Learning to play the game with office politics

Aspiring professionals can use workplace interaction to their advantage, writes Gabrielle Monaghan.

At best, the term "office politics" conjures up images of Ricky Gervais's cringe-inducing David Brent character in The Office. At worst, it evokes a culture rife with back stabbing, gossiping and brown-nosing.

However, the way an employee navigates office politics can make or break their career, according to a leading US business coach. Just as Irish voters consider the current political climate in the run-up to next year's general election, aspiring professionals should spend time analysing the political environment in their workplace.

"Office politics will occur anytime there are three or more people in a conversation, which is a very common occurrence in a workplace," says John McKee, a business coach who runs an online course called Seven Secrets of Leadership Success.

"It's imperative to use these opportunities to get yourself, your point of view and your ideas into play."

McKee differentiates between office politics, in which people participate to gain an advantage over others, and office gossip, which can be a purely social activity.

Indeed, almost three-quarters of respondents to a recent British survey said they regularly gossip about colleagues behind their backs at the office, while 25 per cent do so at the pub.

One-third of workers don't socialise after hours with colleagues at all. The online poll of 2,000 adults was conducted by 72 Point.

One in 10 admitted having "sneaky chats" with workmates on instant messaging or e-mail. Not surprisingly, half of those people, or 5 per cent of all the respondents, sent an inappropriate message to the wrong person at least once.

The survey also revealed that 22 per cent of people despise their colleagues. One-third of respondents said they had, at one point or another, resorted to seeking a new job just to escape obnoxious co-workers.

"The office is a lot like a family," says Franke James, editor and founder of the Canadian website Office-Politics.com. "And nobody knows how to push our buttons like a brother or sister."

The office can also be a political landmine that should be circumvented by drafting an "action plan" detailing specific, proactive strategies, McKee says. Such a plan is key to making the system work for you rather than against you, as is often the case, according to the business coach.

He offers a number of tactics to help people working in a highly charged political climate climb the corporate ladder successfully.

The first approach consists of keeping workmates and managers up to date with what you are currently working on or planning.

This is based on the premise that organisations hate to be surprised because it can often create a blueprint for personal or corporate failure. Communication of this form in many companies may mean holding meetings with people you don't like or respect, McKee notes.

"If you think withholding information will allow you surreptitiously to gain professional yardage, think again," he says. "Your concealment can easily be sabotaged."

Professionals should also have a mentor to help them gain an objective view of an organisation's office politics or to get a fresh and unbiased perspective on your personal working style in the company. A mentor need not even have to work for the organisation.

"A mentor is also a confidante with whom you can not only strategise your career but also vent about a nasty boss or co-worker and get frustrations off your chest without feeding into the office political game," McKee says.

Another tactic McKee recommends is asking open-ended questions to employees and superiors at all levels and departments in your company. This enables you to see the world as your colleagues and bosses see it and to understand what they deem important.

"Take notes and don't interrupt - you don't need to show how smart or experienced you are," McKee advises.

Professionals should also seek constant feedback from others and review everything, from what was said in a meeting they just attended to what the last corporate memo really meant, to how they performed in a recent presentation, he says. He adds that this approach may require after-hours socialising, but says that it is well worth the effort.

Keeping everyone who may be influenced by your programmes or initiatives aware of what's going to happen and giving them the chance to weigh in with their opinions or recommendations is another useful approach to office politics, McKee says.

The ideal result of this tactic is that you will gain their support or at least reduce any friction that could derail your longer-term success.

"Even in the worse case, where others won't support you, you'll have learned who is for or against you and the programme," he says, adding: "Knowledge is power."

McKee recommends, too, that you credit those on your team who deserve it, but don't miss an opportunity to take credit for your own work.

While men are typically credit hogs, which can come back to bite them over time, women go too far the other way, by giving the rest of their team so much credit that they don't get the respect they deserve from upper management for their ideas and work.

"These women end up watching others who are less deserving get promoted past them," says McKee, who is also the author of 21 Ways That Women in Management Shoot Themselves in the Foot.

The business coach's final piece of advice relates to how you present yourself to others, from your outward appearance and use of PowerPoint right down to the buzzwords and jargon you use.

"Your external facade can make a big difference to how you are perceived," McKee says. "Sometimes those in other departments or companies have preconceived opinions about you or your 'kind', however stereotypical or politically incorrect.

"Present yourself in a light that will better ensure acceptance and, accordingly, a better chance of success."