Have you ever been in a workplace where everyone engages in a heated debate every day?

Even if it isn’t a common scene in most companies, there are instances where you might catch employers and employees trying to one-up each other.

It won’t be an easy feat to cope with this type of challenging environment where you are surrounded by people filled with personal agendas, but it is certainly possible.

These steps might just help you adapt to office politics so things will end up in your favour.

1. Sit back and observe

If you are a new staff in the office, it is best to watch and recognise the people with influence and knowledge.

Take note of those who are well respected, who are the best mentors available and who has the most expertise out of all your colleagues.

2. Examine the informal network

Upon observing the individuals with knowledge and influence in the organisation, you will need to study their synergies and relationships to understand their social networks.

Determine who can get along well with others and those who find it tough to interact. Identify if the connections are based on friendship, respect, affection or professionalism.

Lastly, try to interpret how influence flows between the two sides regardless of whether there are any interpersonal conflicts or not.

3. Establish connections

Once you are able to see the strings in the relationships, you can start creating your own professional network.

Besides focusing on your own team, look towards other work colleagues, managers and executives.

Be more upfront with people who are highly-recognised and try to bridge the gap. Most of all, be friendly towards everyone in the organisation and try not to be too close to one particular individual or group.

4. Refine your interpersonal skills

People skills will help you build and keep a strong network. Emotional intelligence can also be the key to picking up on people’s emotions.

This will help you plan your way of approach. Always take the time to listen, and remember to take it slow when it comes to learning about other people.

5. Keep your tabs on negative politics

It may be a fair move to keep yourself out of bad situations. That being said, it is also good to keep yourself aware of gossip and manipulators.

Be alert and try to understand their end game so that you can evade or counter the consequences. Most importantly, watch your back as some people may not be so fond of you and will try to sabotage you.

6. Offset negative politics

Bring balance to office politics by introducing some positivity. Instead of talking about rumours, choose to keep everything you hear around the office to yourself.

Don’t take sides and try not to get yourself involved in any arguments or recriminations. If a situation escalates from bad to worse, there will always be a middle ground.

When you are voicing out your concerns, be confident and ensure others that you are only doing so with the organisation’s best interests at heart.

This article first appeared in jobstore.com

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