Strict Boss, colleagues using bad words at the back, non-cooperative subordinates etc. are common activities you will observe in any office. Office politics is a very old phenomenon but if you say that you want to stay away from it, this could be a wrong approach. Lot of HR experts believe that abstaining yourself from office politics could lead to slow progress of your career.
There could be a possibility that your abilities are not revealed to its full extent and the success you receive is limited. You might end up getting more involved in office politics while trying to resist it.
If you wish to deal with office politics in a constructive way then try assessing and understanding your organization culture. You have to ask some questions from your superiors. The questions could be like, does our company assesses the short/long term results of an employee’s performance, how is this assessment done, to what extent is risk tolerated, what is the decision making process that is followed etc.
If your relation with your boss is not in tune, then try understanding his way of doing things a bit more. Keep a record of his communication skills and profile of the people in his network. Understanding that what type of proposals does he agrees to and what he refuses is most important. Try working on these things and very soon you will find that, you have become an important part of the organization.
Planning is necessary to be a successful person. Think and decide for how long you want to stay in the particular organization and work accordingly. Try improving your public image during that period. This will definitely give you a weapon to combat office politics.
Be prepared if someone asks you about your developments. Know the skill to praise yourself. Put your arguments confidently and support them with facts. Slowly you will realize that you have transformed into a better and successful Human Being.
There is a famous saying that “There is no permanent friend and no permanent enemy in an organization”. One should always take office politics constructively as a source of improvement rather than making an issue out of it. In the initial 1 – 2 years of your career one should try learning as much as possible. Your first year should involve just hard work and you should try inculcating knowledge of multiple disciplines during coming years.