辦公室政治很難搞？4個小妙招就能掌控
According to a new survey released by staffing firm Accountemps of Robert Half, 80 percent of employees deal with office politics in their workplace. Of these workers, 46 percent said that gossiping and spreading rumors is the most common office politics activity, followed by flattering the boss to gain their favor and taking credit for others’ work.
根據羅致恆富的人力資源公司Accountemps最近發佈的一項調查顯示，有百分之八十的員工都在工作環境中面對着各種各樣的辦公室政治。在這些員工之中，有百分之四十六的受訪者表示，八卦和傳播謠言是最常見的辦公室政治活動，然後便是拍老闆馬屁，以及搶別人的功勞。
Regardless of how you feel about these activities, the reality is that 76% of workers believe that participating in office politics is very or somewhat necessary to get ahead. So whether you’re an active campaigner or silent voter, it could be beneficial to throw your hat into the political ring when it comes to what’s important to you - your career. Here are several ways to tactfully be your own best “campaign manager.”
不管你對這些辦公室政治的現象有什麼感想，事實上有百分之七十六的員工都認爲，參與職場政治是“非常”或者某種程度上“必須”面對的。所以不管你是一名積極的競選者或安靜的投票者（比喻競選活動），當談論到什麼對你是重要的時候，你把自己投身於政治活動的圈子裏，這麼做有可能讓你獲益良多——就事業發展而言。下面爲你介紹幾種成爲自己的最佳“競選經理”的策略。
1. Be aware. 1. 要有意識。
Some employees are exposed to office politics from the first day on the job, while others may not get a sense of the landscape for months. Office politics can be dynamic and of course, change over time, so you need to be aware of the environment at all times and, most importantly, know how to react to fluctuations. Keep it simple by being straightforward but polite. If colleagues attempt to engage you in gossip, whether subtle or not so subtle, simply state, “I prefer not to get involved in talking about others.” End of story. If others take credit for your work, state, “I worked on that and as I recall, took the lead on some core elements of the project.” Stick up for yourself.
有些員工在工作的第一天就接觸到了辦公室政治，而有的員工加入公司好幾個月都可能沒有一點意識。辦公室政治可以是動態的，當然會不時地改變，所以你無論何時都需要對環境有意識，並且最重要的是，知道如何對動盪的情況作出反應。簡單點，表現直接但又不失禮。如果你的同事們試圖把你拉進八卦圈子裏，無論那是程度細微的還是嚴重的，你只需簡單的表達“我不太喜歡談論別人的事情。”就能結束一切了。如果別人搶了你的功勞，那麼你可以說“我跟進了那個任務，我還記得我負責了那個項目的某幾個核心要素。”要爲自己發聲。
2. Pay (close) attention during the job interview. 2. 在面試的過程中（密切）關注。
Even before you’re a political player on high alert as an employee, it’s critical to pay attention to clues about the nature of office politics during your job interview. This applies to a job with a new company as well as when you’re interviewing internally, as some departments may be more political than others. Observe how your prospective boss interacts with their boss.
即使在你這名員工升級爲一名高度警惕的政治玩家之前，在面試的時候細心留意辦公室政治的本質也是至關重要的。這一點同樣適用於無論是另一家公司的職位，還是公司內部面試，因爲某些部門可能會比別的部門的政治色彩更濃重。細心觀察你的潛在僱主是如何與他們的上司打交道的。
Ask how long it takes to get promoted and what skills are necessary to reach the next level. Watch and listen — the corporate culture can speak volumes. Granted, often times it’s challenging to pick up on things like gossip during an actual interview, but the more you heighten your senses and make the most of the time you have with your potential managers and colleagues, the better off you’ll be in the long run. Remember, if you sense something’s off, such as a seemingly cutthroat culture filled with political landmines, you can always withdraw your candidacy. When I was a corporate recruiter, it wasn’t uncommon for a candidate to withdraw from the running on occasion. You’re interviewing the employer as much as they’re interviewing you.
詢問一下面試官，在這個職位需要花多少時間才能獲得晉升的機會，以及有哪些必備的技能有助達到下一個階段。用眼看，用耳聽——公司文化大有文章。假如，在真實面試有很多時候很難注意到一些事情，比如八卦，但是當你越保持高度緊張，充分利用與潛在僱主和同事交談的時間，對你的長遠發展來說就越有好處。請謹記，如果你感到某些事情不着邊際，比如看似充滿着政治地雷的殘酷文化，你總能做出退出的決定。當我曾經是一名公司招聘者的時候，求職者臨時退出的現象並非不常見。他們面試你，你也在面試他們。
3. Play the game and pick your battles. 3. 參與遊戲並有選擇地戰鬥。
Depending on the level of the political game at your company, you may notice that people who gain favor with your boss tend to be assigned certain projects and team leads. If you’re looking to further your career in this way, take the initiative and ask your boss out to lunch. And if they ask you to lunch, always take them up on the offer, regardless of other plans you may have. You have to get in the game if you want to win.
根據你所在公司的政治遊戲的程度，你可能會注意到那些受到老闆賞識的人們一般都會被任命處理某些項目或帶領團隊的任務。如果你想在這方面爲自己的事業加把勁，那麼主動出擊，請求與老闆共進午餐。如果他們要求你共進午餐，那麼要記得在討論的時候提到這一點，無論你手頭上是否已經有別的計劃。想要贏，就要參與到遊戲當中。
At the same time, if you’re fighting a “battle” that’s clearly already been won by the other person, sometimes you need to concede to win the war. Let’s say your boss already knows there will be layoffs on your team and you present a well-thought out presentation with solutions like reducing your staff’s hours so they can stay on as full-time employees. It’s great to fight the good fight, but sometimes as hard as you may try, decisions have already been made. Know when to cut your losses. It’s nearly impossible for offices to not have some level of politics, but the key is to a.) know what they are and b.) successfully navigate them.
與此同時，如果你在爲一個別人很明顯已經獲勝的競賽而“戰鬥”，有時候你需要做出讓步才能落得不敗之地。比如說，你的老闆早已知道你的團隊將要裁員，而你展示了一個考慮周到的計劃，附上解決方案，例如減少員工的工時這樣他們就能以全職員工的身份繼續留下來。打一場漂亮的仗很棒，但是有時候不管你如何努力地嘗試，決定方案其實早已定下了。你要意識到何時該停止以避免更多損失。幾乎每一家公司都不可能沒有不同程度的政治，但關鍵是要：1）知道辦公室政治有哪些；以及2）如何出色地駕馭它們。
4. Start campaigning for a new job. 4.爲新的工作做好戰鬥準備。
All office cultures aren’t created equal, and when it comes right down to it, you should be focused on your career, not constantly managing political landmines. If your office is all about daily gossip, that’s a pretty good reason to consider embarking on a different trail. Since you can’t change the leadership or even the culture, ask yourself if the job is worth subjecting yourself to toxic politics day in and day out. The answer will probably be clear: It’s time to exit that environment and find a job with fewer politics so that your career — not your ability to navigate unnecessary workplace scenarios — can ultimately flourish.
任何職場文化都不一樣，所以當問題涉及到這方面的時候，你的職業重心就應該放在你的個人意願，而不是不斷地處理政治地雷。如果你的辦公室到處充斥着日常八卦，那你就有充分的理由考慮開啓新的軌道。由於你無法改變領導階層，甚至是公司文化，那麼你就要問問自己，這份工作是否值得你日復一日地蒙受有毒辦公室政治的損害。答案就會很明顯：是時候離開那個環境，找一份不需要接觸那麼多職場政治的工作，那麼你的事業（而並非你處理無必要職場狀況的能力）就能蓬勃發展。
聲明：本雙語文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語原創內容，轉載請註明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。
