It should come as no surprise that every now and again, I'm likely to hop online to go surfing. Random searches return some of the most interesting finds.
I'll share some of mine with you....
For no particular reason, I searched 'office politics' - must have been left over frustration for last week - what I found were sites that gave advice, recommended books, counseling.
My first find was hilarious; office-politics.com - here is an excerpt from one of their articles – Ears burning? Your workmates may hate you, by Misty Harris, CanWest News Service-
‘The good news is, most of your workmates enjoy - or, at the very least, tolerate - your company.
The bad news is, nearly a quarter of them hate you so much they may be considering quitting just to avoid speaking with you.
So suggests a new online poll of 2,000 adults, fully 22 per cent of whom confess to despising their colleagues. One-third of respondents say they have, at one point or another, resorted to changing jobs just to escape obnoxious co-workers.
Stapler stealers, users of hip catchphrases and those fond of making "finger pistols" should consider themselves warned.
James, who is based in Toronto, notes that those who try too hard to fit into an environment that does not suit them will likely have their behavior interpreted as “false window-dressing” and will not be accepted by their peers.
Indeed, nearly three-quarters of survey respondents say they regularly gossip about colleagues behind their backs at the office, while 25 per cent conduct their trash-talk at the pub. Even more workers - 33 per cent - don't socialize with colleagues after hours at all.
Others express themselves through technology, with about one in 10 having conducted “sneaky chats” with workmates on instant messaging or e-mail. Not surprisingly, half those people (five per cent of total respondents) have sent an inappropriate message to the wrong person at least once.
“It's so dangerous to gripe via e-mail,” says James. “Never put in writing what you wouldn't say to the person. Of course, some people would say terrible things. So perhaps the better advice is “Never put in writing something slanderous that you might get sued for!”
Keeping quiet about the person signing one's paycheque may be hardest of all. Twenty per cent of respondents named their boss as the chief cause of tension in the workplace, while senior management emerged as the least-liked group in the office.
The 11 most despised office characters:
The Brown Noser (28.6 per cent)
Spends most of the time sitting next to the boss.
The No. 1 (17.7 per cent)
Has always done something better, faster, sooner, cheaper.
The Corporate Speaker (15.3 per cent)
Knows all the lingo to impress, but is usually more mouth than action.
The Blagger (13.5 per cent)
A serial sick-day-taker, showing up to work solely to blind boss with charm and fast-talking. Irritatingly manages to get first in line for promotion.
The Clock Watcher (8.1 per cent)
Arrives on the dot of 9 a.m. and has never been seen in the office past 5 p.m. Takes a full hour for lunch even if really busy.
The Social Secretary (5.7 per cent)
Organizes the office party, whip-rounds, cinema outings and lunches out. Is rarely seen doing any work.
The Letch (3 per cent)
Spends the majority of the time e-mailing women in the office.
The Toilet Weeper (2.6 per cent)
This type spends a lot of time locked in the loo sobbing over a personal crisis.
The Mum (2.3 per cent)
Makes tea, knows where the first aid kit is and always has a hanky handy in case anyone gets upset.
The Dieter (2.1 per cent)
Always trying irritating fad diets - low GI, Atkens, Weightwatchers ...
The Love Flop (one per cent)
Always single, constantly tells colleagues all about new man/women then moans days later when dumped.
As we do when we have an important question about ‘Man’ related stuff, we go to the authority (AskMen.com) when we have a serious question, we go to Wikipedia. Here’s what they have to say about Office Politics:
Office politics is a term for both the productive and counterproductive human factors present between coworkers, in any office environment.
Office politics differs from office gossip in that people participating in office politics do so with the objective of gaining advantage, whereas gossip can be a purely social activity.
Some aspects of Office Politics:
- Social alliances often form between colleagues of similar interests, and they may team up against other perceived competitors.
- Personal factors may divide the groups, often including age, gender, or ethnic background.
- Perceived or real romantic affairs often unbalance relationships.
- Competition for favour between two executives striving for the top may create cliques or teams within the organization.
- Those using office politics are nearly always the same people who deny its workings can be revealed and taught.
- Office politics are involved with information and mis-information. This bears on the formula for power: Information with authority permits the exercise of power.
‘Kicked upstairs’
One of the concepts found in corporate executive office politics is called being "kicked upstairs". This is when a disliked or underperforming executive in charge of some portion of a corporation, is said to have been promoted (and might report then to the person his current boss is reporting to), yet is given only a small amount of responsibility, if any. This may be viewed as either punishment or damage control.
This practice however is controversial because it is seen as too lenient, and a waste of the shareholder's money. Often executives stay within the corporation for years not doing very much work (see the Peter principle), but also they are often finally allowed to have real duties when someone else is disliked or fails. This whole process is very hard to discern from an outsider's, or analyst's standpoint. It is often revealed only later in famous cases in business biographies.
Following the formula information plus authority permits the exercise of power the Kicked upstairs phenomenon can be explained. People with excellent lines of communication tend to be better able to manage the productive use of authority than, for example, very competent people who are loners. Therefore if you have to promote someone it is wiser to promote the person who is well keyed into the organization with many people looking out for them, even if they are less competent, in favor of the highly competent person who does not have a network to protect their interests.
Everyone seems to have answers to the Office Politics question. Which leaves me to believe that everyone must have problems with it. It’s a tough go out there in the work place, us working virtually vagabonds really don’t know how good we have it – or do we.
Now we know there are some pretty interesting Office Politics stories out there – come on now…. Share them with us. (honest, we won’t talk behind your back, snicker or call you names….or will we?)
Have a wonderful Hot Cherry Day!
