Office Politics
You don't have to run for elected office
to be immersed in politics. Politics simply refers to the dynamics and
struggles for power. Most human relationships involve some kind of
back-and-forth play for power. We contend for control at home on a daily
basis -- what to watch on TV,
what to eat for dinner, where to go on vacation and so on. Around the
office, where people with conflicting goals have to get along and
careers are at stake, politics thrives.
Whether it's a struggle for control of the thermostat or getting a promotion, offices are notorious political battlegrounds. Even as you sit at your desk minding your own business, politics seeps through cubicle walls and saturates the workplace. According to most experts, no workplace is immune to struggles for power. If we wish to foster good working relationships, get things done or get ahead, experts argue that we should actively and consciously engage in office politics.
Does this mean we have to get our hands dirty to succeed in the business world? Office politics gets a bad name from the people who are most known for playing it. We all know the type -- corrupt, manipulative, insincere sycophants who vie for praise and promotions. Office politics can lend itself to power-hungry brownnosers and vicious behavior. But that doesn't mean you have to make unethical decisions to play the game effectively. Even the bosses we like and respect probably didn't get their promotions based solely on job performance. They also leveraged politics -- they may just be subtle about it.
Some people take to office politics naturally. You know the ones who are irresistibly likeable and don't appear to have a manipulative bone in their bodies. They always seem to get people to gladly cooperate on projects. For other folks, actively playing the politics game is uncomfortable and feels inherently insincere. Regardless of which category you fall into, it helps to learn how office politics works. At least it could clear up common misperceptions about the practice and help you reevaluate your own motivations and tactics.
1. Give time and understand the psyche of your colleagues and seniors. It is important to understand the people you are working with: to know what motivates them, what they do outside the organisation, what do they aspire to be, and their view of the organisation.
2. No one is going to give this kind of information to you on a platter. You have to be careful, tactful and above all you have to be a good listener. Everyone wants to be heard. If you can just listen to people, within a short span of time you will develop their confidence in you. Becoming a confidante is the best possible thing in any set up, personal or professional.
3. Listen and only listen (this is more important if you are a new employee) and if there is something that you do not agree with keep it to yourself - no need to spell it out and try and make the person change his or her opinion. This goes for all you colleagues and your seniors. Listen to them, see what drives them and then make an opinion. If you understand the people then it is easier to deal with them.
4. Be nice and cordial to all. This is more true for bigger organisations/offices, as you don’t know when and whom you might have to work with! Whereas in smaller offices, the groups once established doesn’t get changed often and hence less/no issues.
5. So be nice to people. It will help in working and also in getting information, in knowing what’s happening all around, the office politics etc. Being nice does not mean that you have to be the ever smiling or the flattering types. Make sure that you disagree and put across your opinion/point also for otherwise you may be taken for granted.
6. If you are consistent and always stand for a certain group of things, people around you will understand and start respecting it too. There is no need to show disagreement unless it is a do or die situation which is usually an illusion.
7. Devise new ways of approaching issues. Out of box thinking always helps most of all in dealing with human resources. Now in general if people are professional then they are expected to behave in a particular manner and at least do as expected and spelled out in their job description
8. The problem arises when they don’t want to do that and behave badly. Usually it’s not just a single person but a group of people who behave this way. All of them have the same attitude and the same alibi for not working – they have been in the system for long and know how it works!
9. It is here that one needs to devise innovative ways to approach them and get the work done and that too without disturbing the balance or encroaching on their seniority, in terms of years/experience or snob attitude! In simple laymen's terms getting work done, without getting sidelined, by interfering in the office power games.
10. First of all be clear, what is it that you want them to do. Spell it out clearly, then figure out how much authority do you have over the people. If you are not their boss, don’t worry, there still are ways! Once the task is clear, talk to them directly. Present the task in such a way that it looks like you are asking for their help. You can even go to the extent of showing your inability in doing it on your own. Then ask them if they could help in looking it over and giving their input. In most cases this approach works!
11. Simply because it doesn’t look like you are bossing around … and the other person feels important, nice that you are asking them for help … that their opinion matters. It doesn’t look like you are making them work … so they are happy and your work gets done. The reason is simple – there are a large number of people who don’t want to work when asked … but will work when work is not put across as work! (Just like small children) And don’t forget that all the time you have to be nice and well meaning. At any point it should not look like you are being cunning …or selfish … which brings to the next point …
12. Be genuine as much as possible. While practicing any of the above, the one thing that you have to ensure is that you should come across as a genuine person. In fact you should not just come out as that but also be a genuine person. Now I know it’s not easy to be genuine while listening to someone’s tails of treachery/cunning ways or someone’s cribbing session! (I mean you will be genuine but in another direction!) So in that case, as have mentioned earlier also, don’t speak your mind … be silent … which is still genuine … for you neither agree nor disagree. Also be humane and more accepting of other people … try and not to judge people and the result would be a more genuine/ empathetic you. It is a quality that will help always and it is only this that will bring you closer to people in any set up. So be naturally concerned and helpful without going over board.
13. To change the system is not possible and not needed/ necessary. Please understand and realise that systems are so because they were meant to be so … and they are serving their reason and aim … one person can not change and should not aim to change the system. So rest your oars … be true to yourself and your values and leave the organisation if you find the system and its practices a burden on yourself. Easier said then done … but there is no other way.
14. Have a lower benchmark. There is a limit to everything and then there is a saturation point. So the moment the red light of your conscious starts glowing … give it up … there are other places to work. For if you continue cribbing and also continue working then the day is not far when the benchmark will cease to exist and you will join the bandwagon of people who have no self esteem and who just exist.
15. Learn to play Chess … yes … it’s a mind game … and fits in well with the office politics! If you know how to play chess you would know how to be prepared for at least the next two steps of your opponent and in your office everyone is your opponent unless you have won them over and even in that case you should be careful and never let your guard down! Chess helps in thinking and gauging what should be your next step and from where all/ who all you need to protect your assets/skills/information … who is out to hit you etc. The game of Chess teaches this and much more … take these as lessons for life and not just for the game!
16. Know when to speak, where to speak and with whom to speak. If only what you speak reaches wrong ears, the repercussions could be as fatal as losing your job. Need I say more? Well so the thing is that, choose your confidante carefully and refrain from making hard hitting comments against a colleague or organisation in front of people who may use it to their benefit. For most of the time people try to rise by pulling others down … if only they would aim at rising at their own with their own skills/competencies/knowledge!
17. Practice patience. There is no alternative. The more patient you become the less is the stress and the happier your disposition.
18. Learn tact. It’s a prerequisite in all that you do … and it’s an end result of all that’s discussed in previous points. No one can teach how to be tactful but everyone needs to learn it to be successful and happy!
Not my original. Just surfing the web and copy paste. Thanks to original creator.
Whether it's a struggle for control of the thermostat or getting a promotion, offices are notorious political battlegrounds. Even as you sit at your desk minding your own business, politics seeps through cubicle walls and saturates the workplace. According to most experts, no workplace is immune to struggles for power. If we wish to foster good working relationships, get things done or get ahead, experts argue that we should actively and consciously engage in office politics.
Does this mean we have to get our hands dirty to succeed in the business world? Office politics gets a bad name from the people who are most known for playing it. We all know the type -- corrupt, manipulative, insincere sycophants who vie for praise and promotions. Office politics can lend itself to power-hungry brownnosers and vicious behavior. But that doesn't mean you have to make unethical decisions to play the game effectively. Even the bosses we like and respect probably didn't get their promotions based solely on job performance. They also leveraged politics -- they may just be subtle about it.
Some people take to office politics naturally. You know the ones who are irresistibly likeable and don't appear to have a manipulative bone in their bodies. They always seem to get people to gladly cooperate on projects. For other folks, actively playing the politics game is uncomfortable and feels inherently insincere. Regardless of which category you fall into, it helps to learn how office politics works. At least it could clear up common misperceptions about the practice and help you reevaluate your own motivations and tactics.
Why work politics are inevitable:
- Some people have more power than others, either through hierarchy or some other basis of influence.
- For many people, gaining promotion is important, and this can create competition between individuals, or misalignment between the team's objectives and those of individuals within it.
- Most people care passionately about decisions at work and this encourages political behavior as they seek to get their way.
- Decisions at work are impacted by both work-related goals and personal factors, so there is further scope for goal conflict.
- People and teams within organizations often have to compete for limited resources; this can lead to a kind of "tribal conflict" where teams compete to satisfy their needs and objectives, even when this is against the greater good.
- Some people have more power than others, either through hierarchy or some other basis of influence.
- For many people, gaining promotion is important, and this can create competition between individuals, or misalignment between the team's objectives and those of individuals within it.
- Most people care passionately about decisions at work and this encourages political behavior as they seek to get their way.
- Decisions at work are impacted by both work-related goals and personal factors, so there is further scope for goal conflict.
- People and teams within organizations often have to compete for limited resources; this can lead to a kind of "tribal conflict" where teams compete to satisfy their needs and objectives, even when this is against the greater good.
Why work
politics are inevitable:
- Some people have more power than others, either through hierarchy or some other basis of influence.
- For many people, gaining promotion is important, and this can create competition between individuals, or misalignment between the team's objectives and those of individuals within it.
- Most people care passionately about decisions at work and this encourages political behavior as they seek to get their way.
- Decisions at work are impacted by both work-related goals and personal factors, so there is further scope for goal conflict.
- People and teams within organizations often have to compete for limited resources; this can lead to a kind of "tribal conflict" where teams compete to satisfy their needs and objectives, even when this is against the greater good.
Why work politics are inevitable:
- Some people have more power than others, either through hierarchy or some other basis of influence.
- For many people, gaining promotion is important, and this can create competition between individuals, or misalignment between the team's objectives and those of individuals within it.
- Most people care passionately about decisions at work and this encourages political behavior as they seek to get their way.
- Decisions at work are impacted by both work-related goals and personal factors, so there is further scope for goal conflict.
- People and teams within organizations often have to compete for limited resources; this can lead to a kind of "tribal conflict" where teams compete to satisfy their needs and objectives, even when this is against the greater good.
1. Give time and understand the psyche of your colleagues and seniors. It is important to understand the people you are working with: to know what motivates them, what they do outside the organisation, what do they aspire to be, and their view of the organisation.
2. No one is going to give this kind of information to you on a platter. You have to be careful, tactful and above all you have to be a good listener. Everyone wants to be heard. If you can just listen to people, within a short span of time you will develop their confidence in you. Becoming a confidante is the best possible thing in any set up, personal or professional.
3. Listen and only listen (this is more important if you are a new employee) and if there is something that you do not agree with keep it to yourself - no need to spell it out and try and make the person change his or her opinion. This goes for all you colleagues and your seniors. Listen to them, see what drives them and then make an opinion. If you understand the people then it is easier to deal with them.
4. Be nice and cordial to all. This is more true for bigger organisations/offices, as you don’t know when and whom you might have to work with! Whereas in smaller offices, the groups once established doesn’t get changed often and hence less/no issues.
5. So be nice to people. It will help in working and also in getting information, in knowing what’s happening all around, the office politics etc. Being nice does not mean that you have to be the ever smiling or the flattering types. Make sure that you disagree and put across your opinion/point also for otherwise you may be taken for granted.
6. If you are consistent and always stand for a certain group of things, people around you will understand and start respecting it too. There is no need to show disagreement unless it is a do or die situation which is usually an illusion.
7. Devise new ways of approaching issues. Out of box thinking always helps most of all in dealing with human resources. Now in general if people are professional then they are expected to behave in a particular manner and at least do as expected and spelled out in their job description
8. The problem arises when they don’t want to do that and behave badly. Usually it’s not just a single person but a group of people who behave this way. All of them have the same attitude and the same alibi for not working – they have been in the system for long and know how it works!
9. It is here that one needs to devise innovative ways to approach them and get the work done and that too without disturbing the balance or encroaching on their seniority, in terms of years/experience or snob attitude! In simple laymen's terms getting work done, without getting sidelined, by interfering in the office power games.
10. First of all be clear, what is it that you want them to do. Spell it out clearly, then figure out how much authority do you have over the people. If you are not their boss, don’t worry, there still are ways! Once the task is clear, talk to them directly. Present the task in such a way that it looks like you are asking for their help. You can even go to the extent of showing your inability in doing it on your own. Then ask them if they could help in looking it over and giving their input. In most cases this approach works!
11. Simply because it doesn’t look like you are bossing around … and the other person feels important, nice that you are asking them for help … that their opinion matters. It doesn’t look like you are making them work … so they are happy and your work gets done. The reason is simple – there are a large number of people who don’t want to work when asked … but will work when work is not put across as work! (Just like small children) And don’t forget that all the time you have to be nice and well meaning. At any point it should not look like you are being cunning …or selfish … which brings to the next point …
12. Be genuine as much as possible. While practicing any of the above, the one thing that you have to ensure is that you should come across as a genuine person. In fact you should not just come out as that but also be a genuine person. Now I know it’s not easy to be genuine while listening to someone’s tails of treachery/cunning ways or someone’s cribbing session! (I mean you will be genuine but in another direction!) So in that case, as have mentioned earlier also, don’t speak your mind … be silent … which is still genuine … for you neither agree nor disagree. Also be humane and more accepting of other people … try and not to judge people and the result would be a more genuine/ empathetic you. It is a quality that will help always and it is only this that will bring you closer to people in any set up. So be naturally concerned and helpful without going over board.
13. To change the system is not possible and not needed/ necessary. Please understand and realise that systems are so because they were meant to be so … and they are serving their reason and aim … one person can not change and should not aim to change the system. So rest your oars … be true to yourself and your values and leave the organisation if you find the system and its practices a burden on yourself. Easier said then done … but there is no other way.
14. Have a lower benchmark. There is a limit to everything and then there is a saturation point. So the moment the red light of your conscious starts glowing … give it up … there are other places to work. For if you continue cribbing and also continue working then the day is not far when the benchmark will cease to exist and you will join the bandwagon of people who have no self esteem and who just exist.
15. Learn to play Chess … yes … it’s a mind game … and fits in well with the office politics! If you know how to play chess you would know how to be prepared for at least the next two steps of your opponent and in your office everyone is your opponent unless you have won them over and even in that case you should be careful and never let your guard down! Chess helps in thinking and gauging what should be your next step and from where all/ who all you need to protect your assets/skills/information … who is out to hit you etc. The game of Chess teaches this and much more … take these as lessons for life and not just for the game!
16. Know when to speak, where to speak and with whom to speak. If only what you speak reaches wrong ears, the repercussions could be as fatal as losing your job. Need I say more? Well so the thing is that, choose your confidante carefully and refrain from making hard hitting comments against a colleague or organisation in front of people who may use it to their benefit. For most of the time people try to rise by pulling others down … if only they would aim at rising at their own with their own skills/competencies/knowledge!
17. Practice patience. There is no alternative. The more patient you become the less is the stress and the happier your disposition.
18. Learn tact. It’s a prerequisite in all that you do … and it’s an end result of all that’s discussed in previous points. No one can teach how to be tactful but everyone needs to learn it to be successful and happy!
Make the Most of Your Network
As you
build your relationships, you need to learn to use them to stay clear of
negative politicking, and also to promote yourself and your team positively. It
is up to you to communicate your own and your team's abilities and successes to
the right people, and you do this through positive political action. Use your
network to:
- Gain access to information.
- Build visibility of your achievements.
- Improve difficult relationships.
- Attract opportunities where you can to shine.
- Seek out ways to make yourself, your team and your boss look good.
Your
mapping of the informal spheres of influence in the organization will have
helped you to identify those people who use others for their own purposes, and
not necessarily for the common good. It's natural to want to distance yourself
from these people as much as possible. But what can often be needed is the
opposite reaction. The expression, "Keep your friends close and your
enemies closer" applies perfectly to office politics.
- Get to know these people better and be courteous to them, but always be very careful what you say to them.
- Understand what motivates these people and what their goals are, and so learn how to avoid or counter the impact of their negative politicking.
- Be aware that these people typically don't think much of their talents (that's why they rely on aggressive politicking to get ahead).
Govern Your Own Behavior
Through
observation you'll learn what works in your organization's culture and what
doesn't. Watch other people at work and identify successful behaviors that you
can model. There are also some general standards to observe that will stop
negative politics from spreading.
- Don't pass on gossip, questionable judgments, spread rumors – when you hear something, take a day to consider how much credibility it has.
- Rise above interpersonal conflicts – do not get sucked into arguments.
- Maintain your integrity at all times – always remain professional, and always remember the organization's interests.
- Be positive – avoid whining and complaining.
- Be confident and assertive but not aggressive.
- When voicing objections or criticism, make sure you take an organizational perspective not a personal one.
- Don't rely on confidentiality – assume things will be disclosed and so decide what you should reveal accordingly.
- Be a model of integrity to your team, and discourage politics within it.
Key Points
Positive
or negative – politics happens. The philosopher Plato said, "One of the
penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being
governed by your inferiors." And this hold true today in the workplace: If
you don't participate in the political game, you risk not having a say in what
happens and allowing people with less experience, skill or knowledge to
influence the decisions being made around you.
Office
Politics are a fact of life. Wise politicking will help you get what you want
in the world of work without compromising others in the process. Learn to use
its power positively while diffusing the efforts of those who abuse it.
Not my original. Just surfing the web and copy paste. Thanks to original creator.
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