How To Navigate Office Politics

Office politics are an inevitable part of any organization. They can be helpful or damaging. Employees often want to avoid office politics altogether because of its negative connotations. However, employees must learn how to successfully navigate office politics in an ethical manner. 

What Are Office Politics?

Office politics, also known as organizational politics or workplace politics, are the unwritten code and informal power structure at an organization and the actions that employees use to navigate them. The actions can be self-serving to try to improve their status and advance their personal agenda, sometimes at the expense of others. Office politics involve collaboration, relationship building, and interpersonal dynamics that can have a positive or negative impact. 

“Though office politics can be used both ethically and unethically, at their core they are just the range of informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts that happen in all organizations as people position themselves, their interests, their teams, and their priorities to get things done.” – Niven Postma in HBR 

Office Politics Myths

There are many myths associated with office politics. A HBR article written by Niven Postma identifies and explains five myths of office politics. Niven Postma is the author of the book, “If You Don’t Do Politics, Politics Will Do You.” 

• Myth 1: Office politics are always negative. While office politics are commonly perceived as negative, toxic, unethical, and something to avoid, the reality is that they can also be handled in a positive and ethical manner. It is simply about knowing how to effectively engage with key stakeholders to gain understanding, support, influence, and connections. 

• Myth 2: It is possible to escape office politics. No matter how hard you try, office politics are inescapable. All organizations have some kind of politics that employees must learn how to ethically navigate. 

• Myth 3: Your job performance and career are not affected by office politics. Job performance and career advancements are impacted by office politics. The fact is that you need to learn how to speak about your work performance and clearly identify your contributions. By knowing how to frame office conversations about your work, you can smoothly share your contributions without the appearance of bragging. 

• Myth 4: Politics disappear in remote work. Office politics still exist in remote environments, but they may be reduced. Any informal interaction with co-workers can be a part of office politics.

• Myth 5: Political intelligence is a trait, not a skill. Political intelligence is actually a skill that needs to be practiced. It is not an inherent trait. Political intelligence is your analytical capacity to anticipate, map, and understand office politics. How you navigate office politics is called political savvy. 

Positive Office Politics Examples

Positive office politics benefit the individual and the organization. It is about helpfully using influence to make connections and facilitate change. Examples include talking about your accomplishments, praising peers, socializing, collaborating, engaging as a team, and volunteering. 

When employees act with kindness and form positive relationships, it leads to more connections, opportunities, and social invites. In order to support new ideas and work projects, it is necessary to form alliances between departments and obtain resources. Thus, positive office politics result in enhanced productivity and increased resources.

Negative Office Politics Examples

Negative office politics are what most people think of when they hear the phrase office politics. It is about manipulating people for your own self-gain at the expense of others and the organization. Negative office politics can happen in a variety of companies, but especially in those with a toxic company culture. 

Negative examples include spreading rumors, talking negatively about someone, participating in gossip, backstabbing, jealousy about a co-worker’s promotion, a cutthroat atmosphere, and not sharing resources or information. Employees may try to sabotage work, exclude people from meetings, or diminish their influence. Negative office politics result in higher stress levels, decreased productivity, low morale, a lack of trust, and high employee turnover.

Tips for Employees to Navigate Office Politics

Successfully navigating office politics requires a multi-dimensional approach. With practice, caution, and authenticity, you will become more comfortable with office politics and skilled at ethically navigating them. 

• Reframe how you think about office politics: Reframe the language that you use to think about office politics. Replace negative connotations with neutral or positive terms that focus on how you can successfully engage in office politics. 

• Understand the politics at your office: Each company has a unique company culture and its own dynamic for office politics. Observe the organizational hierarchy, the unwritten rules at your company, how decisions are made, and who has power and influence. 

• Practice political intelligence: It takes skill and practice to develop a knowledge of office politics. Focus on making observations, continuous learning, networking, and building connections both virtually and in-person. To become more politically savvy, Bonnie Marcus recommends in Forbes paying attention to three things: who has the power and influence, the unwritten rules, and the company culture. 

• Set personal boundaries: It is easier to stick to your personal morals when you set your boundaries in advance. This way, when difficulties arise, you will know when to separate yourself from the situation.

• Be authentic: Align your actions with your authentic self. This means following your personal values and beliefs without succumbing to peer pressure. Be honest and act with integrity. 

• Turn conflicts into opportunities: Learn how to turn negative conflicts into opportunities for growth. By utilizing effective conflict resolution strategies, you can anticipate conflicts and step in quickly to resolve them. 

• Use active listening: When you engage in active listening, you will build a stronger rapport with your co-workers and dissolve tensions with empathy. 

• Be kind: Choose to act with kindness, show gratitude towards peers, and do not have conversations about other people.  

• Proceed with caution: Successfully navigating office politics requires a cautious approach. It is a delicate balance between engaging in ethical office politics and getting drawn into unethical situations. Ensure that you always act with integrity, which will encourage other employees to do the same.

Tips for Employers to Create Positive Office Politics

Employers need to take steps to create a healthy company culture with positive office politics. When the leadership team, human resources, and internal communication professionals collaborate to improve company culture and office politics, everyone will benefit. 

• Engage in open and transparent communication: In an environment of open, mutually respectful, empathetic, and transparent communication, you will set the stage for positive office politics.
• Update your core values: Review the company’s core values, and consider updating them to reflect what is most important to your company now. Ensure that company values align with daily behaviors. 
• Prioritize collaboration and teamwork: In a company culture that values collaboration and team success, employees need to work together instead of competing against each other. When team accomplishments are celebrated and rewarded, it diminishes the negative office politics that focus on individual gains at the expense of others. 
• Model and reward positive behavior: When leaders model, recognize, and reward positive behaviors, employees know what is expected of them. Gratitude helps employees to feel appreciated and motivated. 
• Utilize performance management: By having a clear and structured system with performance management tools, you can support learning and growth, increase equity, reduce bias, and prevent favoritism.
• Support employee wellness: A company culture that prioritizes employee wellness and empathy will naturally combat the dangers of office politics.
• Create an employee code of conduct: When employees have a code of conduct, they can identify acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. They will also clearly understand the consequences for violations. 
• Seek feedback: Through employee surveys and exit interviews, employers can identify problems and monitor office politics. Then, they can create and implement strategies to make improvements that benefit everyone.