Office Politics and How to Deal with It

Whether you realize it or not, office politics or politics in the workplace is a situation that you will almost certainly encounter. Examples of office politics are not always overt, they can be so subtle that you don't realize it and don't know how to deal with it.

For some people, this may not be something to discuss and is considered taboo, even though employees don't just need to complete tasks to completion without understanding the situation. So, what kind of office politics most often occur? Actually, what is office politics? The following is the explanation.

What is office politics?

Office politics is a term that describes political dynamics or strategy in an organization or workplace.

Generally, office politics includes all actions, power plays, perceptions and interactions between employees. These actions can influence decision making, promotions, and various other aspects of the work environment to the benefit of one party.

In the context of office politics, people may seek to gain power, influence others, or create collaboration to achieve their goals. The most common examples of office politics are establishing good relations with superiors, trying to bring down competitors, or trying to obtain fairly confidential information.

In general, office politics can influence company culture and how people interact with each other in the workplace. Office politics are often an unavoidable part of work that people must learn to manage in order to survive successfully.

Why does politics exist in the work environment or organization?

Generally, office politics occur in the world of work because someone wants to achieve a target or maintain a position in the office. It is not uncommon for these people to create rumors or gossip to achieve their goals. This is the most common example of office politics.

The Business News Daily website explained that, according to an Accountemps survey, at least 46% of employees surveyed said that gossiping and spreading rumors were the most popular office political activities.

After that, the person who is the target of the gossip feels unacceptable, so conflict arises within themselves. This can even harbor feelings of resentment and anger.

This situation will become a circle that gets thicker as time goes by. It is not impossible to disrupt the environment and productivity. Pete Sosnowski, Head of HR Zety said that bad office politics can ruin someone's career.

According to Chris Chancey, founder of Amplio Recruiting, a supervisor must have several attitudes to reduce negative politics in the workplace, here is the explanation.

• Do what's right not only for your team, but also for the organization
• Build strong relationships across the organization, not avoidance
• Create firm policies that support open feedback from colleagues
• Stop negative political behavior in their tracks
• Don't get involved in office gossip
• Don't keep your distance from employees
• In addition to representing the organization's positive behavior, supervisors are responsible for finding out the reasons behind negative political behavior

How to deal with office politics

Sosnowski explained that office political behavior can be caused by a work structure that is not functioning properly. Unfair treatment can also trigger someone to want to achieve something beyond their authority. To make it clearer, here are several ways to deal with office politics which often makes the office atmosphere uncomfortable.

1. Communicate openly with each other

Various strategic changes within the company can trigger bad office politics. Therefore, the management team needs to realize that communication between members is very important to straighten out rumors that occur among staff.

Create two-way communication between the management team and staff in a transparent manner by holding regular meetings, lunch together, or one on one sessions so that staff are more comfortable when communicating.

2. Do not tolerate political behavior

Each person's success should be measured against the company's overall goals. You need to be wary of prioritizing personal interests over the company, especially if it makes the office situation uncomfortable.

Give warnings and punishments for any behavior that leads to office politics so that the management team has a fair attitude and is on the side of truth and humanity.

3. Create ownership between employees and the company

When a company achieves great success, it should be recognized as a team win. A sense of ownership over projects and daily work is also important to overcome office politics.

When failure occurs, the parties who contributed to it are expected to take over. This is intended so that the error can be corrected and does not happen again. Office politics that occur in the world of work can be overcome if the managerial team takes a stand and can take sides more fairly.