How to deal with office politics

© Khoon Lay Gan – 123RF.com

Here are some steps to deal with such situations between your employees in the office:

Discover the power structure of your company. This will likely consist of three types of people: people who have power based on their formal positions in the company; people who have informal power in terms of experience or clients; and people who are simply popular. These people are also likely to have their own sets of followers.

Emphasise your own power in the company as its head. After you've discovered those below you with the power, ensure that they know where they stand with you. Then attempt to use your power to close the gaps between the different power groups in a way that will not dissuade your employees of your position of power.

Find out what each person in each power group needs. If you have successfully bridged the gaps between groups with your own power, it is likely you have discovered what it is that everyone needs. It is important that you balance every employee's needs with those of everyone else before making any changes to the current power balance.

Although office politics might annoy you, it is wise sometimes to leave it be. As an employer, you should not get into a spat about which salesperson has the best smile; however, if the spat involved accusations of assault, this is when you should become involved. In other words, use your power only when you really need to.

Navigate through the politicising that is taking place to separate the good politics from the bad: good politics ensures the upward movement of employees, while bad politics results in some taking unfair advantage. You should ethically intervene in bad politics, which is, for example, when a worker uses his power to piggy-back on another's work and take the credit for it.

Build relationships with as many employees as you can. It is important that you yourself are not seen as being at the head of a clique as you will lose power and respect. Being a part of the different networks in your company will help you keep an eye on your organisation's lifeblood.