Top 11 'Slack-Channel-to-Sponsor' Networking Tips to try for remote workers building influence this year - Goh Ling Yong
The hum of your laptop, the chime of a new message, the endless scroll of a dozen Slack channels. For remote workers, this is our office. It’s where work happens, but it's also where careers are quietly made—or stalled. In a traditional office, you might build influence by the coffee machine or in a post-meeting chat. But when you’re a name on a screen, how do you get noticed by the people who can truly advocate for your career?
This is where the difference between a mentor and a sponsor becomes crystal clear. A mentor talks to you, giving advice and guidance. A sponsor talks about you, advocating for you in high-level conversations you’re not a part of. Securing a sponsor is one of the most powerful career accelerators, but it feels almost impossible when your main interface with leadership is a company-wide messaging app. How do you turn a Slack channel into a launchpad for sponsorship?
It’s not about being the loudest person in the digital room or spamming channels with your accomplishments. It’s about strategic, consistent, and authentic engagement. It’s about building a reputation for being valuable, insightful, and reliable, one thoughtful message at a time. This year, let’s stop being passive observers in our digital workplaces and start actively building the influence that gets us noticed. Here are the top 11 'Slack-channel-to-sponsor' networking tips for remote workers ready to grow.
1. Be More Than a Name: Optimize Your Profile
Before you type a single message, your Slack profile is doing the talking for you. It’s your digital first impression, your business card, and your personal brand billboard all in one. A blurry, decade-old photo and a generic job title make you forgettable. A professional, clear profile makes you approachable and credible.
Take 10 minutes and give your profile a complete audit. Start with a high-quality, well-lit headshot where you look friendly and professional. Next, your display name should be what you go by, and your full name should be complete. The most underutilized real estate is the "What I do" section. Don't just put "Software Engineer." Try "Software Engineer | Building a better checkout experience on the Phoenix Project." This immediately gives context and shows your impact.
Finally, use your status to your advantage. It’s a dynamic tool for visibility. Are you heads-down on a major report? Set your status to "Deep work on the Q3 performance analysis." Presenting a demo? "Presenting the new feature demo @ 2 PM." This small habit constantly communicates your focus and contributions to anyone who happens to see your name, turning a static profile into a live feed of your value.
2. Join the Right Channels (and Leave the Wrong Ones)
Your visibility is directly tied to where you spend your digital time. Being active in 50 channels is a recipe for noise and burnout. The key is to be a valued contributor in a few high-impact channels. Think of it as choosing the right rooms to be in at a networking event.
Start by identifying channels where senior leaders and decision-makers are active. These are often cross-functional project channels (#project-launch-2024), business-unit-specific channels (#marketing-updates), or Employee Resource Group (ERG) channels. Participating thoughtfully in these spaces puts your name and ideas directly in front of the people you want to build relationships with.
Equally important is knowing which channels to mute or leave. If a channel is consistently low-signal, a complaint-fest, or irrelevant to your career goals, it's draining your energy and distracting you from more valuable conversations. Be ruthless in curating your channel list. Focus your energy where it matters most for your professional development and visibility.
3. Master the Art of "Helpful Lurking"
Jumping into a new, high-stakes channel and immediately firing off opinions is the digital equivalent of interrupting a conversation between strangers. Before you become an active participant, you need to understand the room's culture. This is the art of "helpful lurking."
Spend a few days just reading. Who are the key players? Who is the subject matter expert everyone tags? What is the general tone—formal and serious, or emoji-filled and informal? Understanding these unwritten rules will help you tailor your contributions so they land effectively. In a recent chat, my colleague Goh Ling Yong called this "reading the digital body language" of a team.
While lurking, look for opportunities. Pay attention to the questions that get asked repeatedly. Note the problems that seem to come up every week. This intelligence gathering is invaluable. It not only prevents you from making a faux pas but also helps you identify the exact gaps where your knowledge and help will be most appreciated when you do decide to speak up.
4. Become the Go-To Person for Something
The fastest way to build influence is to become known for a specific area of expertise. You want to be the person whose name immediately comes to mind when someone has a question about a particular topic. This doesn't mean you have to be the world's foremost authority, just the most helpful and reliable person on that topic within your organization.
Identify your niche. Is it a specific piece of software, a particular company process, a coding language, or a soft skill like running effective meetings? Once you've chosen your "thing," start owning it in Slack. Proactively answer questions that pop up in public channels related to your expertise. Share insightful articles, tutorials, or resources you find.
For example, if you're an expert on your company's design system, don't just wait to be asked. When you see a designer or engineer struggling with a component, jump in with a helpful tip or a link to the right documentation. Over time, people will start tagging you directly: "Hey @You, you're the design system wizard, any thoughts on this?" This is how you build a reputation that precedes you.
5. Give Public Praise (Intelligently)
In a remote environment, great work can easily go unnoticed. One of the most powerful and positive ways to build your own influence is to shine a spotlight on the excellent work of others. It shows you're a team player, you pay attention to detail, and you're invested in the success of those around you—all qualities of a future leader.
The key is to be specific and public. A generic "good job, team" is nice but forgettable. A specific, public kudos is a powerful networking tool. Post it in a relevant team or project channel where their manager is also present. This gives visibility not only to your colleague but also to you as a supportive and observant team member.
Example: Instead of DMing a teammate, post in the #project-phoenix channel: "Huge shout-out to @JaneDoe for creating that incredible data dashboard. It's already helped us identify two major user drop-off points. Her work is going to have a massive impact on our Q4 goals! CC: @Jane'sManager". This simple act builds goodwill with Jane, shows her manager you recognize talent, and demonstrates your own understanding of the project's big-picture goals.
6. Translate "Water Cooler" Talk into Valuable Connections
Work isn't just about work. The informal "water cooler" conversations are where real human connections are forged. In a remote setting, social Slack channels like #pets, #hobbies, #random, or #music are the new water coolers. Participating here is not a waste of time; it's a critical part of building rapport.
These channels allow you to show your personality and connect with colleagues on a human level, including senior leaders who are often active in them. Sharing a picture of your new puppy, a project you built in your garage, or asking for recommendations for a new TV series makes you a three-dimensional person, not just an avatar.
This is where you build the kind of trust and familiarity that makes professional conversations easier. When a senior leader sees you as "the person who also loves hiking" instead of just "an analyst from finance," they're more likely to engage with your work-related ideas. It lowers the barrier to connection and makes future interactions feel warmer and more natural.
7. Ask Smart, Open-Ended Questions in Public Channels
Asking questions is a sign of engagement, not weakness. But the type of question you ask matters. A question that could be answered with a 5-second Google search signals a lack of initiative. A smart, open-ended question in a public channel, however, can spark valuable discussion and showcase your critical thinking.
Instead of asking a "yes/no" question, frame your query to invite discussion and multiple perspectives. This not only helps you get a better answer but also draws in experts and leaders who enjoy weighing in on complex problems. It positions you as someone who is thinking deeply about the work.
Example:
- Weak Question (in a DM): "Is it okay to use this new software library?"
- Strong Question (in
#engineering-devchannel): "Exploring the newQuantum.jslibrary for the upcoming user profile redesign. I love its performance benefits, but I'm curious if anyone has thoughts on its long-term maintainability versus our current stack. What are the potential trade-offs we should consider?"
The second question shows you've done your homework, signals strategic thinking, and invites a high-level conversation that leaders love to participate in.
8. Summarize and Synthesize Long Threads
Have you ever opened a Slack channel to see a thread with 78 replies and felt completely overwhelmed? The person who can step in and make sense of that chaos is a hero. This is a subtle but incredibly powerful way to demonstrate leadership potential.
When a discussion becomes long, complex, or starts going in circles, take the initiative to summarize it. Read through the entire thread, pull out the key points, identify the decisions made, and clarify the action items. Post your summary as a reply to the main thread, tagging key stakeholders.
This simple act does several things: it provides immense value to everyone who doesn't have time to read the whole thing, it demonstrates that you can distill complex information into a clear summary, and it shows you have the initiative to drive conversations toward a conclusion. It’s a mini-demonstration of project management and leadership skills, and managers and directors always take notice of the person who brings clarity to chaos.
9. Initiate "Digital Coffee Chats" Strategically
Public channels are for building broad visibility, but 1:1 conversations are for building deep relationships. After you've established some rapport with someone in a channel—perhaps by praising their work or engaging with their ideas—it's time to move the conversation to a more personal setting.
The key is to have a clear, low-pressure reason for the chat. Frame it as an opportunity to learn from them or share context, not as a demand for their time. A well-crafted invitation makes it easy for them to say yes.
Example: "Hi [Name], I really appreciated your perspective on customer segmentation in the #marketing-strategy channel yesterday. The way you framed it has me thinking about my own project, [Project Name]. If you have a spare 15 minutes next week, I'd love to hear more about your approach. No worries if you're swamped!" This is respectful of their time, references a specific point of connection, and gives them an easy out. These short, focused chats are the building blocks of a mentoring relationship that can eventually evolve into sponsorship.
10. Showcase Your Wins (Without Bragging)
You have to be your own best advocate, but there's a fine line between showcasing your work and shameless self-promotion. The best way to share your accomplishments is to frame them as team wins, learning experiences, or value delivered to the company.
Instead of saying, "I finished my project," try focusing on the impact and acknowledging others. This makes you look like a collaborative leader, not a lone wolf. Use data and outcomes to make your update more powerful and less about your personal effort. This is a skill that people like Goh Ling Yong excel at—tying individual contributions back to the broader business objectives.
Example: In your team channel, post something like: "Exciting update for the team! The new onboarding email sequence we launched last week has already improved user activation by 12%. Huge thanks to @Sarah for her amazing copy and @Tom for the slick design. I learned a ton about A/B testing in the process and am happy to share the key takeaways!" This communicates your success, gives credit to others, and offers value back to the team.
11. The Gentle "Ask": From Mentor to Sponsor
You've built rapport. You've demonstrated your value. You've had a few 1:1 chats with a senior leader who respects your work. Now, how do you nudge this relationship from mentorship toward sponsorship? You do it with a gentle, strategic ask that focuses on your career growth.
This conversation should happen in a private setting, like a video call. It's not about directly saying, "Will you be my sponsor?" Instead, you're signaling your ambition and asking for their guidance on how to get there. This gives them the opportunity to step into the sponsor role by looking for opportunities for you.
Example: In your next 1:1, you could say: "I really value your perspective, and I'm focused on taking the next step in my career toward a [Team Lead/Senior Manager] role. From your vantage point, what are the key skills or experiences you think I should focus on developing over the next 6-12 months? I'd be incredibly grateful for any advice or if you happen to see any projects or task forces where I could contribute and build those skills." This positions them as an advisor and invites them to advocate for you when those opportunities arise. It’s the perfect, respectful way to open the door to sponsorship.
Your Digital Footprint is Your Career Blueprint
In a remote-first world, your activity on platforms like Slack is more than just communication; it's the primary evidence of your impact, your expertise, and your potential. The conversations you have, the help you offer, and the clarity you bring all contribute to your professional reputation. Building influence and finding a sponsor isn't about a single grand gesture, but about the consistent, daily practice of being a valuable, visible, and connected team member.
Start small. Pick two or three of these tips and focus on making them a habit this month. Maybe you’ll start by optimizing your profile and then focus on giving one piece of specific, public praise each week. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. By intentionally shaping your digital interactions, you can transform your presence from a name in a channel to a recognized leader with powerful advocates championing your success.
What's your go-to strategy for building visibility in a remote setting? Share your best tip in the comments below—let's learn from each other!
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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