There is no cure for office politics, it’s like finding a cure for aids and cancer. Even in our own house or family there’s a game of politics and favoritism. Managers and superiors are designed with their own respectable functions. But, in most cases some direly over practice and exert their position, power and authority to exercise it in a wrong political way. Humiliations are the most common cause of office suicide. You have no idea, how psychologically this could affect someone's emotions and mindset. Cases like this are very common in the progressive asian countries, where people are driven to slavery and robotic perfection. As for the managers, here are some tips to be an effective leader and earn the respect of your subordinates, not because you are the boss but also you are a person they look up to: Flexible timing - The traditional and old adage that when you arrive in the office on time signifies dedication? This doesn’t really apply anymore. Express a little consideration with your office surroundings and area. Of course, traffic is such a lame and rusted excuse, but for some people who’s been struggling juggling their finances , they have to live far outside the city and could only take public transportation. Offer a flexible timing as long as they complete the 8-12 hours shift would also be fine. Another thing, you could also promote a work at home style, build an online platform that works like they are there in the office. CRM and Advanced Project Management and HRM will help a lot. It’s not only will save you for the electricity but for most people they could start on-time and early. Depending on the nature of their job of course, some positions will be spared from this flexi-time. Traditional office timings would always make the employee work late than the usual, so if you’re not one for an overtime pay this type of time reporting would ease down your headache for late comers. Productivity - Managing people one by one is not an easy task, especially if you are already handling a lot. But for your people to be effective and productive, always keep an eye on their performance and keep track of their projects, assignments or tasks. Especially for all those people who’s new to their job, some are very keen to impose changes to the department/company according to their bright ideas, there’s nothing wrong with this and always be ready to listen, don’t shove them off right away. Instead, teach them to adapt themselves to the ground they are standing and learn to blend in. When they are used to it, let them hear their ideas again. Make the weekly performance report to be a prerequisite for all your staff so that they would also be pressured and driven to do their job and not slack off. Family time - It’s inevitable for some cases and situations that you would really have to ask your staff to work on extra days like weekends, but don’t make this as a regular habit as you will be losing a good employee and will drive them emotionally derailed if they lost their family as well. Managers tend to and expected to be more hardworking than the usual employees, so don’t expect or demand for them to do the same. Always remember that all of us work for one reason, to support our family and give them a brighter future and not to lose them by camping to the office and make themselves invisible behind the stacks of work paper. Bullying - Whatever happens and however your employee makes a darn mistake, still they reserved the right to be respected be called on their own respective names. Avoid name calling or cursing them right in-front of the crowd or even just the two of you. Practice diplomacy and never raise your voice like you are scolding a dog. Try to reprimand them with a touch of firm volatility. Humiliating situations like this usually happens in a restaurant business. Always remember that if you act barbarically in-front of the public or the entire staff, it only proves that you are much lower than the person you are rebuking. Don’t create a long chastening on the phone, mobile or odd hours. Always do it inside the office and in person privately. Boss or Buddy - It’s imminent that there are times that we would become close to some caring and real people in our organization and place. Some for over the years become our trusted friend or bestfriend. There is nothing wrong with this as long as you can keep your friendship outside the working environment to avoid gossips and favoritism. Always maintain that thin line of professionalism and don’t give a leeway if ever they make mistakes or did something that is against the company policy. Remember that you are still boss-subordinate in the office and friends outside the workzone. Rumors - We all love gossips, who’s not? It’s interesting to hear out someone else’s private lives, but... Employees who are less competitive and unproductive usually dwell on this practice of bureaucracy. They would steak out someone’s trust, especially if they know that their bosses are keeping his/her eye on that person and befriend them, after winning their trust they would feed all the personal information of this person which might cause for them to get fired or be in a deeper trouble. But this calls more for a poor leadership ethics, you are letting rumour mongers to manipulate you through their nonsense buzzing and not really doing their work. Remember that you hired an employee and not a spy. Office affair - Attraction is something that will always spark in the office especially when you always work late or travel with a staff outside the country. Somewhere along the way you get to know each other deeper and play with fire. But this kind of relationship is only exciting from the beginning. Always remember that a parenthesis cannot be a part of the sentence. Affairs are just an escape pod or meal ticket for personal advancement. Either one of you is ambitious or has a missing gap in their marriage such as an R.I.P. of their sex life. Bottomline is, you will both get your jobs and professional reputation in jeopardy. Some companies don’t care or do anything about office affairs, but majority this is against their policy and both parties do need to get fired as they are setting a bad example in the organization and promoting incoherent morality. Talent investment - In every presentation, encourage your staff to use their creativity in doing a presentation and give them extra points for exerting their effort for doing an extra work. Powerpoint is an old and rusted point of presentation. Nowadays, companies are using flash animations and slides. Offer or conduct a creativity training for this and it might surprise you or discover a hidden artist in the closet. Always make it a point that you are willing to offer a room for improvement and exploration of their other skills. Invest in some conferences, trainings, seminars and short classes for your employees. Some companies are too afraid to invest in their employees, thinking after they learned a lot, they would quit and transfer to their competitors for a higher pay. There’s always a way for you to retain an asset in your company, healthy and flexible environment with fair wage and benefits would always compliment their loyalty to your company. Communication - In the formal corporate code, the proper way of company correspondence is through work mail or secured communicator such as an office messenger. Which obviously for how many years it could be freely set up in your phone to receive updates about certain emails or thread. But using free and open mobile applications such as whatsapp, viber, line messenger and more, doesn’t just make you unethical but you are leaking confidential information over an open public server. The owner of these mobile applications will have the right to sell off and disclose any valuable information that they would gather to a third party. Asia poses the largest population of mobile application users and even extended it to their working environment. Which for some who is not yet aware, this is breach of privacy and confidentiality. Aside from that, your employee have the right to refuse to be added or be messaged through these free apps You can call them on your landline or regular SMS. Henceforth, you can register your mobile applications to a secret number or number which is not known to your office or company. Open up - Even though you’re already a boss doesn't mean you don’t need help. In every low ranking employees, there’s always one bright bulb that would always stand out and you will find their opinions and ideas very useful. Don’t judge their looks or their appearance. Some people just look smart and intelligent, but once they speak, they only speak of borrowed ideas and selfish aims. Learn to identify bright and gifted people. They are mostly the ones being bullied, talked about and quiet in one corner. Tell them what are the changes that you want to see and happen around the office. Ask for their opinion and listen. Some people are a person of few words, but once they write something it’s a goldmine. Some people are purely talkers but that’s all they are. Intelligent people talk less, but work more. Because they listen, observe and analyze before saying anything. Open door policy has been practiced widely, but learn to step out of your comfort zone and mingle with them. It will make them feel aware of what they do at the station plus will make them feel they have a reliable and supportive superior who just doesn't grow beard inside their office but reaching out as well. Finding a good and ideal employee is like hunting for a needle in a pile of haystack, but finding a good company and respectable boss is the same as the employee's agony. There will never be an advantage in playing dirty politics and bureaucracy, we would only be stripped off our prides and dignity. Work ethically and always be professional. There is no shortcut to success.
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