Politics in the Office: A Survival Guide

written by: Remi Suarez; article published: year 2007, month 06;



In: Categories » Business » Negotiation and communication » Politics in the Office: A Survival Guide

Office politics is characterized by infighting, power plays, hidden agendas, manoeuvring, and pettiness. If unchecked, it can have disastrous consequences on morale and an organization's ability to meet its mandate. Here are some guidelines to help you cope:

  1. Recognize that no organization is free of politics. It is an inherent part of organizations.

  2. Understand that it is difficult to remain neutral. It's like being in a battlefield. If you're in the middle, trying to pick up bodies, you could get hit by the crossfire. It's better to learn how to play the game smart, so that you either win more often or survive a loss.

  3. Before you commit to enter a battle between two opposing camps, consider the following:

    • Pick your battles. Don't get involved in every issue. Pick those that give you a good chance of being on the winning side.

    • Get a sense of what senior people are thinking. Look at issues from their perspective and join the side that aligns with real power-brokers.

    • Only fight battles you're likely to win. Don't fight against large odds, senior people, or large numbers unless the issue is of major philosophical importance to you and you're prepared to lose your job because of it.

    • Make sure you have allies who will stand with you and defend your position. The more senior the people in your "posse," the more energy you can put into the conflict.

    • Have some empathy for the other side. See things from that point of view. Maybe there is more than one way of doing things. This way, you'll spend time on issues of real difference, instead of appearing petty on all issues.

    • Look for common ground. Often our differences are semantic but not fundamental.

    • Take the big-picture perspective. In the overall scheme of things, how important is the issue you are fighting for? Learn to let go of issues that are not important, or trade favours so you can win some battles too.

    • Maintain a sense of humour; it often breaks the tension and allows people to collaborate more readily.

    • Reduce your personal criticism of others, focusing more on issues. It's easy to fault others and just as easy for them to fault you.

  4. If you notice faction fights developing, consider these strategies:

    • Avoid joining a faction that is trying to bring down your boss. This is unethical and could easily backfire on you.

    • Avoid taking a position that is contrary to the interests of the organization.

    • Consider getting off the boat if you feel your faction is about to lose. But don't get into the opponent's boat — it's probably time to be neutral and lie low for a while.

    • Fight important battles hard. But also fight fair. Don't resort to unethical practices — they'll come back to haunt you.

    • Form alliances of your own with like-minded people. This will promote the longevity of your relationships. Teaming up with people whose values differ from your own will require you to compromise yourself and your principles

legal disclaimer

1) Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article as well for any and all copyright infringements by authors and writers. E-articles is a free information resource. If you suspect this article for any copyright infringements, please read the Terms of service and contact us to investigate the problem.
2) The E-articles directory team is not responsible for inaccuracies, falsehoods, or any other types of misinformation this tutorial may contain and will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by a user through the user's reliance on the information gained here. Please read the Terms of service

Useful tools and features

Translate this article to...    Send this article to you or to a friend

Link to this article from your page   
If you like this article (tutorial), please link to it from your web page using the information above. Linking to this page, this is the only way to help us improve our service, the same time providing your visitors with a way to improve their online experience.

related articles

1. Employee Recruiting
Job Descriptions and Requirements Many positions naturally demand certain requirements with respect to education, experience, and qualifications. For instance, it is customary for CFOs (Chief Financial Officers) to be qualified in accounting and finance and usually to have an MBA. However, in many cases, companies define prerequisites that are not essential to the nature of the position, but are rather the result of norms. In practice, many companies find that relevant experience, if it is accompanied by profound profes...

2. Incentives to Tie Employees to the Company
Over and above the monetary compensation, many companies invest considerable efforts in creating a work environment that will bond the employees with the company and encourage them to stay with it. Recruiting a talented employee is only the first stage in the battle to keep him or her with the company. In times of prosperity on the capital market the demand for good workers is high, thus increasing the turnover rate of employees. Companies are required to make significant investments to train employees for their positions in th...

3. Employee Compensation in the Technology Segments
One of the main objectives of companies in general, and startups in particular, is to navigate the company to a path of rapid growth that will enhance its profits and establish its financial stability. Since the development of products is based primarily on the human factor, the recruitment of talented employees and enhancing their bonding with the company are crucial elements on the road to the company's success. As in any field, companies, including startups, also seek to compensate their employees in order to bring out the b...

4. Reasons Why We Are Poor Listeners
Lazy listening is enormously costly to our success. Most of us think we are good listeners, but that overconfidence may be the reason for our downfall. Nothing puts a sales call in jeopardy faster than poor, inattentive listening. Customers don't take long to get a sense of your listening commitment, especially given the fact that 90% of communication is nonverbal. That's right, 90%. About 55% is through obvious body language and 35% is by how you say it. Given these overwhelming statistics, it's pretty tough to convinc...

5. The Five Principles of Creative Negotiation
Dealing with conflict and differences is rarely an easy task. Barriers to creative negotiation can be numerous and are often the saboteurs of a potential sale. Remember: your goal is to reach win-win-win-win settlements with qualified customers. To that end, I offer these five principles of creative sales negotiation: Principle #1: Attitude First Are you a good negotiator? Your answer reflects your level of confidence in your negotiation skills. Creating a positive mindset involves basic attitudinal charac...

6. WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEETINGS
Review the following questions and check the ones that can be answered with a “yes.” - Have you attended meetings where you did not get the information you needed? - Have you attended meetings where the atmosphere was hostile or abusive? - Have you attended meetings where most of the decisions were postponed? - Have you attended meetings where the purposes was unclear? In all the cases where the answer was a yes, the meeting was not an effective coordination tool....

7. USING PROJECT MEETINGS AS SUCCESSFUL COORDINATION TOOLS
For project meetings to serve as communication and coordination tools they have to achieve the following goals: - Inform project members - Provide opportunities to contribute expertise and knowledge - Achieve agreement and support for the outcome To attain these goals this article has focused on three aspects of meetings: 1. A well-defined purpose 2. A tangible outcome 3. A comfortable and supportive atmosphere All three are important for successful and effective communic...

8. How to make meetings a valuable communication tool
What do meetings that one experienced as valuable to attend — meetings one keeps going back to — have in common? Here are some responses people gave in a survey for a project post-mortem: - The meetings address issues of concern. - It is important to get everyone face to face, but also limit the time spent doing so. - Everyone gets the same information. - Everyone is made aware of the changes. Personally, the Sunday church meetings and the weekly toastmaster’s meetings are ...