OFFICE POLITICS

I have a major obstacle that I feel is getting in my way in terms of my career.

I feel that i am just as talented and intelligent as anyone else when it comes to working in IT.

But for the life of me I cant get my mind around "office politics". Iwas always led to believe that your work should speak for you. i believe a man should stand behind his word and conduct himself accordingly.

Over and over again i see the people who brown nose get ahead in life.

Any one have any ideas

Thanx in advance for letting me vent

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Silentsoul

I've been there dude, the only words of advice I have and don't take it wrong. Get over it, and start looking for a new job somewhere that your hard works shows and pays off. some managers are just that way, they are either baffled by the bullshit or just enjoy it. Either way you can either look for a job or play into the game, and that's all it is, a game.

bjaxx

Silentsoul wrote:

I've been there dude, the only words of advice I have and don't take it wrong. Get over it, and start looking for a new job somewhere that your hard works shows and pays off. some managers are just that way, they are either baffled by the bullshit or just enjoy it. Either way you can either look for a job or play into the game, and that's all it is, a game.

Coudn't agree with you more silent...

BeaverC32

I see this all the time as well...

Personally, I'm tired of it. Whenever I am involved in troubleshooting a production issue, I always feel people spend 70% of their time trying to prove they weren't the cause of the problem and only 30% of the time actually trying to resolve it. Too many people have no problem leaving out details if it means saving their hides, even if it means the problem may likely occur sometime in the future. I personally always call it as I see it -- If I make a mistake I fess up and learn from it, and we move on. If I uncover a problem caused by someone else, I tactfully point it out and handle it like a professional.

Unfortunately, most people I have worked with spend too much time trying to make themselves look good at the expense of the company and our clients. A classic case is when a web engineer caused an outage by making an incorrect modification somewhere (don't recall the specifics). He came out looking like the hero by showing what the problem was and stating how it was fixed, but he conveniently omitted how or why that change was made in the first place. Root-cause analysis here is a joke

I had the "don't step on anybody's toes" attitude when I first started out but quickly realized that it is the coward's way out of a problem. We all work for the same company, my responsibility is to do what is right for that company as a whole, not to protect egos. In my experience, this attitude helps me greatly in cutting through the politics of the office.

mengo17

Silentsoul wrote:

Either way you can either look for a job or play into the game, and that's all it is, a game.

Do I need to say anything else?

malcybood

There will be politics everywhere you go at some level....unfortunately you just need to play the game as Silentsoul said previously.

In my experience most of the people that get heavily invloved in the office politics usually don't actually matter that much in the bigger picture! There are exceptions to the rule of course, so these are the ones you play the game with.

Stick to your guns and stand up for yourself, stay out of them and be your own person as much as you can, always look after number one and never brown nose would be my advice to anyone on office politics!

RATTLERMAN

Thanks for the responses

I had to get out of the office for a minute to clear my head.

Silent hit it on the head when he said "get over it" my wife says the same thing all the time.

I am at the point in my life where i cant keep starting over because i dont get along with everyone or wont play office politics. i am pretty much a straight shooter and i tell it like it is.

But telling it like it is ... is what causes the problem.

I get labeled as angry,intimidating etc etc just because i dont take any !@#$ off of anyone.

I understand that if i want to advance in my career and also in life i need to work on my social
skills.

I guess its just going to be a work in progress

BeaverC32

I'd rather get labeled as angry and intimidating than labeled as an idiot and a "yes man".

bjaxx

RATTLERMAN wrote:

Thanks for the responses

I had to get out of the office for a minute to clear my head.

Silent hit it on the head when he said "get over it" my wife says the same thing all the time.

I am at the point in my life where i cant keep starting over because i dont get along with everyone or wont play office politics. i am pretty much a straight shooter and i tell it like it is.

But telling it like it is ... is what causes the problem.

I get labeled as angry,intimidating etc etc just because i dont take any !@#$ off of anyone.

I understand that if i want to advance in my career and also in life i need to work on my social
skills.

I guess its just going to be a work in progress

Sounds like you need to play the game a little man - go do a print screen on someone’s desktop and remove all the desktop icons and watch them fumble around because they can't figure it out.

You’re in need for a good laugh I think.

I was told by mill manager to tighten our security down - so I enforced a password policy - sent out an email that there passwords were going to change every 90 days - some jackass wrote back to the company distribution, basically that we should be worrying about other ****. With a little help I created a dynamic distribution group and took access to the company distribution away from the user.

I guess what I’m trying to say is play the game, be a dick, show some love every once in a while. And also have fun at their discretion.

NetAdmin2436

I'm sure most of us have experienced this type of situation before and/or are currently in a situation where office politics is rampant.

An owner, his 2 sons and his nephew. Talk about family political BS. It's comical to watch them all yell and scream at each other though. The joke around the office is "who's gonna bring the popcorn to the next meeting?"

I just try and professionally state my ideas/beliefs and move on.

dynamik

bjaxx wrote:

Sounds like you need to play the game a little man - go do a print screen on someone’s desktop and remove all the desktop icons and watch them fumble around because they can't figure it out.

You’re in need for a good laugh I think.

I did that to one of the co-owners at a place I used to work. The other owner wanted him to move from 98 to XP, so after not being able to access the stuff on his desktop for about a week, he finally gave in.

Reminds me of this: http://thewebsiteisdown.blip.tv/ (watching or re-watching this is a great cure for office sadness)

darkerosxx

RATTLERMAN wrote:

I get labeled as angry,intimidating etc etc just because i dont take any !@#$ off of anyone.

I understand that if i want to advance in my career and also in life i need to work on my social
skills.

I guess its just going to be a work in progress

You get labeled as angry, intimidating if you're a peon. If you're a manager or higher, you're a leader. People don't like to see other people get stuff done, especially if it makes them look bad.

LarryDaMan

Sounds like you've got a case of the Monday's!

RATTLERMAN

LarryDaMan wrote:

Sounds like you've got a case of the Monday's!

LOL

Here lately they all seem like mondays

pwjohnston

There are only two ways around this.

Keep your mouth shut as much as possible or read these books.

THE PRINCE by Nicolo Machiavelli
and
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Sun Tsu's "Art of War" is good too, but a little dificult for those of a Western mindset. Also, it's become a bit cliche. Kind of like carrying around a copy of "On the Road" in College.

RATTLERMAN

pwjohnston wrote:

There are only two ways around this.

Keep your mouth shut as much as possible or read these books.

THE PRINCE by Nicolo Machiavelli
and
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Sun Tsu's "Art of War" is good too, but a little dificult for those of a Western mindset. Also, it's become a bit cliche. Kind of like carrying around a copy of "On the Road" in College.

I have read the prince and the art of war a coulple of years ago . Your statement about "western mindset" is dead on

wasnt really impressed with 48 laws of power when it came out.. but willing to revisit.

it seems like i was on top of my game when i was reading books like these but that was befroe i started working in IT and began the certification chase.

@# i love this site

TechJunky

I look at it like this...

I am here to make money otherwise I would gladly be doing something else from my home.

So, with that said. Do the best you can at work to make the most money you can. Don't take your work home with you and be able to create a line between work and your personal life.

Remember, life is nothing more than a popularity contest, the more people like you the more money, etc you are likely going to make. Sad this is how our society works, but it is so true. So with that said, play the game!

empc4000xl

If you dont get involved, then you are more likely to become a victim of it. Learn how to maneuver and be a great speaker and writer. Learn your job as best as you can from top to bottom. Also make sure that you do the opposite of old ways of doing things. IE share the knowledge that you have, bring people on board when you have a tough project. Learn how to network thought your company. I can go on and on.

RATTLERMAN

So i guess playing the game is inevitable.

i will be developing a plan of action... i have already joined toastmasters to work on the communication thing.

liike i said before its going to be a work in progress

dynamik

RATTLERMAN wrote:

i will be developing a plan of action... i have already joined toastmasters to work on the communication thing.

Keep us posted on how that goes. I'm thinking about doing the same thing as soon as I get caught up on a few things. Good luck!

Pash

There is an old saying that "nobody notices something until it's gone".

I am not saying you should leave your job or anything like that, but it's a hard fact of life.

Sometimes your gonna have to fire off those cheesey emails with everybody copied in saying how much work you've done. it may not feel natural but sometimes those blind fools in management need to see who does the real graft.

Kaminsky

Office politics is just inane day to day crap that people use to stop the job becoming boring or trying to position themselves for a step up the ladder at some later date. As someone wrote above, if you are not in a position of some power in that office environment, you really shouldn't be getting involved in it. You'll just get labelled a troublemaker and side lined pretty quickly.

You can't have a problem with office politics if you keep youself out of them. This means just getting on with your work and having normal friendly conversations with ALL other staff about their normal day to day things, the weather, the news, what their family has been upto, what they did over the weekend, etc. Golden rule of good conversation ... everyone loves to talk about themselves and their own lives, so give them enough little questions to talk about themselves and they will love you. However inane they are, you should make a little effort to look interested. Like any situation where you interact with other human beings, it's best to get along so you can get on.

When the conversation moves on to things relating to the office, you either agree with each person's view point or just change the subject to something neutral. Either that or suddenly make yourself otherwise busy so you don't get drawn in to giving your own opion. The moment you start giving an opinion, you are making yourself a player in the politcal game.

If you get known for making comments like they shouldn't be doing it this way, my way is much better or look at that brown noser, then you are simply going to give yourself a hard time when you may need those people you are slating later on.

Much better to stay out of it but friendly. be the steady Eddie. No trouble, always gets his job done on time and done well. Is friendly and well liked by his colleagues (you have no idea how really important this one is) and you will slip under the radar and start rising up without anyone realising.

Put it this way. If you were in an office with someone who was always negative or always moaning about something going on and was really hard to get along with, wouldn't you just prefer it if they just moved on ? Now think of it another way. If there was someone in your office that was always friendly and listened to what you had to say even though sometimes they didn't agree but was not critical of you. They were good at their job and did it with no fuss or hasstle ..... Which of those two people would you rather share an office with on a day to day, week to week basis ?

RATTLERMAN

Kaminsky wrote:

Office politics is just inane day to day crap that people use to stop the job becoming boring or trying to position themselves for a step up the ladder at some later date. As someone wrote above, if you are not in a position of some power in that office environment, you really shouldn't be getting involved in it. You'll just get labelled a troublemaker and side lined pretty quickly.

You can't have a problem with office politics if you keep youself out of them. This means just getting on with your work and having normal friendly conversations with ALL other staff about their normal day to day things, the weather, the news, what their family has been upto, what they did over the weekend, etc. Golden rule of good conversation ... everyone loves to talk about themselves and their own lives, so give them enough little questions to talk about themselves and they will love you. However inane they are, you should make a little effort to look interested. Like any situation where you interact with other human beings, it's best to get along so you can get on.

When the conversation moves on to things relating to the office, you either agree with each person's view point or just change the subject to something neutral. Either that or suddenly make yourself otherwise busy so you don't get drawn in to giving your own opion. The moment you start giving an opinion, you are making yourself a player in the politcal game.

If you get known for making comments like they shouldn't be doing it this way, my way is much better or look at that brown noser, then you are simply going to give yourself a hard time when you may need those people you are slating later on.

Much better to stay out of it but friendly. be the steady Eddie. No trouble, always gets his job done on time and done well. Is friendly and well liked by his colleagues (you have no idea how really important this one is) and you will slip under the radar and start rising up without anyone realising.

Put it this way. If you were in an office with someone who was always negative or always moaning about something going on and was really hard to get along with, wouldn't you just prefer it if they just moved on ? Now think of it another way. If there was someone in your office that was always friendly and listened to what you had to say even though sometimes they didn't agree but was not critical of you. They were good at their job and did it with no fuss or hasstle ..... Which of those two people would you rather share an office with on a day to day, week to week basis ?

You make some good points KAM

But from where I sit the people in power here reward those who they can control. The types who say yes to everything just to get along to collect a check. But these are the ones that always get promoted.

I am in a situation right now where a colleague who has all the talent in the world chose to kiss a@# in order to get promoted. He didnt have to do , his work is top notch. I guess he does it because he thinks his lack of a degree or certs will hold him back.

I am learning the hard way that you have to play the game sometimes. I guess I just have to man up and develop my game. But it stll goes against the grain from what I have been taught .

It is not as simple as getting another job.. you go to the barbershop and hear the same type of stories across the board.

But again KAM makes some good points ,its like taking cod liver oil it is good for you but it tastes horrible going down.

Thanx to all for responding .. you all are really helping me to work through this sticking point .

drthtater

How's this for politics.

A client calls the help desk saying that his computer is running slow. I take his laptop back to my desk and fin malware, spyware, viruses (virii?), the whole shebang. I remove the problems I found, and rebooted. Logged back in as him, and is still slow as all get out. I do a file search for large files. mainly I search for avi, mpg, mov files thinking that things like that in folders on the desktop will slow the boot. I find ****. Big no no here.

So I report it to HR. People have been walked out of the facility day of offense, for less. After 2 weeks, 2 weeks of "deliberation," he gets what amounts to a slap on the wrist. He gets his laptop back, after I remove the offending files, and reimage his laptop, subject only to random periodic searches.

I found out later that the director of HR here, who was leaving the week after the "punishment," was in the same fraternity and the same college that the offender went to.

Kaminsky

drthtater wrote:

A client calls the help desk saying that his computer is running slow. I take his laptop back to my desk and fin malware, spyware, viruses (virii?), the whole shebang. I remove the problems I found, and rebooted. Logged back in as him, and is still slow as all get out. I do a file search for large files. mainly I search for avi, mpg, mov files thinking that things like that in folders on the desktop will slow the boot. I find xxxxxxx. Big no no here.

Had a similar thing but the xxx in question was thousands of kiddie ****. I resisted the urge to go and hang the B*****d from a lamp post (took some serious control) and bypassed HR or the company completely and phoned the police myself.

Company wasn't very happy with me but the guy got put away for a few years for it !

SCORE !!!

To this day, my best ever break fix !

Igloodude

Just a thought, "angry and intimidating" is not necessarily essential to "straight shooter and hard worker". Polite, pleasant, and friendly isn't playing office politics, it's just another employee soft skill to use.

That said, if the knives are out in your office and they do value appearances over competence and effort, you're definitely better off using those soft skills to find a job elsewhere - such environments rarely change for the better overnight, and aren't changed by people that aren't running the show.

RATTLERMAN

Angry and intimidating are just HR words used to demonize what they cant control. I plan on improving my soft skills . They have their knives out looking to cut anyone who doesnt fall for the game. I guess they never heard of the saying "Dont bring a knife to a gun fight"

KGhaleon

For about half my day I have to work tickets, and I help out a manager by doing half of his. They redirect a bunch of his tickets into my queue so he can concentrate on other tasks...but I think he's taking advantage of me now, as he's been forcing a lot of his other tickets on me. I checked and he didn't have that many.

Just yesterday I was busy and running around, and when I came back I found some machines sitting in my area which he had dropped off because he "didn't have time to work on them."

I've worked on a number of tickets for him that were pretty easy, but he had given up on. The guy doesn't use google and just reimages whenever something can't be fixed in 2 minutes. The same for several other techs I've encountered.

Grrrr