Glue Work
Noun · Hacker Culture
Definitions
The essential but often invisible work that holds teams together — onboarding new members, writing documentation, coordinating across teams, improving processes, and filling gaps. Coined by Tanya Reilly, it's frequently undervalued in promotion reviews despite being critical for team success.
In plain English: The behind-the-scenes organizational work that keeps a team functioning but rarely gets recognized.
Example: "She does all the glue work — facilitating design reviews, updating the wiki, mentoring juniors — but none of it shows up in her perf review."