Office Politics

While eatting Taco Pizza and mentally gearing up for tonight’s AI (chews nails nervously), I was reading over a few of my favorite blogs. One in particular had a post I thought you’d find interesting. Pearsonified: Best Damn Blog on the Planet is the blog. Chris Pearson is the blogger. When I first saw the blog and read its tagline I knew it and I would be seeing a lot of each other.

Here’s a little teaser of a recent great post: How to: Kiss Corporate Life Goodbye

” The guy you call “boss,” who incidentally wears a monkey suit every day to work, says that this year, you’re worth a 5% raise. Who the hell is he, anyway? Who is anyone, for that matter, to tell you what you’re worth? This seems like a ridiculous concept to me. Each day, you go out and determine how much you’re worth. You determine it by producing, by learning, and by creating more value in your life and your work. “

Gosh I like the way this guy’s mind works. Everything he says is dead on and the way he says it makes it a fun ride.

Click HERE to read the post in its entirety. And while on the blog, be sure you check out the “Recent Letter to Someone I Should Have Beaten to a Pulp” post. The antagonist of the post is one of those people who make you wish it weren’t illegal to give a comeuppance to someone whose uppance has come.

Taco Pizza. Check. Blogroll. Check. Link love. Check. Scared spitless for Ace Young and Kellie Pickler. Check. Check.

There’s a pretty interesting article about workplace etiquette on MSNBC.com. Some you’ll agree with, but there might be one or two that you respectfullly disagree with.

For example, the author recommends not wearing cologne to work, and while too much can cause headaces for owners of functioning noses, I’m not so sure I’d want it cut out all together. A little is kind of nice. Except for those cats who smell like they marinated in the stuff. I walked past a man in the store a few days ago that nearly made me pass out. He was a red-headed version of “Herb Tarlek” (from WKRP in Cincinnati fame) and smelled like ole Herb probably smelled. I was just grateful my husband wasn’t with me, I know, know, know he’d have started singing the theme song.

One of the greatest themes song ever.

Here’s the link to the article: Rude Awakening in the Workplace

Have an awesome week!

Just found a quick and easy read over at Life Hack about office politics.

” Organizations are social places too. The economic basis for people coming together to work in groups and teams may be to achieve things they cannot do alone, but since people naturally enjoy being with others, the social aspect of work is never far below the surface. “

The post is full of info and has chunk after chunk of behaviorial observations like this :

” Office politics cannot be avoided, however many people regard them with distaste and try to avoid getting involved. Too often they smack of dirty tricks and the use of personal influence in the interests of a few, powerful individuals, conjuring up a picture of secret deals in back rooms and pay-offs in favors given and expected. Ethically, most instances of office politics tend to be dubious. “

And, in case you need more to tease you into clicking thru and reading the article :

” The upper reaches of most organizations are strikingly like golf clubs. There are hosts of unwritten rules of etiquette and behavior that you break at your peril. Being the best player is not always the route to the top positions. “

It’s worth your time and we’d appreciate it if you’d leave a comment and tell ‘em The Freaks sent you !

I saw a cartoon in a magazine I was reading last week that made me think. Not so much as chuckle, but at least think. The lady in the ‘toon was sharpening pencil after pencil in her electric pencil sharpener trying to drown out the Chatty Cathy or Blabbering Bob in the cubicle next to her.

Since I work from home I can pretty much control the noise around me, so I can only imagine how maddening it must be when people around you won’t just shut up. And I’m sure it makes you want to go 8 kinds of crazy when you’re working, trying to concentrate and the people around you are socializing, gossiping and laughing.

Like I said, this isn’t something I have personal experience with (My cat isn’t a gossip. Senile, yes. But a gossip, no.). I had to ask and look around for solutions to this possible puzzle. I’m a softy, so I’m excluding the one about rolling a roll of duct tape into the culprit’s office.

Here are the more subtle approaches:

• Use headphones if your office allows it and it doesn’t interfere with your job.
• Go to the person and tell them that you’re in the middle of something very important. Ask if they’ll help you out by being really quiet for a while. More likely than not they’ll get the hint that they’re making more noise than they realized.
• If you’re bold enough, go to them face to face and say, “I really hate to say anything, but these walls are thin and when I’m working, I get distracted by noise….”
• If you’re sneakier than you are bold, say, “I’ve been meaning to tell you, if I ever make too much noise talking on the phone or to co-workers, just tell me. I try to whisper, out of courtesy, and keep my personal phone calls on my own time, but if I ever mess up….”

The consensus is that the next to the last thing to do is to stay quiet and hope the offending chatterbox stops chattering.

Apparently the last thing to do is to rat them out to the boss. Everyone hates a snitch. Maybe even worse than Cathy and Bob.

Have any of you ever tackled this problem?

Also, what do you think would be the next step if you asked them to keep it down but they didn’t? Would it still be bad form to take it to a higher power?

I just got this in an email from Careerbuilder and I thought I’d share it with you. I’m sure, since I’m linking to them and giving them full credit, they won’t mind me sharing this well thought-out info with you guys.

Your phone is ringing, your voice mail light is flashing and you’re ignoring your overcrowded e-mail inbox to work on the presentation you will be giving in 10 minutes. Feeling a little stressed? Here are some tips to help you control that swell of panic that seems to follow you around all day at work.

1. Stop and take a deep breath. When you’re stressed, you tend to take very shallow breaths. Taking slow, deep breaths through your nose not only forces you to calm down, but it also gives your body extra oxygen to maintain your focus and energy.

2. Take a quick break. Get up out of your chair and stretch, walk down a few flights of stairs or just meander out in the hallway. This will give you a much-needed emotional and physical break from a stressful situation.

3. Organize your workspace. Come in a few minutes early one day and clear the clutter off your desk and file the project folders appropriately so you won’t have to search through heaps of paper the next time you’re looking for a particular document. Nothing is more frustrating than knowing what you need is “right here somewhere,” but you just can’t find it.

4. Walk at lunch. Make a lunchtime jaunt a regular feature in your day. It will give you something to look forward to, especially on those days when you feel you could pull your hair out.

5. Learn to laugh more. Everyone needs a release. Will you stomp around the office and complain, or will you combat those stress hormones with a hearty release of endorphins through laughter? It’s your choice. Read the comics, or tell a joke.

6. Make your environment work-friendly. Do you have a glare on your computer screen? Is it too hot in your cube? Try to fix these external factors to make your work environment the most comfortable and conducive to productivity.

7. Exercise regularly. Besides your little walking breaks at work, be sure to schedule some exercise time at home and on the weekends. You don’t need to compete in “ironman” competitions to feel the positive effects of exercise. A simple walk or bike ride around your neighborhood works just as well.

8. Take up a hobby. Do you like to garden? Work jigsaw puzzles? Always wanted to learn to play an instrument? Do whatever it takes to give your mind a break and think of something other than work.

9. Read an escape novel. Get engrossed in a good book. Nothing transports you from the ugly grips of reality to a totally different place like reading.

10. Get plenty of rest. Even little things can easily get blown out of proportion if you’re tired and cranky. Coming to work well-rested may give you the gumption you need to stare stress in the face and keep yourself from boiling over.

Watch for a Bud Light ad during the Super Bowl. They’re going to do a commercial where someone hides bottles of Bud Light around the office to motivate the employees.

I’d be more inclined to get motivated if the hid sleeves of golf balls, but to each their own.

Also, Careerbuilder is bringing back their office chimps, so watch for that one, as well.