Identifying Politics Where You Work

Political activity goes on in most organizations, but it is worse in some than others. The first step in arming yourself against political attacks is to look at the extent to which politicking goes on where you work. Look at the following statements and tick either 'yes' or 'no' depending on whether you think it describes your workplace. To get an accurate score, you must answer every question.

Statement	Yes	No
1.    Colleagues rarely own up for mistakes that they have made 2.    Official news often leaks out on the grapevine 3.    People talk about other colleagues behind their backs 4.    Good people rarely get overlooked for promotion 5.    People always share credit where it is due 6.    A lot of discussion goes on behind closed doors 7.    A few of my colleagues make cruel jokes about other people 8.    There are almost no cliques at work 9.    It is very difficult to keep anything quiet at work 10.    The best people usually rise to the top of this organization

Scoring politics where you work

Calculate your organization's score as follows:

Award your organization a point for every 'yes' that you ticked: but only for questions 1–4,

6–7, and 9.

Add another point for every 'no' that you ticked for questions 5, 8 and 10.

Analyze according to the following table:

Your organization's score	Comment
1–3	Count yourself lucky, as you seem to be in a lucky minority of people. It seems that little politicking goes on where you work. On the other hand, are you simply being naïve? Try asking a trusted colleague whether he or she agrees with your analysis of whether politics happen around you or not.
4–6	Your workplace seems average in terms of its level of political activity. But average does not necessarily mean that you should accept it passively. You may sometimes feel that you get less recognition and respect than you deserve. You may occasionally feel left out or looked over. Or perhaps you have a lingering sense that you do not assert your rights as much as you should. The suggestions in this chapter may help you to make your working life easier for yourself.
7+	Your workplace is more political than most. The advice in this chapter will go some way towards dealing with immediate problems. But after taking this chapter into consideration, what you really need to do is look at Chapter 3 to understand how to take preventive action. As the adage goes, prevention really is better than cure.

Source: From the book 'The Ultimate Career Success  Workbook by Rob Yeung