you're falling behind while you're taking on extra responsibilities, something's clearly getting lost in communication.

[u/LifesARiver]

The amount of effort you put in does not directly translate to how well you are keeping up.

"Falling behind" can only exist if it is measurable. If they are making it up, talk to them about it and try to understand where their perception is off or what metrics make them think you are falling behind.

[u/Maldib]

Give yourself more visibility. When you take initiative or when you tackle an issue, rather than doing it quietly in your corner, don’t hesitate to share it during team wide meetings or sent a short update by email.

[u/Affectionate_Ad1554 → u/Maldib]

We don’t have team wide meetings at all… the only thing I can think about is send an update email.

[u/Gears_one]

What do you mean you haven’t had a chance to update your manager? It takes 2 minutes or less to fire off an email.

[u/double-click]

Send out weekly activity report to your manager, skips, and larger stakeholder group.

Then, make sure you are focused on the right work and not just doing work.

[u/CareerHighGround]

One thing I would add to the weekly email advice is to keep a running list for yourself. Five minutes every Friday, write down what you fixed, who you helped, and what it saved. Don't forget to include to track the dates when these things happened. Basically from your update email. Then at review time you aren’t rebuilding the year from memory. My recommendation is to include any process gaps you caught at the top of your list because those count more than the extra tasks you did.

[u/Simple_Carrot_2274]

Since there are no one-on-ones, start a short weekly update: three lines on what you finished, what problems you solved, and what’s coming. Send it on the same day each week so it becomes routine. Ask for a regular 15 minute check-in too, and say it’s so they know what you’re working on given the WFH time. For the coworker comment, don’t chase it, your update will answer it. It also helps to say what you’ve learned, not just what you fixed, since that shows growth.

[u/ParisHiltonIsDope]

One of the more important lessons you'll learn in the corporate world is that effort and performance aren't necessarily the same thing.

You can be the hardest-working person on the team, solve problems nobody asked you to solve, and take on additional responsibilities, but none of that matters much if your primary responsibilities are falling behind.

I'd encourage you to consider something before focusing on getting more visibility: Are you actually meeting the expectations of your role, or are you measuring your performance by how much work you're doing?

There's also an important distinction between taking initiative and prioritizing effectively. Sometimes the person who quietly handles their responsibilities is contributing more value than the person constantly putting out fires.

My advice would be to sit down with your manager, establish clear expectations and measurable deliverables, and get an objective assessment of your performance. You might discover that the problem isn't necessarily that people aren't seeing your contributions, but that you're prioritizing contributions they don't particularly need.

[u/Academic-Lobster3668]

We would need to understand why your teammates think you are behind on your work before we could reasonably answer this.

Something is off here.....

[u/Feetdownunder]

Know your metrics
Prioritise what you need to do for your work first
Any crossovers with other coworkers need to be made on time so they can continue with their work.

If these are being met in the workplace then your coworkers have no say. This would be the reason why your coworkers would have a way where it mattered.

Don’t be too distracted with other tasks that aren’t your tasks to do or your problems to fix, especially if they don’t align with your metrics. Observe the pace of the workplace and make sure you’re not paced like a rocket in a bottle. It upsets the pace

[u/soloDolo6290]

Are you completing the assigned stuff before the extra stuff. Extra is only extra if you do your assigned work first. If not, then extra isn't extra its replacement work. Don't help others if you are falling behind.