How to Deal with office Politics

How to Deal with office Politics

 



Office politics can neither be ignored nor encouraged and no organization is immune to it, willingly or unwillingly you will be dragged into it. It affects all. Each person deals with it in his/her own way; some may be more effective than others.                        

Office is a place where people of different belief, temperament and background work and interact and their reaction to various situations is also different. Some are submissive but some may be reactive.

Mostly, those who are reactive, use office politics to “ignite” and create disruptions probably because they believe, it may benefit them. Probably, they know of no other way than to indulge in politics, even if it harms a colleague or a boss. Playing politics in office is risky and can be beneficial only to those who cleverly manage their game and as long as their moves don’t backfire.

Office politics revolves around the following “artists “in the office.                           

The Motivators; these are the people who carry weight and their views and suggestions will have an impact on their fellow colleagues. They influence others.   

The Igniters; The real culprits. They have a negative approach and use politics to spread rumors with the intent of causing damage to a colleague, boss or a division.                                                                                                                              

The Benign; These are positive people with good intentions. They play politics to bring some positive change.                                                                                               

The Naive; They play safe. Keep themselves away from politics and choose to ignore it   

Each of the above needs a different approach while dealing;                                         

with Motivators or Influencers as we can call them, one needs to be very careful as they are aware of their influential position. They are only interested in their own benefit and not you or your career.                                                                                                                                                                                                            

With Igniters, one has to be very careful of what they say or do. They enjoy indulging in gossip which may cause disruption or destruction.                                                        

With Benign , one can feel safe as these people have no ulterior motive and are always a useful source of information about the inside of the company. They provide a positive picture.                                                                                                             

The Naives believes in doing their jobs seriously and keep themselves away from politics. Though they run the risk of being sidelined yet they believe that to move up , one needs to do a good job .