How to Avoid Getting Involved with Office Politics

Getting involved with trivial matters that have nothing to do with what one is being paid to do is simply a waste of time, especially in hr jobs. One shouldn’t feel the need to get involved, because the people who are focused at the task at hand are usually the ones most rewarded in the long-run. However, it can be difficult not to get wrapped up in drama due to nosy, bored coworkers with nothing better to do…like doing their own job. Below are a few tips that can help one avoid getting ensnared in the pointless flurry of events that only serve to distract one from doing their very best and getting attention from the higher-ups.

The first step in avoiding office politics is to figure out which people are the ones involved in office politics. One should not engage in conversation with them if it can be avoided, nor should they reveal any personal information that is not related to the task at hand. It serves no purpose in the long run and only gives them more arsenal in their gossip weaponry.

If one puts on a figurative mask when entering the workplace it will always come back to bite them. When one behaves like themselves at all times to everyone at the job, there is no reason for coworkers to call someone “fake” or degrade someone for acting certain ways with some coworkers and another way with others. Consistency is important when dealing with the type of people who analyze every action and word spoken.

One should keep a positive attitude and avoid insulting or engaging in criticism with coworkers they are on friendly terms with. This will put one on the same page as the gossipers, and will unintentionally trap one within office politics, which is what one should be trying to avoid in the first place.

The final step in avoiding office politics is simply focusing on the job. It’s hard for other coworkers to bother someone when said person is completely enthralled in getting the tasks they are being paid to do out of the way. Even when there is nothing to do, one can pretend to be busy when one of the coworkers that needs to be avoided is bothering them. Another tactic is to listen to music if it is allowed in the workplace, which allows one to blare out all distractions that are prohibiting one from getting the job they need done in an efficient time-frame.