Office politics: 3 ways to slow it down

Office politics is sadly something most people will have experienced when working in large organizations. Office politics often show up as the of sharing partial information or even withholding information; excessive one-on-one, closed-door conversations and alliances which are formed off the record; vague leadership messages or sudden strategy shifts without clear explanations; informal cliques or circles of influence that wield outsize power; people who intentionally wait for colleagues to fail or make mistakes, then highlight these errors publicly; and finally, hidden critiques or gossip, which signal that people do not feel safe speaking openly.

Office politics show up when people lack the transparency into how the organisation works, how decisions are made, and when people do not feel psychological safety to provide feedback or hold others accountable.

Here’s 3 habits you can put in place to reduce the need for office politics:

1. Introduce top-down transparency. Set up consistent updates from the leadership team, on a weekly, monthly or at least quarterly cadence. This could be through town halls, video messages or a leadership update newsletter - esp. video updates as they combine immediacy, emotional engagement, and easy consumption . Create easily accessible channels where strategic updates are shared; tools like Slack or Teams are ideal for reaching all employees. Regular communication should strive to keep everyone informed about company performance, progress, challenges and any changes in direction. It helps employees understand how their work fits into the bigger picture and builds trust in leadership.

An example of consistent leadership updates are Google’s TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) meetings. Founders and most senior executives will stand up during TGIF meetings to share a recap of what happened over the week with the entire company. It can include anything from Google product updates to what they have learned from their mistakes or technical issues they’re facing. Anyone can ask questions and the top-voted questions are answered by the management.

As another example, Bridgewater Associates records most meetings and makes them accessible to employees, so they can see exactly how and why decisions are made, as noted by founder Ray Dalio in his book Principles.

2. Define a single, clear decision making framework Using a structured decision-making framework like RAPID (Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, Decide) or RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed) ensures that employees understand who gets to recommend a solution, who has the final say and who needs to be consulted. Make sure that the decision framework for each major decision is available to stakeholders, so that they know who gets to influence which decision, and in which way. Use the decision-making framework to assign a single accountable decision-maker for major decisions. so to prevent delays caused by endless group consensus-building. For example, as described in the GitLab handbook, Apple coined the term “directly responsible individual” (DRI) to refer to the one person with whom the buck stopped on any given project. The idea is that every project is assigned a DRI who is ultimately held accountable for the success (or failure) of that project. They likely won’t be the only person working on their assigned project, but it’s “up to that person to get it done or find the resources needed.

3. Practice radical candor for giving feedback. Radical candor, a concept popularized by Kim Scott, is all about offering direct, honest feedback while genuinely caring for the person you’re speaking to. It requires striking a balance between empathy and candor: you actively show you value someone by being transparent about both what’s going well and what needs improvement, and you follow through by helping them succeed. This approach fosters psychological safety, helping individuals feel valued as people rather than just employees.

Radical candor can help bring issues into the open and prevent them from growing and becoming the “elephant in the room”. To make this shift, start by modeling candor in one-on-one meetings: One simple approach is to have managers invite feedback on their performance first; a quick “What’s one thing I could do better?” demonstrates humility and signals that honest input is valued. Then managers can reciprocate the feedback to their team member with directness but also empathy.

Radical candor starts with genuine care for your team members as people, combined with the courage to be direct when offering feedback. From there, host open forums, such as weekly roundtables or “ask me anything” sessions, where individuals can raise tough questions publicly. Over time, these small changes build a culture of trust and authenticity, guiding everyone to speak candidly while still showing respect and care.

Over time, creating a culture of transparent dialogue minimizes backchanneling, reduces suspicion, and helps everyone focus on solving problems together, rather than maneuvering for power.