Office Politics – Let’s Play the Game

As a recruiter, I spend a lot of my time in coffee shops, where I meet clients and candidates to discuss their future plans for recruitment, career goals and the insurance market as a whole. The one topic that never fails to come up is office politics, although we’re not always bold enough to give it that name. I’ve often wondered why that is? I think it has something to do with presenting ourselves in the most professional light and alluding to the very noble idea that we’re somehow above the pettiness that often takes place at work. Even if it’s not talked about explicitly, our inner thoughts seep out in different ways, this can be through body language, the tone of our voice or our overall demeanour and levels of motivation. Some of the people I meet with are very open about the fact that they are working in a toxic environment and it’s time for a change. They feel utterly helpless, disenchanted with their current circumstances and are looking for a new role. When I delve a little deeper into their work history, I realise they’ve experienced these feelings before, but haven’t we all at some point? What if I told you, you didn’t need to feel so helpless at work, in fact you could learn to take control of the way you interact with others to at least make your time at work a little more palatable?

When you think about your experiences, good or bad, you cannot consider them in isolation. You have to see them for what they are, and that is a result of the relationships you’ve formed with the people around you. One thing we fail to remember, is that we’re all social animals with different motivations, desires and goals. When it comes to navigating your way through work, it’s sometimes better to take a step back and try to see things from other people’s perspectives. Easier said than done right? Of course, because I’m talking from a completely rational viewpoint here. The fact is, most of us are completely irrational and are often led by our emotions. We react to things instinctively instead of learning to be proactive and get ahead of the situation. Do I think successful people are capable of complete rationality? No, but I think they’ve learnt to master their emotions better than the rest of us, and that’s why they get ahead. For us to be more successful in the work place, we have to learn to take time out, be patient, think strategically about our next move and never forget our long-term goals. If something doesn’t get us closer to where we want to be why would we do it? What possible benefit could come from giving into our lower desires just to prove a point? None whatsoever and that’s why we should always think before we act.

I’ve put together four points that’ll help you play the game at work and get you closer to achieving your long-term goals. By no means is this list exhaustive but it’s definitely a good place to start:

1. Know who you’re dealing with. This one’s important. We often make the mistake of projecting our own wants and desires on the people we interact with and we naively think that everyone we come across operates by the same inner moral code we do. This is wrong and actually pretty lazy. We should aim to find out as much as we can about the people we work with. Not to score points and use information against them but to genuinely show an interest and break down some of the social barriers that inevitably exist. We should never take everything someone says at face value because that’s the mask they present to us in a professional environment. Instead, we should learn to intuit the things that are left unsaid, their overall demeanour when they speak to us and the flow of their conversation after a few work drinks. Always be polite and always be curious. Another thing to consider is whether the person you’re talking to is more introverted or extroverted. The reason being, if you’re looking at things from two wholly different perspectives it’ll be difficult to reconcile your thoughts and ideas on any given subject. If you realise this, before you work together, you can be more patient and more considerate. Sometimes, it’s better to just agree to disagree.
2. It doesn’t hurt to complement your boss. This one’s a little sticky because no one wants to come across like a sycophant. The fact is, deep down we all have narcissistic tendencies no matter how repressed they are. Keeping your boss happy can only help your promotion chances and help get you to the next stage in your career. If you have a great idea, put it forward but instead of drawing attention to yourself, highlight how much you’ve learnt from working with your boss. This will keep them happy and also show you in a good light. If you overdo this, people around you will get jealous and form a bad opinion of you so like everything in life, do it in moderation and remember your long-term goals. Your boss is human just like the rest of us and he/she suffers from the same insecurities and frailties we do. Your boss could be insecure about their position and think you’re after their job. Even if you are, don’t make it so obvious. Learn to play the game.
3. Look out for body language. This is really important and should play a much bigger role in your day to day interactions. The fact is, you could get a promotion and be congratulated by the entire team. Some of these well-wishers are genuine but some of them are not. Trust your intuition. We’ve all worked with someone in the team who throws in sly digs, asks everyone if they would like a tea/coffee and then conveniently misses you out. If you get the feeling you’re dealing with someone like this, the best thing to do is not get drawn into their pettiness. Keep your distance. Don’t give them any ammunition to gossip about you or sabotage you in any way. Just focus on yourself and what you need to achieve. Put all your mental energy into your work and watch the results come in. As always, be polite but also be on guard.
4. Listen more and speak less. The majority of our time is spent at work, five out of seven days for most of us. As human beings, we love to talk about ourselves. We love to talk about what we did on the weekend, what our families are like, what our friends are like and what our upcoming holiday plans are. Remember, only tell people what you want them to know and don’t be na?ve. A lot of us wrongly believe that others wouldn’t use this information against us because we would never use it against them but that is a fallacy. People do not have the same moral codes as us. We’ve all been brought up in different circumstances, we have different perspectives and different goals. Do not reveal too much about yourself in a work environment and expect people not to use it against you. Be friendly, talk about your weekend but don’t go into too much detail unless you trust the person, and even then, be careful. The advice here, is to listen more than you speak. We all learn much more when listening to others as opposed to repeating our own stories.

I hope you found this interesting. Now go play that game.