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Dealing with Office Politics

Navigating the Minefield

"There's too much wrangling and maneuvering going on - I just hate this office politicking". "Joe, well he's a smart political mover – knows exactly how to get what he wants and how to get on." Whether you hate it, admire it, practice it or avoid it, office politics is a fact of life in any organization. And, like it or not, it's something that you need to understand and master to be sure of your own success.

"Office politics" are the strategies that people play to gain advantage, personally or for a cause they support. The term often has a negative connotation, in that it refers to strategies people use to seek advantage at the expense of others or the greater good. In this context, it often adversely affects the working environment and relationships within in. Good "office politics", on the other hand, help you fairly promote yourself and your cause, and is more often called networking and stakeholder management.

Perhaps due to the negative connotation, many people see office politics as something very much to be avoided. But the truth is, to ensure your own success and that of your projects, you must navigate the minefield of Office Politics. If you deny the 'bad politics' that may be going on around you, and avoid dealing with them, you may needlessly suffer whilst others take unfair advantage. And if you avoid practising 'good politics', you miss the opportunities to properly further your own interests, and those of your team and your cause.

Why work politics are inevitable: Some people have more power than others, either through hierarchy or some other basis of influence For many people, gaining promotion is important, and this can create competition between individuals, or misalignment between the team's objectives and those of individuals within it Most people care passionately about decisions at work and this encourages political behavior as they seek to get their way Decisions at work are impacted by both work-related goals and personal factors, so there is further scope for goal conflict People and teams within organizations often have to compete for limited resources; this can lead to a kind of "tribal conflict" where teams compete to satisfy their needs and objectives, even when this is against the greater good

Making Politics Work FOR You

To deal effectively with office politics and use it yourself in a positive way, you must first to accept the reality of it. Once you've done this, you then need to develop strategies to deal with the political behavior that is going on around you. The best way to do this is to...(Sign in to read more.)

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