Like it or not, office politics are a fact of life in any organization. As long you are working with people, you will witness the backstabbing, and may even be victimized by malicious rumors spread about you. All these happen to a certain extent simply because people tend to bring their personal ambitions, emotions, and insecurities into their professional lives.
Here are some tips on how to navigate through:
- Accept the fact
Office politics happen in every workplace. If you spend all your time worrying about pantry chatters, you'll never have time to manage your own work. Just accept the fact and watch your back.
- Stay out of it and if you can’t, Act Blur
Sometimes, we just can’t avoid being sucked into workplace politics for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. And since you can’t stay out of it, one of the smartest things to do is to simply act blur. Chances are, the other person will lose interest when they’re not getting anything back from you.
- Build open communications
Give regular updates and share progress in meetings, emails or any other digital channels. In this way, you build trust within the team and your team members will be more inclined to alert you of any underlying trends within the office culture.
- Don’t be the Spark
Avoid spreading rumors and unsubstantiated gossip. Office politics are a dirty game, and you don’t need to be the one starting it.
- Don’t take things too seriously, it is not all bad in office politicking
Being politically savvy could be just the magic ingredient you need for your career. Forging good relationships up and down the organization is important not just to get yourself promoted, but also a key to becoming a respected leader.
Practicing "good" politics enables you to further your and your team's interests fairly and appropriately. And, being alert to the "bad" politics around you helps to avoid needless suffering while others take advantage.
