How to make your good work easier to see

When I had my first performance review years back, I remember sitting there trying to piece together the year from my calendar, my inbox, and random thank-you messages I had saved from different managers.

I had done the work, but when it was time to talk about it clearly, I realized how much of it had already slipped out of view.

The big items were easier to remember. The quieter work was harder to name clearly: the issue cleaned up before it became bigger, the manager supported through a difficult conversation, the deadline protected, the process made easier, and the follow-up nobody saw because it worked.

Early in my career, I thought good work would simply be noticed, and sometimes it is. But in a large team, it is not reasonable to expect your manager to remember every win, every blocker, every thank-you message, and every piece of quiet work happening in the background. Managers are carrying their own deadlines and pressures, with several people depending on them.

You have to help them see the work.

The funny thing is that some of these habits felt like extra admin at first. The 15/5 update, for example, did not feel natural to me right away. It felt like one more thing to write.

Then it became part of my rhythm. At one point, it became one of the last things I did before closing the week: write the update, close the loop, clear my head, and leave the week in a better place.

I was surprised by how quickly the habit built itself once I could see the value.

Managing up is really about reducing ambiguity

The phrase "managing up" can sound political. Some people hear it and think it means pleasing your manager, trying to look good, or carefully managing every impression.

I use it in a much simpler way: creating enough clarity that your manager does not have to chase basic information.

Your manager should be able to understand:

• what you are working on
• what has changed
• what is at risk
• what decisions are needed
• where you need support
• where your capacity is tight
• what may need to move if new work comes in
• what progress should not be missed

This kind of visibility helps your manager support you before things become overloaded. If they know your priorities, they can help protect your time when ad hoc work starts coming from different directions.

They can also clarify expectations with you early, including how urgent something really is, how much effort it may require, and what should be paused or delayed if the work changes.

In a busy workplace, silence can be misread. A manager may assume something is fine when it is blocked, low priority when it is urgent, or simple when it is taking careful judgment behind the scenes.

A small update, sent at the right time, can prevent a lot of confusion.

When your wins stay quiet, losses can become the only things people hear.

Why 1:1s often lose their value

A 1:1 should be one of the most useful conversations between an employee and a manager.

But without preparation, it can become a live status dump. Both people try to remember what happened. The conversation jumps from one topic to another, and the urgent item gets all the attention while the quieter work gets skipped.

I do not think that happens because people do not care. It happens because memory is not a reliable planning system.

A better 1:1 starts before the meeting. The employee has a short agenda. The manager has a sense of what needs attention. The conversation can then focus on priorities, decisions, coaching, blockers, and support.

That is where the meeting becomes useful.

A simple upward-management toolkit

You only need a few repeatable tools that can be used in the right moment.

1. Weekly 15/5 update

A 15/5 update is a short written update that should take about 15 minutes to write and about 5 minutes to read.

I like the idea because it creates a healthy limit. If the update becomes too long, it loses its purpose. The point is not to write a report for the sake of reporting. The point is to give your manager enough information to understand the week without needing another meeting.

A good weekly update answers:

• What moved forward?
• What am I focused on next?
• What is blocked or at risk?
• Where is my capacity tight?
• What decision or support do I need?
• What is just an FYI?

This can be especially useful when the work is not always visible.

In HR, a lot happens in the background. You may be preparing documentation, supporting a manager, coordinating with payroll, reviewing a process, following up on a case, or preventing a small issue from becoming a larger one.

If your manager only hears about the work after it is finished, they may miss the effort and judgment it required. A weekly update also gives your manager a chance to help earlier. They may notice that your plate is too full, that a deadline needs to be moved, or that another stakeholder needs to be brought in before the work becomes harder to manage. ^[1]

Subject: Weekly update: [Your name] for [Week/date]

1. What moved forward
- [Project, task, or issue]
- [Progress made]
- [Result or current status]

2. What I am focused on next
- [Priority 1]
- [Priority 2]
- [Priority 3]

3. What is blocked, at risk, or tight
- [Blocker, risk, or capacity concern]
- [Impact if not resolved]
- [What I have already tried]
- [What may need to move if a new urgent item comes in]

4. Decisions or support needed
- [Decision or support needed]
- [By when]
- [My recommendation, if I have one]

5. FYI
- [Something my manager should know, but does not need to act on]

2. 1:1 agenda

A 1:1 agenda is one of the easiest ways to improve the quality of a manager conversation.

The agenda does not need to be formal. It just needs to stop the meeting from depending on memory.

One habit that helped me was writing down wins before the meeting, not only problems. That became especially useful before performance conversations because I had a record of what actually happened.

It is easy to remember a large project. It is harder to remember the small issue you fixed, the conversation you handled carefully, the process you improved, or the deadline you protected without making noise about it.

Those things count too.

Wins or progress
- [What went well]
- [What moved forward]
- [What I want to make sure is visible]

Current priorities
- [Priority 1]
- [Priority 2]
- [Priority 3]

Capacity
- [What is manageable]
- [What is tight]
- [What may need reprioritizing]

Blockers
- [What is stuck]
- [What I need]
- [What I have already tried]

Questions
- [Question 1]
- [Question 2]

Feedback or coaching
- [Area where I want input]
- [Decision I want to talk through]
- [Skill or situation I want to improve]

Follow-up from last time
- [Item]
- [Status]

3. Priority alignment note

Sometimes the problem is not disorganization. It is volume.

You may have several leaders asking for updates, multiple deadlines, and work that all sounds urgent. When everything is treated as equal, prioritization becomes invisible.

A priority alignment note makes the trade-offs clear.

This is useful when you need your manager to confirm where your time should go. It is also helpful when saying yes to one thing means slowing down something else.

I have found this tool useful when work starts piling up and the real question becomes, "What should come first?"

It also helps quiet work stay visible before it slips into the same pile I was trying to reconstruct before that first review.

Managers cannot help prioritize what they cannot see.

I want to confirm where my time should go this week.

Here are the items currently on my plate:

My recommendation is to prioritize:

1. [Priority]
2. [Priority]
3. [Priority]

This means I would pause or delay:
- [Item]
- [Item]

Can you confirm if this is the right order?

4. Ask vs FYI labeling

A small label can remove a lot of confusion.

When you send a message to your manager, make it clear whether you are asking for action or sharing information.

Managers receive a lot of messages. If your note does not clearly say what is needed, they may skim it, delay it, or respond to the wrong part.

**FYI only:** The new onboarding checklist is now updated. No action needed from you.

**Ask:** Can you review the attached draft by Thursday so I can send it to the managers on Friday?

**Decision needed:** We have two options for the rollout. I recommend option B. Can you confirm by end of day?

**Escalation:** This item is now at risk because we are waiting on access approval. I need your support escalating it to [person/team].

5. Decision request

A decision request helps your manager make a call without searching through a long message for the actual question.

This is where structure matters.

Give the context, show the options, include your recommendation, and name the deadline. The recommendation is important because it shows you have thought through the issue rather than simply handing the problem upward.

Decision needed: [Short decision title]

Context
[Briefly explain what is happening.]

Options

1. [Option A]
   Pros:
   - [Pro]
   - [Pro]

   Cons:
   - [Con]
   - [Con]

2. [Option B]
   Pros:
   - [Pro]
   - [Pro]

   Cons:
   - [Con]
   - [Con]

My recommendation
I recommend [option] because [reason].

Decision needed by
[Date/time]

Impact if delayed
[What happens if there is no decision.]

6. Blocker escalation note

A blocker escalation note is for the moment when something is stuck and silence will create more risk.

The tone should be calm and specific.

You want your manager to understand what is blocked, why it matters, what you have already tried, and what help is needed now.

This is different from sending a vague "just following up" message several times. A good escalation gives your manager enough context to act.

Blocker: [Short description]

What is blocked
[Explain the task, project, or deliverable.]

Why it matters
[Explain the impact.]

What I have already tried
- [Action taken]
- [Person contacted]
- [Alternative explored]

What I need
[Decision, approval, resource, clarification, access, or escalation.]

Timing
[When this needs to be resolved.]

7. Monthly summary

The monthly summary is one of my favourite habits because it protects you from relying on memory.

Before performance meetings, this helped me feel much more organized. I could look back and see the actual work instead of trying to rebuild months of effort from scattered notes, calendar invites, and old emails.

This is the tool I wish I had been using before that first performance review, because it would have given me something steadier than memory.

We usually forget things because the work moved on, the outcome looked smooth, or the effort was quiet. Quiet work can be easy to understate later.

A monthly summary gives you a simple record of outcomes, problems solved, risks noticed, and support provided.

I see it as a fairer record of the work.

Monthly summary: [Month]

Key outcomes
- [Outcome/result]
- [Outcome/result]
- [Outcome/result]

Work completed
- [Project/task]
- [Project/task]
- [Project/task]

Problems solved
- [Issue]
- [How it was handled]

Risks or patterns noticed
- [Risk/pattern]
- [Suggested next step]

Collaboration and support
- [Team, manager, or stakeholder supported]
- [How you helped]

Priorities for next month
- [Priority]
- [Priority]
- [Priority]

Support needed
- [Support, decision, resource, or clarification]

8. Heads-up note

A heads-up note is the no-surprises tool.

This is different from a blocker note. You are not stuck and you are not asking to be unblocked. You are making sure your manager is not caught off guard.

Use it when something has gone wrong, may go wrong, or could create confusion if your manager hears about it from someone else first.

This kind of note should be calm, early, and specific. The goal is to give your manager enough context to understand what happened, what you are doing next, and whether you need support.

Subject: Heads-up: [Short issue]

What happened
[Briefly explain what happened or what changed.]

Current impact
[Explain who or what is affected.]

What I have done so far
- [Action taken]
- [Person contacted]
- [Immediate step completed]

What I am doing next
- [Next step]
- [Timing]
- [Follow-up plan]

What I need from you
[Decision, support, escalation, context, or no action needed.]

Timing
[When I will update you again.]

What managers should do with these updates

Managing up works best when managers respond in a healthy way.

If an employee sends a thoughtful update, the manager should not ignore it, punish the detail, or turn it into surveillance. The point is to create better alignment, not more anxiety.

A manager can make these tools useful by:

• acknowledging important updates
• clarifying priorities
• making decisions when needed
• removing blockers where possible
• protecting capacity when priorities compete
• coaching instead of only correcting
• noticing good work before review season
• avoiding update requests they never read

The employee has a responsibility to communicate clearly. The manager has a responsibility to use that communication well.

How to choose the right tool

Use the tool that matches the situation.

The practical test

Could your manager understand what is happening without booking another meeting to decode it?

If the answer is no, the update probably needs more clarity. The goal is not more words. It is more clarity.

Final thought

Managing up is not a performance.

At its best, it is a quiet habit of making your work easy to see and easy to support, so the quiet wins do not disappear.

Six months later, you should not have to rely on memory to prove you were paying attention.