Glue work is an amazing influence builder for Juniors because very few people will show up for it and take the initiative. Leaders will remember that you did.
But this is not exclusive to glue work. In my experience, if some work's considered ”meh”, test refactoring, for example, just do it. Those lines were unchanged for 5 years because it's that ”meh” code nobody wanted to do, and that will end up for a review in a senior colleague's inbox.
Very much agree, I felt this myself on side projects as a new grad. One teammate did sloppy work, didn't do the bare minimum of testing his code which didn't work, so I thought less of him. Another did high quality work, making a detailed diagram I had not asked him to, and I thought highly of him.
Fantastic post, Fran. I recently joined a startup and that brings opportunities to thrive in ambiguity, lead projects end-to-end, and becoming a domain expert.
There are other layers like you’ve mentioned, that I can use to gain influence: documentation for example, which can always be better and would save engineers time.
I am going to be applying myself in the coming months, and looking forward to progressing further.
First of all, congrats on your new job! I'm sure it will be a great learning experience.
I'm doing this myself and I wanted to write about it to revisit this a few months later.
Becoming the person who knows the systems is not learning and hiding the knowledge, but sharing it so others realize that you are actually the guy knowing the systems.
Your examples of good glue work is spot on. I would say your post is also valid for newcomers, despite the level of seniority. Even with experienced staff, when joining a new project, can be challenging to find their space on the team.
Great point about the difference between bad and good glue work. Junior engineers often want to be useful, and spend their time on the wrong 'useful' tasks.
I remember I had a sticky note of "no glue work" when I started as a new grad.
Later I found that just coding more tasks was not giving me more influence. And found that I like getting the big picture to know why I'm doing things and propose alternatives.
Glue work is an amazing influence builder for Juniors because very few people will show up for it and take the initiative. Leaders will remember that you did.
But this is not exclusive to glue work. In my experience, if some work's considered ”meh”, test refactoring, for example, just do it. Those lines were unchanged for 5 years because it's that ”meh” code nobody wanted to do, and that will end up for a review in a senior colleague's inbox.
I bet they'll remember your name.
I appreciate the mention, Fran! 🙇♂️
Absolutely.
I think we all notice when someone does the bare minimum and when someone delivers more than expected.
That creates a halo effect of influence and good reputation around this person
Very much agree, I felt this myself on side projects as a new grad. One teammate did sloppy work, didn't do the bare minimum of testing his code which didn't work, so I thought less of him. Another did high quality work, making a detailed diagram I had not asked him to, and I thought highly of him.
Fantastic post, Fran. I recently joined a startup and that brings opportunities to thrive in ambiguity, lead projects end-to-end, and becoming a domain expert.
There are other layers like you’ve mentioned, that I can use to gain influence: documentation for example, which can always be better and would save engineers time.
I am going to be applying myself in the coming months, and looking forward to progressing further.
Thanks for your kind words, Kehinde.
First of all, congrats on your new job! I'm sure it will be a great learning experience.
I'm doing this myself and I wanted to write about it to revisit this a few months later.
Becoming the person who knows the systems is not learning and hiding the knowledge, but sharing it so others realize that you are actually the guy knowing the systems.
Your examples of good glue work is spot on. I would say your post is also valid for newcomers, despite the level of seniority. Even with experienced staff, when joining a new project, can be challenging to find their space on the team.
Absolutely. Thanks for your kind words, Artur.
In fact, I wrote this because I'm onboarding in a new team, and I'm applying the same principles
Great advice.
It's crucial to make your work visible, and focus on being a 'go-to' person by widening your knowledge of the systems.
This opens a huge door of opportunities. With opportunities comes growth, recognition and bigger pay!
Thank you for sharing this, Fran!
Exactly, being useful to others opens opportunities!
Great point about the difference between bad and good glue work. Junior engineers often want to be useful, and spend their time on the wrong 'useful' tasks.
Thanks, Anton.
I remember I had a sticky note of "no glue work" when I started as a new grad.
Later I found that just coding more tasks was not giving me more influence. And found that I like getting the big picture to know why I'm doing things and propose alternatives.