7 ways to use office politics positively

The term politics often comes to our mind associated with terms like bullying, backstabbing, harassment, indifferences and spreading malicious rumours. However, they are a part of your professional and office life that goes on just like any other curriculum activities associated with other organizations. Without letting your values get compromised, these politics can play or can be formulated as a ‘tool’ to promote and accelerate your professional growth. A ‘good politics’ makes you and your team function fairly and efficiently. Wasting time on ‘bad politics’ can hamper your productive time and cause needless suffering. Let’s look into why politics exist at the workplace and how they can make us win without sinking to reduce professional standards.

Understanding the informal network around

Understand and learn where the power and influence of your office lie by evaluating people’s words, their interactions and through any kind of social platform. Watch closely why gets along with the team manager well and with others around and who doesn’t and find out why that is so. If the conditions are valid for a person to be formal with others, try staying away and interacting more with informal people around, this arouses your social interactivity with others and develops respect in your working space. Don’t jump into group-ins or group-outs if not required at a time.

People skill development

Through politics, strong interpersonal skills are developed that will help you in difficult situations and build and maintain your network. Emotions should be reflected and shown when prompted and handled when they can be properly self-regulated in the right direction. One’s emotional intelligence makes a positive approach to pick another’s and make your approach likeable for others. Listen carefully to any unlikely situation that has come up, even if it has to deal with making someone negative and check for its validity. If not, make your words and emotions act and create a positive response.

Replace naive with bravery

Keep away from people who do bad, tell bad and make a negative aura around. Tell your instincts to stick to people who can influence others and make positive changes happen. Don’t ever show your naïve nature and let people cross-check and challenge your soft area of emotion. Rather stand confident and brave with effective expression.  It’s often said ‘keep your friends close but enemies closer’ because at certain times enemies can help you achieve and reach what your friends cannot. Listen to the gossip and manipulations that do better. Be guarded against negative spin which can sink your professional achievements so far. Avoid being from self-insecure people to prevent self-sabotage.

Establish connections

After learning how connectivity and socialism work around you, build your social network and channel to develop an atmosphere of positivity around.  Be the central topic of gossip in your office so that people can cherish your good learning skills, abilities and praise your challenging nature rather than spreading rumours. Look beyond your team and from good connectivity with employees, co-workers, peons, managers, executives from all circles to stay with current updates. Avoid empty flattery and never align too closely with others. Building a personal relationship at work must be avoided because later a certain time they cause problems and make your approach look illegal or inappropriate.

Evaluation of the organization chart

A formal organizational structure of your office can be circumvented through office politics. Plan and map the influential people, their gossip, action around you and check out their political power and reach. Never rank a person based on how formal he is but rank them on how they influence others around and bring better changes for the growth and learning of the company. People with authority tend to exercise them on others, so fall for those who can make your stay better and help you afterwards against any political disturbances. Be around who is respected and has a championship amongst others due to their brains.

Neutralize negative politics

A workplace can become positive only when there is no one fuelling fire into negativities around. Passing on rumours, taking credibility for nothing productive, showing smartness beyond recognition and disclosing confidentiality with anyone and everyone are some negative impacts to be avoided. Hence, remain professional at all times and don’t take sides or get sucked into unnecessary arguments. In a conflict, don’t try to be a winner but find possible solutions to the problems at hand. That can only satisfy others around. Don’t fear about own criticism, be assertive and confident where you can. Make your approach professional not a selfishly political one.

Make most of your reach

Build your brand through good politics and advertise your team profile by cultivating relationships. Share required accomplishments with your contact to open up gates of opportunity for you and your team to impress the boss. You can shine through politics and make a channel of connection between you and your co-workers. Don’t make any actions or make decisions that can cause your criticism later and demonstrate a lack of sincerity and character. Solicit feedback from others who have a different take on your work to learn the matters most important to learn at your office.