Office Politics, Part 1: Gossip and Office Relations

At a radio station, office politics can affect your success or failure. Master it, and your chances for job security and advancement are excellent. Radio stations are a community of fragile egos, and it takes time to understand the people you work with. In a perfect world, you would be judged by your work and it would be all for one and one for all in the work place.

Sorry, it just does not work that way. Your ability to handle the politics and avoid office pitfalls will keep you employed. Office politics will usually get you fired ... not ratings. You'll have to test those who approach you to make sure they have good intentions. The keys are caution, patience and time.

Gossip

On a daily basis, co-workers consciously or unconsciously interrogate each other. These casual conversations can become the basis for gossip. Try to keep things close to the vest, and only tell people what you want them to know. Keep your personal and business lives separate. Spreading gossip can be intentional or unintentional. The causes can be jealousy, misinterpretation, ignorance, miscommunication, deflection or misdirection.

Jealousy: someone just does not like you.

Misinterpretation: something said is taken out of context.

Ignorance: for no particular reason spreads gossip.

Miscommunication: misunderstanding of facts or an assumption without rechecking the original source.

Deflection: attempts to keep the heat off themselves by trying to refocus others on someone else.

Misdirection: purposely shades the facts to throw others off the track of truth.

In office politics, gossip grows and takes on a life of its own. It's similar to the game where people sit in a circle and whisper a story to the person next to them, until it returns to the first person who initiated the game. Many of the facts will differ from the original story. Or, how about those fishing trip stories, where the three-pound bass that got away is 15 pounds by the time the story is told back home.

Exposure to office gossip is constant. Never repeat what you hear or offer an opinion during one of these informal chitchat sessions. Some people love to use others as pawns to spread rumor and innuendo.

If you ever find out that you are the subject of gossip, act dumb and never address it or change any of your behaviors towards others. Acting out of the ordinary such as trying to buddy up with the clique that started the gossip will only give some credence that the rumors are true.

Office Relations

You want to be judged solely by your work. Be a team player and stay focused and friendly. Attend company parties and participate in spontaneous station celebrations such as ratings parties. In either case, do not get drunk, and be careful what you say. Be on guard, even with people you trust. Overheard off-color party jokes can turn into gossip and an office political nightmare. Do not be paranoid, but use discretion. If you bring someone to one of these functions, make sure you explain to them what not to do. Going to lunch or an occasional happy hour with co-workers is fine. But keep your defenses up.

Be a compassionate listener. Fight the urge to offer an opinion on work or a fellow employee. Smile and use a lot of noncommittal phrases like: "No kidding." "I hear you." "Really?" "You think so?" "I don't know enough about that." "What do you think is going to happen?" "We'll see." "Can you believe it?" etc., etc. There are many things that you can say to stay out of the fray and remain above it all. Department meetings are the place for work-related opinions.

After a certain amount of time, a few actual friendships will develop. These bonding experiences will be special and probably last a lifetime. Cherish the reality and do not let it or others jeopardize your goals. How will you recognize true office friendship? Hopefully, after avoiding all the pitfalls, you will know an actual olive branch when it is offered. The best advice is to test the person to make sure you are right.

Next week: Office Romance, Request Lines and more!