ALT-1 Commentary Office Politics
Avoid office politics by always remembering this phrase, 'Work to live, not live to work'. Your job is not your identity, it only makes up a segment of who you are. Once you have this truth firmly embedded in your psyche, almost nothing of a negative nature should affect you at work.
Office politics can steal your energy, steal your peace, and at their very worse do fall under the category of emotional abuse. I myself have fallen victim to office politics on several occasions, here are the forms and what can be done about it.
AVOIDANCE
For some reason, everyone begins to avoid coming into contact with you, except when they have to. Memo's are deposited on your desk with a quick insincere smile, that makes you wonder what you have done. You haven't done anything, whatever is going on behind the scenes is not of your making, is not within your control and there is usually nothing you can do about it. What you can do however; the next time someone swings by is say this, 'While your here, I'd just like to let you know how much I appreciate you talking about me when I'm not around. Thanks ever so much!' Trust me they won't know what to say.
YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT
Suddenly nothing you do is acceptable. What you did last week was awesome, but now its not. Asking questions, is only leading to more questions and you are getting confused. This one is simple, it usually means they have someone in line for your job but don't have the guts to fire you. If you cannot complete a task, because a fellow employee or employer is trying to confuse you, simply state this. 'I see the way things have to be done, has obviously changed. Let's both save time. YOU write down in a clear detailed format how everything is to be done today and I'll do it!'. Then go back to your desk. Things will revert to how they were done last week in rapid time.
PUBLICLY EMBARRASSING YOU IN FRONT OF STRANGERS
I worked in a trade school once, and one of my two bosses was into mind games. He would wait until prospective students and their parents came to my desk, to come out of his office and announce I had not done a task to his liking. One day he came rushing out to say he could not find the sign out book for the school library. 'Ah Carmen', I responded, 'How could you possibly know I hid it just so you could come out and have something to yell about', trust me his face hit the floor, and he never tried that approach again.
PASSED OVER FOR PROMOTION OR NEVER HIRED AT ALL!
I once went for a job at a telephone Banking Center. The interview process was rigorous, and involved four interviews. At the end of the last one, the Manager shook my hand and said I was hired. A week went by, and the day before I was to begin work, the Supervisor called me, said they did not have all my information (although it had been faxed and received, as I had checked) and proceeded to tell me they could not hire me for this round of hiring. Oh yeah, she was washing dishes while she told me this! Gathering my wits I replied, 'Madam, if you are going to give me this ridiculous b*llsh* please at least extend me the courtesy of talking to me, and not doing your dishes. You do know telephone etiquette don't you after all you work for the CIBC'. Believe me I got her attention. I did not however; go to work for them. Who needs that mind game.
Office politics are alive and well. Many companies now have new employee's sign agreements of conduct of behavior stating they will not get into any behaviors that reflect negatively on other co-workers. Does it work? Sometimes yes, but then there are still times when things become a he said/she said situation.
So what is the answer? Any place I go to work for, I always state up front in an interview, 'You do have an employee hand book right?' And if the answer is no, I then ask what action is taken when office politics begin.
Works every time.
