Scarred by office politics, how do we move on?
March 10, 2010 – 10:00 am
Dear Office Politics,
I have been unemployed for a year. I was laid off, but in reality lost my job because of an office mobbing. My opinion is that office politics is not a game. It has real consequences.
I worked for a company that “laid-off” four key personnel who had 48 years total with the company. I had been marginalized by two women in the company who were not my superiors and they fed information to the operations manager. She was overwhelmed and did not give me the opportunity to defend myself. They also led a whisper campaign that I was not aware of. I was excelling with the company and had a very good relationship with the CEO until they set their trap. These two women decided to send an email to the CEO. The got the operations manager to sign it. Two co-workers refused to sign it. I was laid off 3 months later. More…
Kiss-Up or Savvy Player?
You’ve seen them at work: those people who are always volunteering for committees, enthusiastically attending industry events, and being all “It was a team effort!” at department meetings. What’s your take on this? Are they supreme kiss-ups angling to look good in front of the boss. . . or are they savvy business people who know how to “work it”? It really depends on your mindset.
An employee of mine tends to play office politics
Dear Office Politics,
I have noticed an employee of mine tends to play office politics. She seems to be a work “avoider” and not quite yet a team player, yet clamors for a promotion within a few months. She seems to take a shine to certain people and is overall very friendly, but seems to have favorites.
Because of this, she tends to get herself involved in conversations and somehow finds out information that is none of her business – i.e. she knows who is getting promoted before any of us managers do. She has nosed in on conversations she doesn’t belong in (finding out how much someone else makes). She has exceptional technical ability which is great, but I need to channel this negative energy somewhere else.
What if “Casual Friday” went beyond your comfort zone?
Would you find it unusual if everyone at your new job strutted around in their underwear — as in this humorous (and far-out ad) from a U.S. employment website? In real life, the corporate culture of your workplace may not be so evident….
Can you change your spots in 2010?
BY JENNIFER GLUECK BEZOZA
February is already next week!… how are those resolutions coming along? If you haven’t yet made great strides yet, there is no need to be discouraged. You may just need a little insight into the Six Stages of Change to kick-start your action plan.
Developed by James Prochaska, a highly esteemed Professor from University of Rhode Island and author of the book, Changing for Good, the “stages of change” model is commonly applied to behavioral changes, such as diet and/or addictions, but can be applied broadly to any type of individual change. After losing his own father to alcoholism, researcher Prochaska studied ordinary individuals who were able to stop bad habits and/or instill new patterns in their life; he found that all changers, irrespective of the type of change, passed through six stages and used similar types of strategies at each respective stage. Therefore, what is great about this model is that offers a language to reflect on where you are in your own change process (and/or to muse on where someone else is), and to match appropriate forwarding strategies based on stage.
Boss’s wife visits wearing tacky, indecent outfits!
Offer your advice for a chance to win a book
Below is an actual letter that was submitted to OfficePolitics.com. Offer your advice to this person for the chance to win a book. Submit your answer below. For more info: Game Rules and The Scorecard
Dilemma
Dear Office-Politics,
My husband works in the oil and gas industry and mentioned one day that his boss’s wife showed up to the office in top form, wearing an indecent outfit. Since then, this mid-40 housewife is known to visit every day in tacky outfits and spending several hours around the office. It has left a bad taste in many of the other housewives and concerned employees against this inappropriate behavior, but no one knows how to approach the situation. Should anything be said to the boss?
Regards,
Simmering Spouse
Job ended so quickly it made my head spin…
Dear Office Politics,
I recently went through a new job situation that ended so quickly it made my head spin. I liked the work but didn’t fit in with the camaraderie atmosphere. I came from a big-city, federal job to my first small-town conservative, corporate job. Things that were seen internally as camaraderie felt, to me, like bullying. There was teasing about clothes and accents, innuendos about personal lives, snarky comments about colleagues outside the division, possibly defamatory remarks about a professional colleague. This was the atmosphere of our closed-door team meetings, and off-site lunches. I didn’t attend the offsite happy hours or parties in dread of how much worse the behavior might be with alcohol. Senior management are located out of state, and there were comments from my manager not to repeat things; one happy hour gathering was referred to as “the charity event” in email reminders.
SWAT – Seize the Accomplishment
New Book by Office-Politics Adviser Timothy Johnson
Office-Politics Adviser, Timothy Johnson’s 3rd book, SWAT – Seize the Accomplishment
If you’re a regular reader of this site, you’ll know how Timothy combines lively humor and insightful, down-to-earth advice to help people make positive change happen in the workplace and their careers. Here’s a classic piece of “Timothy Johnson” advice from his letter to Twisted Tornado of office politics:
“The first three universal rules about dealing with office politics:
1) inhale 2) exhale 3) repeat. OK, now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s deal with your problem head on. Yes, bad people do get promoted because of their upward relationships.”
SWAT takes that same “head on” approach to problems (and to managing the bad guys). The book centers around using systems thinking to plan out accomplishments. Staying with the business “fable” format of his first two books, SWAT tells the story of Toby Donovan, a middle manager tasked with “improving the processes” of his company’s call center. With some advice and mentoring on systems thinking from his cousin, Rex, who is the local SWAT commander, Toby learns that “Systems Working All Together” can be the best “Special Weapons and Tactics” available.
7 Tips Make Office Politics Work For You
Office Politics Getting You Down? Author and leadership coach John M McKee appears on ABC News recently to discuss how to make them work for you. John has seven smart common-sense tips…
Will Job Market Be on the Mend in 2010?
Lately, there have been a growing number of stories about the double-dip recession in light of bleak economic reports on factory orders and consumer confidence.
BY JOHN A. CHALLENGER
After starting the year with the heaviest downsizing in nearly a decade, the number of announced job cuts declined dramatically in the second half of 2009, providing hope for an eventual job-market turnaround. The turnaround should become more evident in 2010, as job creation finally begins to outpace job losses, according to an outlook released today by global outplacement and executive coaching consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Don’t steal my idea!
Imagine what your office would be like if everyone walked around with big signs saying, “Don’t steal my idea!”
It would be laughable — and it wouldn’t work. That ridiculous image came to mind when Globe and Mail reporter Dave McGinn, called me up for a story about co-workers ripping off ideas. Companies would grind to a halt if no one was willing to share their thoughts. So what can we do to create an environment where people will see that sharing their ideas is actually their greatest source of power?
Be Strategic to Achieve Your Dreams
Book review by Franke James:
Being Strategic: Plan for Success; Out-Think Your Competitors; Stay Ahead of Change
Author: Erika Andersen Being Strategic: Plan for Success; Out-Think Your Competitors; Stay Ahead of Change
One Answer to “Scarred by office politics, how do we move on?”
FEEDBACK FROM BROKEN TRUST:
Please, thank Erika for the response. Erika’s comments were enlightening.
My saga keeps getting stranger and stranger. The wavering partner seems to be taking everything that we have worked on and going back to the old company… The wound is getting deeper. I have absolutely no trust left. I may approach the CEO of my old company. This is very unethical.
Thanks again.
By Feedback from Broken Trust on Mar 10, 2010