'A Few Tips on How to Succeed with Office Politics'

A Few Tips on How to Succeed with Office Politics

By Blog Stories at 06/25/2009 22:20

Politics has always been part of human life. The quest and struggle for power has always been the object of many stories, both real and fictional. I won't be talking about politics per se in this post. Maybe a political analyst can answer that some other time. In this post, I'll be talking about how you can win in this game--the game of office politics.

It is obvious from the paragraph above that every workplace that we work in is political in nature. That does not mean, however, that you have to fight with your workers, suck up to your boss (though that sometimes helps, I admit), and talking dirtily about your colleagues in order to win this game. It's about securing promotion and getting support for your ideas that will bring change to the office. Here are some short tips on how to win it:

• Define your career goals and determine if playing the game will help you achieve it.There's no point politicking with your colleagues if that does not go with your career plans. More often than not, you will really have to play the political game, but evaluate first what you want to do nevertheless.
• Create strong, mutual relationships. I think it's already a given that no man is an island. There will come a point when you will be needing advice or when you will need someone to help you come out of a sticky situation. Sometimes, you will also need these close contacts to bring about the change that you want (like, say, changing the brand of wastebaskets that you use in the office?). To do this, however, you have to help your contacts succeed as well. It's always a two-way thing.
• Observe and listen before making any decision. Look around you. There might be things that you did not notice the first time around but saw it thanks to some colleagues who pointed it out for you. It's a competitive workplace. It's useful to have someone who will be on the lookout for any of your potential mistakes.