Office Politics

Whether you’re new to the workplace or a seasoned veteran, you will likely encounter the perils of office politics at some point in your career.  Knowing how to navigate these situations to your advantage will help you advance your career and salary.  Failing to properly navigate may result in career stagnation – or worse.

If you’re looking for career help, some career coaching services can help you with you salary negotiation tips and general career advice such as how to ask for a raise, but career success planners are typically trained only to coach personal business transitions from one company to another or from one field to another (including salary negotiation specifically for a salary increase), but rarely do these career coaching services focus on dealing with current office politics to help individuals work through difficulties within their current company and job.

Before you can begin asking for a raise by proposing career advancement to upper management, you need to shake free of any office politics that may be holding you back.  Office politics may best be defined as work-related forces that can work for or against you depending upon your particular circumstances.

Management - though they may not mention it to you directly - will likely reserve judgment of you due to both direct and indirect observations.  Direct meaning observations and opinions they've personally made or formed.  Indirect, meaning observations and opinions they've made or formed based on what they've heard or observed from others about your work or behavior.

When managers are considering an employee for additional responsibilities or promotion, they will apply considerable weight to their decisions based on how a particular candidate performs in various work scenarios.  Managers are always looking for leaders who can handle added responsibility without getting bogged down in petty office politics.  Here then are 5 rock solid tips to avoid being caught up in office politics:

1. Terminate Unnecessary Chatter or Relationships - Especially those conversations that are not work related or turn into protracted conversations.  Be wary of co-workers who visit your office for leisure. 
2. Think "Work First" - Managers first want to see work completed before.  If you're tied up in a long personal phone call or a water-cooler conversation about last night's episode of "Survivor" while your boss is waiting for that report you promised, you're sending the wrong message.
3. Stay On Point - When meeting with colleagues or superiors, don't deviate, change the subject or avoid difficult questions with irrelevant dialogue.  While managers hate "bad news", they appreciate an employee who is willing to deliver information succinctly and early so corrections can be made.
4. State Facts, Not Opinions - Managers learn early in their careers that numbers are their friends.  Have facts, figures, statistics and support data at your fingertips when meeting with senior managers and only provide your personal opinion when asked.
5. Bring Solutions, Not Problems - Managers deal with problems all day long.  If you want to advance quickly and avoid office politics, become a problem solver to your boss.  Before long, you'll be indispensable as their top "go to" person for handling the difficult "challenges" that others can't resolve.

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