Do Politics have a Place in the Workday?
Elaine Varelas offers advice on navigating politics in the workplace.
Q: As you may have noticed, people have been talking about the election results and their opinions on it a lot. In a client-facing business, is this appropriate?A:
The election happened. Some people are happy and some people are not happy. Within a work atmosphere, it helps to think of the results of the election as similar to a plan within your organization—a strategy has been decided on and there is a path that you have to get behind and think “I’m going to be as supportive as possible to make this successful.” Any residual animosity along party lines in the workplace is not called for. Diversity comes in all shapes and sizes, whether it is race, religion, sexual orientation, or political affiliation and people need to be respectful of that.
Heated political conversations have no place in the workforce and neither do assumptions about other people’s political beliefs. If you aren’t working for a political organization, politics shouldn’t be a part of the daily discussion. You don’t know who might overhear your remarks and the effect it could have on your workplace relationships. One of the biggest challenges with politics is that people tend to hold long-term grudges and perceptions that can last long after the election. People form assumptions based on others’ political alignment and that can become dangerous if it starts to spread to unrelated aspects of work. If one employee learns that her coworker holds an opposite political belief, it might affect how she interacts with him on issues or decisions within the workplace: you risk an attitude of “I’m not going to agree with you on anything because we do not agree on this.”
One of the best things that happens at the polls is that they hand out “I Voted” stickers—not “I Voted For XYZ” stickers. That is what we should be proud of—and people who campaign for a certain candidate or fight for their values in other ways should be proud of that, as well! But a line does need to be drawn—you shouldn’t be campaigning against coworkers or letting politics create potential strife in the workplace. Influencing people outside of the workplace is terrific, but making your colleagues unwillingly subject to your beliefs is not. So, while reading news articles or listening to political podcasts (with headphones!) of your preference on your lunch break is one thing, bringing in 500 bumper stickers for dissemination at the workplace is another thing altogether.
Positive workplace conflict is always necessary to move the organization’s agenda forward, but political disagreements are not positive work-related conflict. So, as the presidential inauguration draws nearer, we all need to avoid trying to influence others’ beliefs, drawing assumptions based on politics, or letting our viewpoints affect our working relationships.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com