Office politics – Learn to live with it!

Politics at work place is not uncommon. Be it Microsoft or a small coffee shop around the corner, office politics will always be an integral part of your daily work- life. For a fresher, office politics may come as a surprise villain crushing him/her down. Like an alien in a sci-fi movie destroying the world with all its might and we humans run helter-skelter not knowing how to attack them back; until the hero steps in and finds a way out!

Office politics is just that, it is invincible. In real life there won’t be any hero to root this evil out because it’s simply not possible. Okay, if you are wondering “why not?!” here, let me explain.

We all are different, our personalities, our characters, our traits, our tastes, our habits, our likes and dislikes everything differs from one another. At home, we grow up seeing these differences and get used to it. The different traits of your mom, dad, brother, sister become normal as we grow up with it.

Once in a restaurant I overheard this lady saying “Oh, please don’t mind, he is being cranky the whole day” pointing to her little boy. In this case the mother knows her son’s attitude and she is okay with it.

But in an office we have no idea on what’s going on in each of our colleague’s minds. They might be going through emotional distress or rough patches or they might have had just as bad day as anyone else. Therefore, the way they react to simple things might be so abnormal or obnoxious. Some can be harsh or get angry just by seeing you. Some like to pick up fights for nothing and there are those that are short tempered. Few of them think they know everything and few others might bossy.

It is these differences that lead to office politics. If you have noticed, there will be numerous teams within an organization. Members are like-minded. You will get an entry pass only if you are the bird of the same feathers. Believe it or not you subconsciously will hold membership to one of the teams. Teams compete. You will have rivals and so starts dirty politics.

I was a victim of office politics once. I remember that day being so terrible I wished to run away into some deep forest. I was torn apart and did not want to see anyone. I hated everybody! Well, deep forest is one thing. That’s how I felt that day. However, I had to finish off the day at work and move on to the company accommodation. While sitting under the tree in the housing-compound brooding about my bad day I couldn’t help but notice one of our house maids sobbing just behind the kitchen. I walked towards her and asked her what went wrong. As if my day was any better! She finally gathered courage and told me about her evil supervisor and the way she was treated at work. Few of her colleagues that didn’t like her were best friends with the supervisor. I burst out laughing spontaneously. I could see her perplexed face through my tears. I controlled my laughter and apologized for my reaction. I found comfort as I wasn’t alone traveling that path. I explained how bad my day had been so far and that it is common and that’s the way it is; whether we like it or not. Eventually we both continued in our respective jobs. Few months back though she quit and found another job elsewhere. Life goes on…