There’s one hidden item I keep on my personal Definition of Done: present your work.
As a manager for engineers, it would be easy to take the points for work my folks delivered. I like talking. I like making connections.
I don’t do it.
My goal is to help my people build a brand around their names.
We talk about the feature, what they did, how to announce it and where. Some updates are a Slack message in an engineering channel. Some are a five-minute walkthrough in the engineering guild call. More serious work goes into a brown bag session.
Your task, epic, project, initiative - it isn’t 100% done until you’ve gone out and shared the news.
- Don’t abuse it. Not everything should be announced outside your team. Check with your team or manager whether it’s worth sharing out.
- Size the work to the channel. Bigger work, bigger audience.
- Don’t be shy. Not everyone likes speaking outside their close circle. Ask for help. People are usually glad to help you organize and support the session.
Presenting is a skill you train. It also builds a stronger communication habit and a mindset of early awareness - you start thinking about how to shape a project as something presentable from the beginning.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.