Office Politics

Just wondering how some of you deal with the office bullshit uh... politics at your spots. We've got one kid who averages, on a good week, one story and is as useless as they come. However, he gets a free pass because he kisses ass non-stop. It's kinda sad to see how he gets treated like a king around the office while other workers who bust their ass get shitted on. Just wondering how some of you would deal with this situation and if you've had this situation at your work spots.

 

It is basically just the way of the world.

But, you should learn to distinguish between the types who either complain or suck up and leave it at that, and those who will actually go out of their way to stick a knife in your back.

 

For now, I'd make your own allies and encourage your frustrated co-workers to do the same. If you're still getting respect, not sure it matters much.

If and only if it comes to it, you go straight to the folks who are handing out a free pass, and ask, simply but firmly: Why are you showing person X preferential treatment for substandard work? Then make your case. Have evidence.

We used to see this quite a bit with internships; you'd notice one or two students would get pulled aside for a private lunch with the paper's rep and the internship coordinator while everybody else got the 10-minute stab at impressing the rep. I'd encourage students then to be confront their coordinator and get a direct answer.

 

I usually don't deal with the office politics too well. When it gets to a point where it pisses me off enough, I find a new job, ANY new job.
I'm jumped into some shitty situations, but they usually made me feel better than where I was.

 

Sorry things are sucking, Palmetto.

On a semi-related note, is the past tense form of the verb shit shitted or shit?

 

News flash: EVERYONE deals with office politics. Even the people who have offices at home. Either you face the Asshole SE or the Dipshit ME or the Shit For Brains Publisher or you deal with The Real Boss Who Wears A Dress When She/He Damn Well Feels Like It who's screaming at you for the millionth time to come to dinner, dammit!

You cannot get away from office politics no matter how hard you try. It's impossible.

Form your alliances (ain't no one learned shit from Survivor?), keep notes of what goes on at the office in the event you need to file a grievance, etc. Make sure you have a job offer in hand before you say sayonara.

 

i always thought it was shat

 

I, too, have used shat but didn't think it was real

 

I, too, have really shat. I mean, really, shat.

 

Call me paranoid, but I do this. I have a little day planner that lists every single thing I did during the day - and the time at which I did them, and how look each task took me.

I mark down my hours, OT, ideas I pitched, you name it.

And I also monitor some of the worst employees, just so I have something to discuss and examples to use if I'm ever called to task on something.

I trust no one.

 

I worked very hard to get into a situation where I never, ever go into the office, for this very reason. Don't want to deal with it.
RE ass-kissers ... you have to hope, especially in the current stripped-down work enviornment, that even the dimmest bosses will start looking hard at what gets produced by whom, instead of valuing flattery.

 

I refuse to play the office politics game.

I do my job, I do it well, and as long as my section isn't being wrecked by other people's mess-ups, I don't give a hoot what anyone else does. If my section is being wrecked by someone else's mess-ups, I'll say something. Diplomatically, for the most part, but I'll say something.

But then again, I'm an old lady who quit putting up with other people's crap years ago.