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<\/a>Other times, people with personal agendas or personal dislikes of other individuals will disrupt the harmony of an office environment with negative statements, rumors, and damning comments.\u00a0 We\u2019ve all seen this unhealthy form of human activity in an office environment at one time or another.<\/p>\nSo here\u2019s the advice:\u00a0 Never repeat, encourage, or even listen to the personal attacks by one individual against another within the organization.\u00a0 The first time you join in the conversation instead of stopping it, the first time you nod in agreement, the first time you take a side as a manager \u2013is the last time you rule over an office-politics-free organization.<\/p>\n
[Email readers, continue here…]<\/span>\u00a0<\/em> A boss has power that person doesn\u2019t often realize s\/he has, when viewed from the lens of a subordinate.\u00a0 That power becomes perverse when a boss takes a side in any disagreement that is personal as opposed to business-problem oriented.\u00a0 The result is almost always hurt, frustration and anger from the party on the wrong end of such manager reinforcement, and a loss of work time and certainly good will toward the organization and toward management itself.<\/p>\n To set the example by stopping the personal attack, refocusing the parties on productive work and moving on is to state by your words and actions that you will not tolerate such behavior in the work place.\u00a0 To ignore such action when observed is to allow one person or a small group to undermine the organization in subtle steps that can only increase in size and effect.<\/p>\n Worse yet, to take a side in a personal dispute is to reduce your authority and alienate one person or group and reinforce bad behavior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is hard to separate this kind of advice from economic lessons in running a business, when office politics can threaten a business in ways that are subtle, but sometimes just as devastating as economic shocks or continuing poor management. … Continue reading