If you think the office politics in your workforce is bad, imagine if your colleagues were really politicians. Working with other people can be the best aspect of a job, but it can also be the worst. Just ask Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott.
The term "office politics" conjures up power struggles, allegiances, back-stabbing, white-anting and malicious gossip. Some people seem to thrive on it, but it's misery-inducing for most of us.
![Most conflict in the workforce occurs because people are co-dependent – that is, they depend on others for their sense ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170712140719im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/7/r/n/e/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx8spi.png/1499763037431.jpg)
But office politics is also just a term for the relationships you have at work and it doesn't have to be negative. I've been blessed to have several jobs with generous colleagues who take pride in working as a team to achieve the best possible outcome. That's office politics too.
Even conflict isn't necessarily bad. "Positive conflict is seeking a solution; negative conflict is trying to defeat a person," says organisational psychologist Dr Phil Harker. "There are no winners in negative conflict, only degrees of losing."
It's easy to find advice on setting culture and managing conflict for managers, or "leaders" as they prefer to style themselves these days, but what about the rest of us? If you're a lowly worker, how much influence do you have?
Harker says if the relationship between the chief executive and the next person down is effective, that will trickle down through the workplace. But if it's toxic, it can infect everything and be very hard to fix.
For everyone else, it's about personal adjustment. You can't control your environment, you can only control your response to it.
Harker believes most conflict in the workforce occurs because people are co-dependent – that is, they depend on others for their sense of self-worth.
"If I'm dependent on outcomes beyond my direct control for my sense of self-worth, I'm in trouble because eventually I'll have to be defensive," he says.
"When someone becomes defensive, then fear becomes reciprocal. If I see you as an enemy, it will come through in my non-verbals; you'll pick up on that and get defensive, and I'll perceive that as offence."
A reader asked me what to do when senior leaders disagree. Harker says you don't need to pick sides. Try to help them get along if you can but otherwise, bring it down to the operational level and ask your bosses what they want you to do and when they wish you to do it.
"A well-adjusted adult doesn't have to align anywhere, they are internally consistent, and that way they don't play office politics but they are very powerful," Harker says. "They are not powerful over anyone else; why would you want to be powerful over anyone else?
"The peaceful mind always knows what to do in the immediate now; the anxious mind is always trying to second-guess what's going to happen."
I have a friend who swears her most effective workplace tool is the humble cupcake. She uses sweet treats to build team camaraderie and show appreciation for a job well done.
I've tried it from time to time, and found it especially effective to sweeten the deal when I need to ask for help. My husband, working with mostly younger male colleagues in the technology industry, has his own version, often buying a round of coffees, and occasionally doughnuts, for the team.
Let's call it cupcake diplomacy. It's a delicious form of office politics.
Harker calls this "managing from behind", and you don't need to be a manager to do it. But he says it's not necessary because a well-adjusted person is pleasant to be with, and people will naturally gravitate to you anyway.
Some people try to avoid office politics, keeping their heads down and focusing on the work.
To my mind, it's not really possible to avoid office politics altogether because workplaces employ humans, each with different personalities and competencies and ambitions, who all need to interact to get their jobs done.
Maybe one day, if robots replace all your colleagues … but then you'd probably be in the unemployment queue too.
Caitlin Fitzsimmons is the editor of Money and a Fairfax columnist. Find her on Facebook, Twitter and the It All Adds Up podcast.
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