What do you think of when you hear the words “office politics”? Is it all about “backstabbing,” spreading malicious rumors, and “sucking up” to the right people? If so, you’ll likely want to stay as far away from it as you can!
But, like it or loathe it, office politics are a fact of life in any organization. And it is possible to promote yourself and your cause without compromising your values or those of your organization.
Practicing “good” politics enables you to further your and your team’s interests fairly and appropriately. And, being alert to the “bad” politics around you helps to avoid needless suffering while others take advantage.
In this article, we examine why workplace politics exist, and look at seven ways to “win” at office politics without sinking to the lowest standards of behavior.
All workplaces are political to some extent, simply because people bring their personal emotions, needs, ambitions, and insecurities into their professional lives.
We all want to be successful, but we don’t always agree with one another about what this means or how we should achieve it. Office politics arise when these differences of personality and opinion become difficult to manage.
And we often care deeply about the decisions that we make, or that others make about us, so we seek to influence people’s choices. We can be straightforward or underhand about this.
Also, remember that some people will always have more power than others, either through hierarchy or some other source – you can explore this with our article, French and Raven’s Five Forms of Power . It’s natural to want to use, or increase, our power, but we might do so in a way that takes power away from others.
Finally, organizations have limited resources. This can lead to teams competing to satisfy their own needs and goals, even when this may go against the “greater good.”
