How to combat workplace politics?

Sharing unnecessary things with your colleagues leads to office politics. Avoid sharing all the details of your employment and few personal issues with your colleagues. Foe example it is considered impolite to ask one's age or salary. In case a colleague asks you the same, you can politely refuse to answer. It can avoid a lot of unwanted future happenings.

In my views, workplace politics is a common thing and will be a natural thing between colleagues. But, problem comes when boss want to give some extra benefit to anyone of them and everyone try revaluate himself/herself deserving for the extra benefit given to any one of them and start find negative point of same person who may be there close friend/colleague. So, if company have a definite policy about increment/promotion and everyone should have equal chances for reaching higher goal and rewards should be same for the same. In the whole it is upto the boss to give office politics a happy discussion for the benefits of company & its employees in the end

Adopt strict discipline at work place. Do not share professional secrets to anyone, avoid unnecessary conversation at work front. Keep your diplomacy and wear your Mask at office.   

In every organizations there is this work politics and I think this is normal behavior to each employees for they want POSITION. The factors affecting this are RACE discrimination,  Seniority level, Brotherhood, Religion, WAGES ( the smaller your wages the more you strive to get the attention of your BOSS ) , and the last one is PERSONAL ( Others get your weaknesses through your personal life and behavior in the organizations, which this one is very INJUSTICE ).

focusing on organisation goals and work at hand maintaining exemplary behaviour with good interpersonal relations and co-operation with all without indulging in office gossip and office politics maintaining a neutral stance could be a way of coping with office politics and gaining a positive image. if you do not indulge people may not tend to drag you into such politiics - birds of a feather flock together. hope this sounds fair enough.

regards/kshantaram

You can not avoid being embroiled into workplace poliics,in spite of, that you are unwilling.The reasons being that workplace politics begins where the work ethics in dealing with officials or officers are not followed.Mr Alex ,here you are talking about combating work place politics as an head of an organization,so ,please follow work ethics and do not provide reasons of partiality either in promotion,transfers and sanctioning other fringe benefits.

Thanks for referal Mr Alex.

Politics and intrigue is integral to human psyche. Only experience will teach a person how to deal with and overcome such office politics and maneuvaring. You may get burnt once or twice but in the long run you get stronger and wiser.

 One should know which tool to use to handle office politics. This can be done if you show your inclination towards learning new technologies, concepts, ideas. leverage others with the education and new concepts you have, this will automatically create a postive vibes about you and gossips will take form of good positive learnings. This will benefit both the organisation and your self as well as your relationships with peers.

Office politics dwindles the productivity to a great extent but when it comes it comes with a force and ferocity of a tsumani. Even your subordinates can harm you and your reputation takes a beating, you become the hot topic at the water cooler.My experience taught me to play along with it rather than opposing it.  

u should have only one answer always ...------lol

Please see the book -Managing Politics and Conflict in Projects by Brian Irwin published by Management Concepts. It handles the topic well.

Objectively speaking office politics is part of a larger game at play within the organization inclusive of power tussle, ego and sycophantic tendencies all embroiled and the grapevine only adds to it.

Since it doesn't start the day one steps into office nor does it stop within office premises, one can only live and let live.