Office Politics 2024

70 more days. Some people want to talk about the two ton elephant in the room. Some don’t. Some people want to behave like asses. Some don’t. How much of this do you want in your business?

Politics can be just as divisive in the workplace as it can be in social settings. In the workplace though, there can also be an impact on teamwork and productivity. Political expression, like many other topics, can be curtailed in the work environment on work time… if you want to.

Private employers are not governmental entities, and do not have to protect “free speech.” You can shut down all conversations about politics and many other subjects that you believe are contentious in your workplace–during work time in work areas or on your systems. You have less ability to do so in the break room or on team chat apps like Slack during non-work time…and may not want to.

If you crack down too much on political talk, you could impact your culture and take some of the fun out of the workplace. If you shut down all political banter, will it sound too controling? If you are too lenient, you could have increasing hostilities between employees of different political persuasions. If you let anything go, what else goes with it?

As the leader, you have to gauge the appropriate balance between freedom of expression and boundaries. There is no universal, precise solution to this that will work for every company. That’s because each company has a unique history, a unique vision, a unique team. What works for some other company could be laughable in yours. What works in your company could be a disaster in another.

If you’ve taken the time to establish group norms that everyone knows and is accountable to, those should go a long way in terms of setting the boundaries for appropriate behaviors even when discussing politics. If your group norms and culture create a sensitive, tolerant, compassionate environment where everyone will be treated with the utmost dignity and respect, subjects like politics can be touchy. You have to either prevent offense, or be prepared to do the work necessary to restore harmony if offense happens.

If your group norms and culture make it clear that being blunt is ok, and that having a thicker skin is a needed trait, politics may be fair game. You may not need to prevent offense, because your team is made up of people who know that if they get their feelings hurt, they’re expected to brush themselves off and get over it.

Whatever your group norms may be, consistency is your friend. Your culture and norms will mean nothing if you don’t hold everyone to the same standard – even if their views are different from yours. As annoying as the political season can be, it gives you an excellent time for you to set an example and reinforce your culture.

This is a great time to demonstrate how to have healthy debate without the need to alienate! This is a great time to demonstrate active listening and actually hearing others with dissimilar views rather than using the time someone else is talking to formulate your rebuttal. This is a great time to “agree to disagree without being disagreeable.” This is a great time to show that a team can have differences and still be united, pursuing the same vision. This is a great time to lead!

It’s also a good time to be proactive. Reinforce your values and norms now, using politics as an example rather than having to react to things that were over the line after the fact. Talk about how your values and norms shape dialogue and behaviors in your workplace (on-site or remote). Otherwise people may take their understanding of appropriate behaviors and words during election season by the speeches of their favorite politicians.

On a broader note, savvy leaders often find that some of their best employees are polar opposites from themselves on many fronts. When you employ and value employees who are not just like you, you may find your limitations, weaknesses, and blind spots covered by employees who have corresponding strengths. When people in your workplace are united around a common vision and guided by agreed upon values and norms, there is unity…even though there may not be unanimity.

As annoying as all the mudslinging gets to be this close to a Presidential election, the workplace doesn’t have to get annoying. Stay true to who you are as an organization and hang in there. It will be November 5th before you know it. Hopefully the fun stops there.