Working environment

Every employee should expect to come into contact with workplace politics while carrying out their job in every firm. Most people have always found it difficult to maintain and reach a high level of proficiency in this area. Reardon and Dillon (2015) explain that along with other abilities, it requires knowing who to contact for certain things, understanding how projects are handled, and discovering how to stand out as relevant.

Different layers of political structures exist within organizations, and they typically take the shape of cliques. I have, however, made the decision to avoid joining any office clique. I have succeeded in doing this by making an effort to spend time with all my colleagues instead of seeming to spend much of it with a particular group. This aspect entails maintaining a professional demeanor with everybody. Such conduct has enabled me to avoid engaging in gossip with any clique members, which is a way they use to absorb someone (Smith, 2013). Nevertheless, it has brought about some advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages and Disadvantages

One advantage is that whenever a group is identified as detrimental, having no association with them proves to be beneficial. One disadvantage is that of no association with a clique designated as the top-performing group thus not being strategically placed to perform some of the best projects that they get to work on. In so doing, I am also deprived of some mentorship by remaining independent.

Conclusion

In conclusion, every workplace is deemed to experience some level of workplace conflicts, an aspect that is symbolized by the formation of cliques. However, I have chosen to remain independent of any cliques by trying to associate with everyone and maintaining a professional relationship with them. In so doing, some pros and cons have emerged that have an effect on my career.

References

Reardon, K. K., & Dillon, K. (2015, January 14). Office Politics Isn't Something You Can Sit Out. Retrieved May 19, 2017, from https://hbr.org/2015/01/office-politics-isnt-something-you-can-sit-out

Smith, J. (2013, July 25). How To Deal With Cliques At Work. Retrieved May 19, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/07/25/how-to-deal-with-cliques-at-work/2/#63fbc77c64ba