We have all got used to working from home, so it can be tempting to forget that office politics exist, and breathe a sigh of relief. In fact, they are still rampant, and, in many ways, we need to be even more aware of them and make them more visible.

Business mediator Clive Lewis who specialises in workplace disputes, believes office politics to be so prevalent, that he has written a book, Toxic - A Guide to Rebuilding Respect and Tolerance in a Hostile Workplace. He describes toxic behaviour, bullying and the minefield of office politics.

“Such behaviour is not only simply wrong and damaging to its victims, it also results in reduced productivity, higher employee turnover and can often leave a stain upon the wider reputation of an organisation.”

I have observed toxic environments and the effects on the lives and careers of people first-hand. The need by leaders and fellow colleagues to control and be in control is at the root of the problem. My observation is that with remote working, this need has heightened due to lack of physical contact. This has only added to the ‘command and control’ approach with crazy back-to-back zoom calls and daily forecast updates.

Rethinking your approach to politicisation within your organisation is vital in the current climate if you want to avoid being outflanked. With your visibility currently reduced, now is a good time to stop, reset and ask yourself, in terms of managing upwards and sideways:

• What should my next 90 days look like?

• What should my next 180 days look like?

Many organisations have not allocated enough resources or thought to this new environment to allow people to work from home effectively. For example, they haven’t allowed for appropriate breaks,” he notes.

Remember the film The Good, The Bad & The Ugly by Sergio Leone?

This is how it translates to office politics:

The Good - when your visibility enhances your personal brand.

The Bad – when you are outflanked to a promotion, a major account or don’t get the credit for landing a major account.

The Ugly - a nasty exit that could potentially damage your career and is mentally destabilising.

Here’s how:

• Realise that managing upwards is very, very important. So, ask yourself what you can do to make your line manager’s career easier and to help bolster their image.

• Understand your line manager’s priorities, expectations, beliefs, and attitudes - agreeing those is vital.

• Try to identify the most pressing problems that your line manager has so that you can look to solve those problems using your knowledge, expertise, and network of resources.

My office politics light-bulb moment

Like most of us, I used to find office politics a complete drain. That was until a conversation with a much-respected senior leader changed my perspective.

He commented that politics was inevitable within the company and noted how well I managed the politics with my customers. I knew how to navigate large, multinational companies and FTSE 100 businesses and did so very well for my customers. With that being the case, why wasn’t I managing office politics more effectively within the company that I was actually working in?

It was my communication skills that enabled me to navigate so well for my customers, yet I found that type of communication challenging when I had to do it for myself.

Communication in the workplace can be extremely challenging and, as George Bernard Shaw said:

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

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