Jobs @ Career Consulting Limited
Return to career-consulting-limited.com
People |
|
|
 |
Surviving Office Politics
It's your first month in a new position and it's rougher going than you'd anticipated. You feel like an outsider and you're miserable. Pondering how this happened, you nostalgically recall how comfortable and well-liked you felt in your last job. Not only do you possess the requisite skills to do well in your new position, you've also built a solid reputation in this field. Yet, you are floundering. Badly. It's not the actual work that is driving you crazy; you like the work. Even the long hours are not the problem. It's the emotional undercurrents, gossiping and backstabbing thickening the air that you find exhausting. You can't seem to find your feet and get traction in your new environment. And people have started to notice and are making comments. What the heck is going on here? Welcome to the world of office politics. Here are tips to help you survive and thrive: ? Find a mentor - either inside or outside the company. A mentor can offer advice, counsel and act as a sounding board. Getting objective, professional support is crucial. ? Take notice of who performs well in your company. Observe their use of language, tone of voice, confidence level, and preparedness. Learn from their behavior and emulate it. ? Don't complain, gossip or join in backstabbing conversations. Kvetching will get you nowhere. ? Learn to read the company's culture. How do people dress and speak? What is the company's mission statement? How is it reflected in the workplace and in the treatment of employees? For example, if you work for an environmentally-friendly company, don't brag about your SUV. ? Form Strategic Alliances. Make yourself valuable to those with power, knowledge or tenure. Go out of your way to offer assistance. When you need help, you'll have established a network of supporters. ? Think before you speak or act. One impulsive, off the cuff statement or act can significantly damage your career. Silence is golden, especially when you are angry, tired or at a company-sponsored social event. ? Proof your e-mails for typos and politically incorrect language. Every message you send is being judged. Make sure you don't "bury the lead" in your e-mails. Get to the point quickly and end with a call to action. ? Request second-party endorsements. If you've performed well in an assignment or project, asking the manager whom you've helped to pass along words of praise to your boss is a smart thing to do. If they are willing to put it in writing, better yet. ? Hone your sense of humor. This can be your ace in the hole! It will get you through trying times and people will seek out your company. Learning to effectively survive office politics is a skill that you perfect with trial and error. Anytime there are more than 2 people working together, you can experience tension and conflicting desires. You'll need a tool kit of survival techniques. Start practicing now! Dale Kurow, M.S., is an author and a career and executive coach in NYC. Dale works with clients across the U.S. and internationally, helping them to become better managers, figure out their next career moves and thrive despite office politics. Visit Dale's web site at http://www.dalekurow.com/newsletter to sign-up for her free monthly ezine "Career Essentials," chocked full of useful career tips and strategies you can use immediately.
MORE RESOURCES: Careers at Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University Corporate Lowe's National Park Service restores some jobs of fired employees, pledges to hire 7,700 seasonal workers WVTM13 Birmingham 2025 Job Hunting: The Skills That Will Make or Break Your Career and the Fastest Growing Fields Investopedia Careers Baxter Commonwealth Job Fair Governor Tom Wolf Careers at USCIS USCIS Charted: Which Jobs Are Using AI the Most? Visual Capitalist Investigation: Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources lawyer worked second job on state's dime The Columbus Dispatch Careers ontarioca.gov Careers | Home USDA.gov Thousands of federal employees fired from US regulatory and science funding agencies Chemical & Engineering News Employment opportunities Department of Taxation and Finance Jobs City of Rochester (.gov) Work at Fairfield Fairfield University Store Hourly Job Areas Target Corporate Careers at TWU Texas Woman's University Work at Butler Butler University Jobs and Training at FDA FDA.gov Jobs at Liberty University Liberty News Work at the U.S. Department of Energy Energy.gov Careers at University of Missouri Health Care | University of Missouri Health Care jobs University of Missouri Health Care Careers and Jobs at CRS Catholic Relief Services Work With Us National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Work for the City of St. Louis City of St. Louis Career Opportunities UMHB Work for Us (U.S. National Park Service) National Park Service Careers BASF Career Opportunities Gilead Sciences Healthcare Jobs at Novant Health | Novant Health Novant Health Job Seekers University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Careers Washington State University IOM career gateways International Organization for Migration (IOM) Careers West Virginia Department of Education Careers at FEMA FEMA Jobs and careers | Veterans Affairs Veterans Affairs MTA is hiring for jobs with no education requirements or experience PIX11 New York News Meta slashes 3,600 jobs worldwide, including in the Bay Area KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco Future of Jobs Report 2025: The jobs of the future – and the skills you need to get them World Economic Forum UF Health Careers UF Health - University of Florida Health Fargo VA Health Care System Jobs And Careers | VA Fargo Health Care | Veterans Affairs Veterans Affairs Careers CrowdStrike MBA applications bounce back in tougher job market Financial Times Current opportunities Turner & Townsend Job Opportunities Bellevue School District Careers KPMG Examples of Jobs You Can Pursue With a Degree in Health Science Southern New Hampshire University Careers S&P Global Recorded Video Interviews Target Corporate Explore BCG locations around the world Boston Consulting Group WORK AT LVMH LVMH Careers at Jacobs Jacobs Surging job market could prove costly for households, businesses as odds of quick rate cuts fade The Associated Press Early careers NHS staff increasingly unhappy at work Personnel Today Work with us JPMorgan Chase Department of Public Health City and County of San Francisco Internship Opportunities | BCG Boston Consulting Group US job market soars past expectations in last report before Trump retakes White House - The Guardian Highest-Paying Engineering Careers in 2024 University of North Dakota Students and graduates JPMorgan Chase Careers at Discovery Education Discovery Education Careers Turner & Townsend Careers at Sinai Health Sinai Health Employment Opportunities Unity Health Toronto Careers City of Norfolk (.gov) |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Identity Theft and Your Online Job Search While identity theft is nothing new, the Web has opened up whole new world of opportunity for identity thieves.According to the FBI, identity theft is the top online fraud. Lets Talk About Trust I agree with Brooker T. Washington, "Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him. Searching for Jobs Online Searching for jobs online is easier than ever, but also more confusing than ever. Any Internet user doing a job search online will find that they can choose from hundreds of national employment listing web sites and the numbers can often be staggering. Dressing Tips for Interview Success Dressing appropriately for job interviews is one of those areas that puzzles some people.Should you dress conservatively or wear casual attire?What colors work best?What types of shoes should you wear?As a rule, you should dress conservatively for most job interviews. Any Job is an Honorable Job Seeing your job as an honorable job, adds more meaning and peace to your life. Also, seeing the honor in what you do now, creates an ideal foundation upon which a career change can be built. 7 Tips to Deal With a Bad Performance Review Q. "I wasn't happy with my last performance review. The Top 10 Ways to Achieve Balance in Your Life 1. Define Success for YourselfClarify and write down what success means for you. An RX For Your Résumé Whether you are an accountant, virtual assistant, or a corporate executive, your job skills are constantly refined. A new sales presentation you've organized or the new spreadsheet package you've mastered should be included on your résumé. The Myths of Career Change Chances are you already have many ideas about what it takes to successfully transition into a new career, even if you have never done it before. Some of those ideas might be useful - most probably are not. Overwhelmed and Overworked: The Myth of American Productivity Employment finally seemed back on track during the first few months of 2004. Politicians crowed that "Our tax cuts are working. Job Interviews -- The Real Reasons Why You Need to Follow Up Effective follow-up after a job interview is often a key reason why someone gets a job, even though there are other equally qualified candidates. Many candidates treat follow up as an optional add-on to their job search. Stacking The Deck In Your Favor Many people do not bother to look at their own magnificence and without that view it is not likely that we will recognize the need for strategies to maximize our strengths. When we buy an outfit for a special affair, we automatically try to coordinate each piece so that they enhance one another and amplify our sense of "looking good" from head to toe. What to Do if You are Over 40 and Have Lost Your Job Unexpectedly loosing your job can be a very traumatic and distressing experience at the best of times. If you are over 40 and can't find the job you deserve, you will need great inner strength and self belief to come out on top. 4 Tips for Making Successful Job Offers The interviews are completed, the paperwork is all filled out for Human Resources, and you have decided that this is the right candidate for the job. Now comes the formal job offer. How to Make Your Career Change Easier Despite what your grandmother told you, life is not supposed to be a struggle. The same is true for making a career change. Have Enough Money to Change Careers - Five Key Steps At every talk I give, I ask the audience to tell me the reasons why people don't change careers. The most common answer given each time is "lack of money. How to Change Career Horses in Mid-Stream You'll get wet but the reward just might be a more fulfilling ride!In Survival is Not Enough, author Seth Godin says change is the "new normal." Rather than thinking of work as a series of stable times interrupted by moments of change, Godin says we "must now recognize work as constant change, with only occasional moments of stability. When Your Job Goes Away: Seven Tips Q. "What do I do after a job goes away?"A. Business Dress for Women: Making Impact Buying a suit can be an important investment when you are trying to improve your look for business or career advancement. Wearing a standard off-the rack suit for business or a job interview does not always mean success. What You Cant Ask a Job Candidate is as Important as What You Can Ask As a human resources professional or business owner, you face many challenges during the hiring process, from sorting through stacks of job applicant résumés to making an attractive offer to the one person you believe best matches the specifications of your open position's job description. The whole procedure is more than time-consuming; it can be stressful as well.
|
|
|
| © Career Consulting Limited.com 2011
|