How to spot good work nobody is talking about
Some of the most useful work on a team is easy to miss. Reviewing other people's work, answering questions and fixing small things rarely gets a mention in a meeting.
What you can notice yourself
- Who reviews the most work for others.
- Who answers questions in team channels, often before you see them.
- Who has done much more than usual for a week or two.
- Who has not been thanked in public for a while.
What to do
- Thank them in the team channel, and say what they did.
- Be specific. "Thanks for reviewing everyone's work while we were short" says more than "great job".
- Mention it again when you talk with them about their growth.
What to avoid
- Do not save all your thanks for the yearly review.
Guides on this
- Quiet quitting: the signs, and what to do
What quiet quitting looks like on a team, how it differs from a quiet week, and how a manager can respond without blame.
- Employee recognition: how to thank good work
Employee recognition that costs nothing: how to notice the work that deserves thanks, how to say it so it lands, and ideas to make sure nobody is missed.
- How to tell if an employee is disengaged
What disengaged looks like day to day, how it differs from a bad week, and how a manager can find the reason and respond without blame.
- Bus factor: how to find it and raise it
Your bus factor is how many people could leave before work stops. How to find the one person your team relies on, and how to spread what they know.
- Performance review examples for managers
Performance review examples you can adapt for results, teamwork, growth and problems, a short template, and how to write a fair review from facts.
Related signals
- How to tell if a team member is overloaded
Someone is working too much.
- When an employee goes quiet: what to look for
Someone is much quieter than usual.
- How to tell if someone on your team is blocked
Someone is stuck waiting on a teammate.
- Are you giving one person less of your time?
One person gets much less of your time than the others.
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