Office Politics by

Noman Khan
BME-1004
 What is Politics?
Politics is a process by which groups of people make
collective decisions. The term is generally applied to
behavior within civil governments, but politics has
been observed in other group interactions, including
corporate, academic, and religious institutions.
 What is office Politics?

Office politics is the use of one's individual or

assigned power within an employing organization for
the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond one's
legitimate authority. Those advantages may include
access to tangible assets, or intangible benefits such
as status or pseudo-authority that influences the
behavior of others. Both individuals and groups may
engage in Office Politics.
 Politics are Real and Unavoidable

• Not all politics are bad

• Realize that this is reality
• Expect politics in all situations
• Politics are part of human interaction
 Reasons behind office politics
While there is no specific reason why people engage in nasty office
politics, the basic motivation is the advantages that most people get
to reap by playing well at office politics. These motives are to:

• Gain power or leverage over others

• Get promotion that you do not quite deserve

• Gain competitive edge over your coworkers

• Avail other unethical benefits such as gifts, bonuses, and

reducing workload by dumping it on others
 What Creates Office Politics?

• Scarcity of resources
• A too competitive work environment
• Subjective performance
• standards
• Unclear job definitions
• Emotional insecurity
How To
Deal
With
Office
Politics?
 Surviving office politics
•It is almost impossible to avoid office politics

•Most of the time people get involved without ever

knowing what they are getting into.

•Since getting involved is not a viable option, you have to

learn a few tricks so that you can survive office politics
without getting too involved.

•Here are some fool proof tricks that can not only help you
in surviving office politics, but also be effective in
advancing your career the right way.
 Strategies which will help to get out of office politics

• Do your work with dedicated interest and loyalty.

Be punctual at work and try your best to observe
the rules and regulations of the company.

• Never join other voices to persecute the

establishment.

• Improve your knowledge and professionalism on

the job .
 Strategies which will help to get out of office politics
• Be the best at what you do, no matter how small or big the job.

• Do not brag about your achievement. Let your work speak for itself
or let somebody else do the bragging.

• If you have done a good work, it will be noticed and appreciated by

people who appreciate good work.

• Learn to get along with people who appear not to like you or whom
you may not like.

• Learn to know a co-worker individually and to not base a

relationship on what was said by another person.

• Never hold grudges or be vindictive -- these types of behaviors are

always counter-productive.
 Strategies which will help to get out of office politics
• Learn to have shorter periods of anger anger toward a co-worker
tends to adversely affect your work.

• Accept your imperfections. When you make error, admit it. The
cardinal sin on the job is to blame somebody else for your errors.

• Use your errors as learning tools for education, and job

improvement. This is how you turn your weaknesses to strategies for
success.

• Those who persecute others are mostly the ones who do the least on
the job. This is their political strategy due to their inadequacies.

• Be a negotiator between feuding workers, a fire extinguisher when

problems are brewing on the job.
 Strategies which will help to get out of office politics.
• Learn to identify and deal with thrill seekers of crisis. Once a
problem is solved, they will create another.

• Never destroy co-workers' work or denigrate them to

elevate your status.

• Do not bring personal problems to work

• Find a neutral ground to negotiate issues with the boss or

co-workers.

• Learn to respond without stress to stressful situations.

 Strategies which will help to get out of office politics.
• Improve your work ethics and spend the major part of the
job time producing.

• Never take a problem to the manager without having two

or three solutions for the problem.

• Be the first to try new procedures.

• Know your limitations, know the limitations of your boss,

do your best on the job and know when to stop pursuing an
issue.

• Your greatest asset on the job is your motivation to achieve

and produce. No matter what your job is, always let your
work leave a mark of excellence.
 Key to Success at Work
 How to be a winner at Work..?
 Key to Success at Work
Stay positive

Build relationships

Avoid gossip

Work hard

Communicate well

Remain neutral

Give credit

Speak wisely

Keep your eyes and ears open

Stay in your boss’s good books

Questions if
any ?