When the word “politics” is mentioned, one oftentimes tends to associate it with negative connotations. This word is typically perceived as a “perilous” game that results in unfair treatment, favoritism, unclarity, and other unfavorable situations.

However, one might argue that the notion of organizational politics is not adverse. Organizational politics are, in fact, inevitable. They are essential and could be beneficial when properly understood, embraced, and ethically applied.

This article positions organizational politics as a skill to be acquired and nurtured early on in one’s career. In order to do so, one should understand the two underlying roots of organizational politics, as stated by the Harvard Business Review article (You Can’t Sit Out Office Politics); relationships and influence.

On relationships

• Organizational interactions are the basis of everyday work. Establishing healthy relationships in a professional setting is vital in building an organizational culture and one’s own path to success. Leveraging the word ‘healthy’, organizational politics can only be constructive when relationships are based on trust, honesty, respect, and openness. Embracing others’ personalities, providing support as needed, and forming bonds with others are a few examples of how one can start creating strong ties with various stakeholders. In Enlightened Office Politics, Michael and Deborah Dobson define the phenomenon of organizational politics as: “The information and sometimes the emotion-driven process of allocating limited resources and working out goals, decisions, and actions in an environment of people with different and competing interests and personalities.” Capitalizing on this definition, part of forming relationships is getting to know others, their interests, and their personalities and establishing a robust dynamic. But more importantly, it revolves around considering and making sense of others’ emotions and acting accordingly while managing differences. In organizational politics, relations contribute to one’s advancement, as long as one manages those relations constructively.

• Establishing and managing relations solely for one’s own benefit (e.g., to outshine others) hinders creating a healthy work environment. Instead, it leads to an excessively competitive and unethical environment that might diminish others’ morale and performance. This being said, acquiring and applying the skill of building and maintaining relations enables one to understand and adapt according to others’ emotions and changing environments in a professional setting.

On influence

• Data shows that influencing others is a key competence in the world of work. Influencing others offers the opportunity to manage, as such, upward and downward relations with peers, and others, regardless of reporting lines and hierarchy. Influencing others has intricacies that need to be embraced. How can one influence others constructively, how could the act of influencing others reap desired results, and how can extreme persuasive skills lead to manipulation?

• Influencing others appears to be particularly helpful when supported by solid knowledge, relevant experience, robust interpersonal skills, and good behaviors. This approach to influencing others enables office politics in the right and professional direction, increasing drive and boosting productivity. The aim would ultimately be to gear behaviors and efforts toward a combination of organizational objectives while fulfilling personal aspirations in the best possible way. Contrarily, unreasonably persuading and influencing others with the aim of exploiting powers and skewing decisions leads to unnecessary undesirable political behavior.

Without a shred of doubt, the aforementioned factors (i.e., relationships and influence) might create a toxic organizational ambiance and spark potential retaliation if improperly understood, used, or worse, if utilized for manipulation. Leveraging relations within the organization, whether with subordinates, superiors, or peers and colleagues at large, to entertain corridor talks, gossip, take shortcuts beyond formal paths, or even get promoted away from meritocracy activates workplace tensions. Additionally, flattering others (e.g., in leadership positions) to influence decisions to one’s benefit (e.g., getting access to special bonuses, promotions, or even resources) decreases employee satisfaction and lower performance levels. In fact, a study shows that 53% of employees believe that engaging in organizational politics could get them promoted.

Alternatively, failing to engage in organizational politics – be it through failing to establish relations or positively influencing others – might result in missed opportunities, affecting one’s career and status within the organization. For instance, by failing to establish solid relations within the organization and create one’s own network, one might not be well-integrated and be left out of activities, projects, and succession. Sometimes, opportunities are missed simply because one is not present and active within an organization. Furthermore, promoting one’s personal brand and influencing others contributes to achieving one’s personal and professional objectives. A study shows that 55% of employees say they partake at least somewhat in office politics, with most of those doing so to advance their careers. The study found that 76% of workers believe that office politics affect their efforts to get ahead, an increase of 20% within four years. Yet, learning and practicing organizational politics ethically early on can aid in advancing one’s career and forming a resilient mindset that helps in coping with tense environments and difficult personalities.

The remaining question is, has the virtual workspace eliminated organizational politics, has it diluted it, or has it transformed it in the virtual environment? Organizational politics will always be part of the workplace, regardless of the environment itself. The need for building and managing relationships, as well as the need to influence others, remains at the heart of organizational culture. Albeit, organizational politics prevails, and one must navigate through it and reap the benefits of its presence. The virtual environment has somehow diminished social interactions and created a barrier for relationship building; for instance, office lunch/coffee breaks have significantly decreased due to working from home. Although the opportunities to interact socially with others have diminished, organizational politics are here to stay. The reality is that organizational politics are inescapable; this is why it all goes back to asking oneself, “should I learn and practice the science and art of organizational politics to a greater or lesser degree, or should I let it break me and foster a sense of blame?”