‘Office Politics’: Are there any foxes in your workplace?

What do you think of when you think of a fox?

The words sly, cunning, resourceful might come to mind, amongst others. The reality is most workplaces will have some people that behave in this way and who frequently contribute to the ‘Office Politics’ that occurs.

There might be others who are more like sheep, mules or owls, I’ll leave you to think about what those might mean. It’s not about the adjectives associated with these animals being good or bad, but behaviours being used appropriately at work to create a positive working environment. Negative ‘Office Politics’ frequently leads to many unhelpful outcomes, including poor decision making, lower productivity and a lack of trust. It is also the second biggest cause of workplace stress in the UK.

Firms that actively focus on their culture and the political environment as an important part of that, frequently perform better than firms who don’t, reduce the amount of time employees are off sick and retain their people for longer too. This also leads to better client outcomes which hekps retain clients.

Understanding as an individual and as a team how you can be more positively politically savvy are key skills for improved individual career progression and company performance. Relationships with clients and prospects are extremely important, but so are internal relationships so that people work well together to deliver great client service effectively, and at the same time develop their own career prospects.

To help you think about this important topic in more detail – including how you perceive others and how you may be being perceived, as well as understanding the ‘political animals’ in more detail, request a recording of my webinar on this topic below.

I lead a lot of groups sessions on this topic, so if you are keen to see how this could help a team in your organisation work more effectively and improve how you engage with clients where there are multiple stakeholders, contact me.

A recent comment from such a session, which was emailed to me:

“A quick feedback 3 days after the organisational politics training. It is interesting and somewhat surprising how much the training has stayed with me. I have repeated several facts I learned in conversations with my partner and with several friends. After mentioning them even today in my lunch break with a friend, I thought to drop you a line with my positive feedback.” 

Growing your knowledge on this topic will definitely affect your degree of career success and the performance of your organisation. Read my comprehensive guide to ‘Office Politics’.