[align=center]How to Handle Office Politics[/align]
Some people thrive on office politics but for those of you who do not, here are a few tips on how to avoid it:
1. Keep it professional at all times.
2. Play the game being played, not the one you want or think should be played.
3. Don't make enemies. Don't burn bridges.
4. Don't whine and complain.
5. Don't intimidate superiors. Try to avoid going over your superior's head.
6. Don't make others look bad.
7. Don't criticize employees or bosses.
8. Couch criticism in terms of employer's interests, not personal.
9. Help others get what they want.
10. Establish affiliations of mutual advantage with important people.
11. Find common ground with others.
12. Don't discuss personal problems.
13. Selectively self-disclose.
14. Don't assume anything will stay secret.
15. Create win/win solutions.
16. Keep employer's perspective in mind.
17. Cultivate a positive, simple, accurate image.
18. Don't force yourself to do difficult, uncomfortable or scary things.
19. Be pleasant. Laugh and smile.
20. Be assertive and tough when required, not aggressive.
21. Don't oversell. Be natural. Develop your own style.
Managers can also do a few things to help keep politics from getting out of control:
1. Create an atmosphere that rewards performance and discourages politics. This can be a tall order, but once management makes the decision and initiates a conscious effort to build a professional organisation, the company will at least be on the right path. When managers are openly seen to discourage politicking and encourage moves that make commercial sense, it also fosters greater unity among staff and gets people focused on performance rather than boot-licking.
2. Encourage feedback from employees. Opening lines of communication helps diminish the value of the network that politically oriented middle managers rely on for their power base. In many cases, middle managers play the two sides against one another: They make out senior managers to be the bad guys, saying they themselves are on the side of the workers, while at the same time complaining to their senior managers that they simply can't get good staff. If managers know that subordinates have access to senior people, there is a more open working environment and less opportunity for misinformation to be used for political ends.
3. Don't allow political fights to persist. When individuals have opinions that make it difficult for them to work together, senior managers should enforce a solution.
4. Don't shoot the messenger. In heavily political organisations, subordinates are often afraid to tell bosses things they may not want to hear. This encourages yes-men and discourages people from raising issues that need to be addressed.
5. Flatter management structures also make politicking less useful. When there are fewer management layers, it's easier for senior managers to see who is performing well - and to sniff out those situations where politicking is interfering with the decision-making process.
Unfortunately the reality is that like it or not, office politics are here to stay. Wherever there are people vying for attention, promotion, greater compensation, there will be politics. Some people feel the trick is to play to win, and not sell your soul in the process. It can backfire on you if you choose the wrong route and, in the long run, office politics are really not based on anything tangible like work performance. Incompetent people who rise due to politicking will eventually be exposed.
Dawn McCoy, MBA
Business Analyst, Recruitment Specialist, Communications Consultant
E-Lynx Inc.
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