Leverage Politics at Work Effectively

Workplace politics is not a nasty term. It's a fact of life that you have to accept.

Effective office politics can advance career, influence decisions, build relationships, and overcome obstacles by gaining visibility, influencing decisions, building strong relationships with stakeholders, and overcoming obstacles in an organization.

People who think they "don't play politics" are often surprised to find that when they "take something offline," "socialize" their idea with decision-makers prior to a more formal meeting, or "simply have a talk" with someone they think might help them be more effective, they are really participating in political action. This holds true whether you perform these tasks in person or digitally.

At its foundation, office politics are just the range of informal, unofficial, and occasionally clandestine acts that people take in all organizations as they position themselves, their interests, their teams, and their objectives in order to achieve goals. Office politics may be employed in both ethical and immoral ways.

Leveraging politics at work offers numerous benefits, including increased visibility, stronger relationships, greater influence, improved job satisfaction, and enhanced organizational success. It allows individuals to showcase their contributions, build strategic relationships, influence decisions, and drive positive change within their organization. This approach fosters a supportive network and contributes to overall success.

A variety of political situations arise at work every day, whether you like it or not.

The four forms of workplace politics and how to utilize them to your advantage to grow your career and accomplish your objectives.

If you can wisely and morally balance the four types of political abilities, you can use politics at work to achieve your goals and advance your career. The four categories of workplace politics are:

Personal politics

Self-interest and self-promotion politics is what this is. It entails exploiting your unique qualities—like charm, charisma, comedy, or attractiveness—to win others over and win their favour. You may increase your relationship, credibility, and likeability with your supervisors and co-workers by engaging in personal politics. But it may also backfire if you go overboard or appear conceited, arrogant, or manipulative.

Relational politics

Here we have the network and relational politics. Building and maintaining strong connections with others who may either assist or impede you in your job requires the use of your social skills, such as communication, listening, empathy, and teamwork. Access to information, opportunities, resources, and support from allies and stakeholders may be obtained through relationship politics. It may, however, backfire if you ignore or alienate certain individuals or groups, or if you come out as a sycophant, gossip, or cliquish person.

Organizational politics

This is influence and power politics. It is coordinating your own actions with the vision, purpose, values, and objectives of your business and its leaders by applying organizational skills including leadership, problem-solving, strategic thinking, and decision-making. By using organizational politics, you may show your superiors how valuable and capable you are while also helping your organization succeed. If you come across as a danger, a rebel, or a conformist, though, it might also cause backlash.

Environmental politics

Context and change politics work in this regard. In order to deal with and take advantage of the external elements that impact your work environment, such as market trends, consumer wants, competitor activities, or regulatory changes, you must use your environmental skills, such as adaptability, flexibility, creativity, or innovation. The dynamic and complicated character of your workplace presents both possibilities and difficulties, which environmental politics may help you foresee and address. If you come out as a cowardly, reluctant, or complacent person, it might turn out badly as well.

The key to using politics at work effectively is to balance the four types of political skills in a way that suits your situation and goals.

Know yourself

Determine your areas of strength and weakness in each kind of political skill and make plans to develop. Recognize your desired perception of yourself as well as how others see you. Be sincere and dependable in both your words and deeds.

Know others

Know the needs, the expectations, interests, and motivations of the individuals you deal with on the job. Discover their personalities, inclinations, and communication methods. Respect their uniqueness and peculiarities.

Know your organization

Learn about your organization's policies, procedures, structure, culture, and customs. Find out where authority and influence come from both formal and informal sources in your company. Ensure that your objectives, beliefs, mission, and organization's leaders are in sync with your own.

Know your environment

Keep an eye on the outside influences on your workplace. Recognize the opportunities and potential obstacles that come with them. Adjust to the changes that take place in your surroundings.

Be proactive

Avoid waiting for things to come your way. To accomplish your objectives and progress in your job, show initiative and take action. Ask for advice and educational opportunities. Create networks and partnerships. Show your worth and potential.

Be ethical

Never utilize politics for malicious or self-serving ends at work. Avoid lying, cheating, stealing, and hurting other people. Keep your ethics and reputation intact. Uphold the policies and procedures of your organization.

Politics in the workplace are not dirty. As workplace politics cannot be minimized or avoided, you have to accept it as a reality of life. Politics at work may be helpful or detrimental, depending on how you use it and how other people see it. If you balance the four categories of political abilities in a prudent and moral way, you may utilize politics at work to achieve goals and advance your career. You must be certain of your starting point if you are to travel in the direction you choose. It's one thing to comprehend the fundamentals of political intelligence; it's another to evaluate your own performance against them.