How to stay clear of office politics

How to stay clear of office politics

These two words make the corporate world dirty and murky – Office politics. This is the sad reality, and it exists in proportions across offices. This is no laughing matter. After all a dysfunctional office makes for unhappy employees, high attrition and low productivity. Even then, sometimes you get pulled into without your knowledge and at other times you create a scenario to save your misdoings. When things get out of hand, ask yourself does this really help? You will get the real answer.

“The key to stay clear of office politics is honest communication. Sometimes, people tend to lie or giving excuses when they are caught. Or they try and drag other people to clear their wrong. This only intensifies the situation. So, the best thing to do here is to accept your fault and as an adult give solutions to repair it. This will make your seniors trust you again,” says Sandeep Kaul, director, Whitelight Consulting.

Remember to err is to human. So, if you can accept your flaw and be honest about it, you have nothing to fear. However, don’t make the mistake of discussing office details or expressing your anger in public places like elevators or cafeterias or even indulge in long phone conversations over the phone in the washroom. You never know who is listening in. Though this might be innocence on your part, it could come and backfire if someone decides to use it to their advantage. There is a time and place to vent out your anger.

In such cases mostly the issue is personal. Thus, the key to avoid politics is to associate every problem with the issue and not with the person. “In most cases people tend to get personal. And within no time the issue takes the shape of ego. Thus, starts the pulling down game. So, the key here is to remember that no one really has anything against you,” points our Kaul.

So, if employees don’t use tools against each other and not make an issue or a problem a personal war, offices could be happier places. For instance, employees should realise that emails are used to ease the workflow and not as a charge sheet against a person. “My boss once used an email to pull me down in front of the management. She raised issues and involved everyone senior and junior person on the team. Later, the email backfired on her because the management looked at the issues and pointed out that the issue that was raised was actually the responsibility of my boss and not mine,” says a senior employee (who didn’t wished to be named) of a Mumbai-based IT firm. Thus, you never know how tools can turn against you.

In case you are pulled into the game, be honest, accept your responsibility and get your seniors on your side. “It’s always best to keep your manager in the loop or to have supporter from the senior management. This will only happen if the manager to gain your manager’s trust by being honest,” says Kaul.

Thus, the key to steer out of office politics is to be honest and to work outside of your ego.

Source:-jobbuzzblog.timesjobs.com