Survive office politics is often a challenging task for anybody who working a corporate job. Office politics is a serious yet common issue that can be found easily in any workplace. According to a survey almost 68 people faced office politics. Due to the politics in office people often get in stress and mental disturbance especially when they are on the target. Office politics can be of any form. But the main motive is to get the benefits while defaming others.
Dealing with office politics is a hectic and competitive task, and it can be very stressful for anybody facing it. In corporate jobs, the employees often have to face it if they want to save their jobs. Although it’s a common belief that you have to sacrifice so many things to save the jobs.
Because various people are responsible for arranging the bread and butter for their families, they face it. But it’s possible to survive office politics if you are always professional. If you are also facing any kind of politics at your workplace, you must read it with curiosity.
How to Triumph over Office Politics| Strategies to go through from stressful environment
Dealing with politics in any workplace is tough and tricky. It refers to any complex network of relationships and social interaction within a workplace. Sometimes when employees want to get benefits or achieve anything through a strategy that hurts anybody’s efforts or value, it’s called office politics.
At any organization, you will never see a smooth and straightforward work environment without disturbance or politics. While working, so many things or concepts can be contrasted with anybody. However, understanding the politics at the office is crucial to your career development and personal values at work.
What actually Office Politics Is?
Office Politics is all about power and influence. It involves any individual or group who tries to get advantages of their position, knowledge, or any relationship to influence decisions and outcomes.
At any workplace, people are always searching for more resources, recognition, promotion, and any kind of reward. And office politics is often the reflection of this competition. Building relationships and maintaining them is important in the office. However, perceived by colleagues and superiors can affect your position. So, managing your reputation and image is an important aspect of office politics.
Common Reasons for Office Politics
There can be several reasons for office politics. When people want to sell their ideas, achieve a goal, influence the organization, or increase their power while playing with other people, then the company’s environment becomes tough and tricky. To achieve their desired goals, politically motivated individuals form alliances, bargain, and communicate to get what they want for themselves.
People of different interests woke together in the office.
And their interests, concepts, and perspectives sometimes don’t align. Therefore, sometimes people have to manage everything, and to become successful, they get engaged in office politics.
You must want to save your position and beware of office politics. So, it’s easy. All you have to do is follow these steps.
Abrupt answers:
Don’t respond to anything abruptly without thinking. Keep calm before you respond to anything upsetting. Sometimes, people get stressed and give sudden statements in rude ways. Although it’s common to be upset and feel anxious when someone blames you for what you didn’t do, it doesn’t mean that you give a sudden reaction and make your tone offensive. Instead of doing so, when you face this kind of situation, take a deep breath and count down to 10. After getting a little bit relaxed, tell your boss that you were not involved in this project, but I’ll be happy to help.
Understand the perspective of your co-workers.
Commonly, everybody has their point of view and perspective to judge and see anything. If you think that your thinking does not match that of your co-workers, then it’s simple; there is no need to worry about it. Because people often don’t realize that their behavior is problematic. Instead of taking ahead towards their actions, they blame you. But you can understand their psyche and find solutions. You can improve the situation.
Don’t lose your value.
Personal values shouldn’t be hurt at any workplace or anywhere. It would be best if you stuck to your values when you deal with office politics. Always make the right choice, and don’t forget your values. Sometimes, you need to be underhand to get ahead, but this will make you feel worse.
Make a strong network.
It’s common to get stressed while working. But if you make friends and have a good social bond with someone, they’ll help you and lighten your load. You should build a support network for yourself at the office. Try to make friends and build good relationships with your colleagues. But be sure to have professional behavior because the blend of personal and professional lives can also stress you.
Don’t get too close to your colleagues.
Sometimes, people share everything with their colleagues, which is not good. No need to get too close with your co-workers because when you make every complaint regarding your job, boss, or manager, it can give them ammo to use against you. If you want to relieve stress, you can share your thoughts with your loved ones.
Have control of your emotions
Work stress is common, but you should have control over your ups and downs. Be practical in the office and behave like a professional. You shouldn’t be overwhelmed, so manage your stress because it’s also part of your job. You can do it in several ways, like taking a deep breath, walking for 10 minutes, reading an article, or reading anything that can divert your attention.
Stop complaining about work.
Complaining about work means complaining about your reputation. Common problems are the part of your work. A bad attitude or talking always in a frustrated mood can make you the target easily. Keep all your complaints to yourself only, whether it’s related to your boss, manager, or anybody else.
Make Yourself useful with your talent.
Your skills and talents describe you well in the office. So, prove your skills through your actions. People will always blame you when they have a chance, but it’s up to you whether you give them the chance. Always share your knowledge and Skills with anybody who needs them in the office. Be kind and humble and help your colleagues if needed. Similarly, if you are assigned a group assignment, be sure to put in all your efforts.
Don’t keep arrogant behavior at the workplace.
Your arrogance and rude attitude will give you nothing but loneliness. Always give accomplishments because it helps others to get ahead. Bragging behavior can make you a target of office politics. So, your actions show that you’re a team player. This will give you more respect, and your employees will admire you.
Show your reliability when you agree to do something.
You can easily become the target of office politics if you try to let your coworkers down. Your co-workers will be frustrated with you because it will negatively impact your position. So, you should ensure that you help your employees if you show your willingness to do so. Furthermore, be sure to meet the deadline.
Improve your interpersonal skills.
Surviving office politics is not as easy as it seems. To save yourself from the office drama, you should build strong interpersonal skills to relate to others. You can spend time with employees like you and can practice social skills. Talking to people also gives you a better understand what people think about you.
Work on your listening skills.
Listening skills should be more than speaking. Always be silent when someone is talking. Carefully listen to what the other is saying. It’s a common belief that less speaking and more listening build strong relationships. Listening to others will give you more power. You can come to know what’s happening in the office. It also puts you at a lower risk of oversharing something you shouldn’t.
Older workers know how to beat office politics.
As a new employee hire who has experience of working might also bring office politics back with them. According to a survey from Pepperdine University of Graziadio Business School, 68 percent of respondents said that politics at the workplace were prevalent at their workplace. As we said earlier that there can be several types of office politics but the most common types are ” sucking up” and ” blame gaming”.
Office Politics is nothing new, Am I right? It’s common and all about power. There is nothing new because no matter where you go and start work you face these types of hurdles. There is no need to change your job because of office politics because it gives you nothing but a chance to face other types of office politics. According to an online survey that was conducted between 800 people to see what they said. Only 34 percent said about to switch the job. Always remember that you can make a successful career even working in office politics.
FAQs(Frequently Asked Questions)
Q: Is it appropriate to talk about politics at work?
Answer: No, usually, it is not considered a good habit. Because it can break your relationships and even result in allegations and insults.
Q: What are the four methods for managing political behavior?
Answer: Political behavior can be reduced or minimized in organizations through four techniques: (1) reducing organization uncertainty, (2) preventing the development of future fiefdoms, (3) reducing interunit competition, and (4) breaking up political fiefdoms.
Q: What is the focus of political communication?
Answer: According to George Washington University, political communication is “the study of the flow of information through political processes. Commonly it is the study of who knows what, how, and how people use their communication skills to achieve their desired political goals.