Because I’ve only been alive for the last 30 years, I have never experienced a time in which politics was as prevalent as it is now. It seems as if every other conversation or Facebook post or news story is about something going on in United States politics. After experiencing the most historic election in recent history, the country is ablaze with both praise and venom for the current administration. I don’t know about you, but I make it a point to stay as far away from conversations about politics as possible, but I realize that’s really hard to do so right now.
According to “Office Etiquette: Keep Politics Out” from the Wall Street Journal,” there are appropriate forums to talk about politics, but the workplace is a tricky place to do it well. Article writer Ruth Mantell interviewed Frank Dada , a principal at Winter, Wyman, a Waltham, Mass.-based staffing firm, who said not only are office hours for working, you also never know who’s listening, “One person said something, and his comment was deemed offensive by someone who was not involved, but was in earshot,” Dada was quoted in the article. “Any time you offend a co-worker, that’s a negative and the consequences can be bad. You never know who you might offend unintentionally, and people have such different viewpoints and very passionate viewpoints about politics.”
Mantell goes on to explain that political discussions have the potential to color how colleagues and bosses view you, as people equate political beliefs with a host of other values. “In certain industries, political discussions may be more likely to arise,” Mantell writes. “These workers should still be careful conversationalists. Keep conversations centered on work-related political issues, and avoid letting emotions enter discussions.” With co-workers who are more than acquaintances you may not want to avoid politics, she goes on to write; however, you can’t always be sure that friendly colleagues are like-minded.
“If you start saying nasty things about other political parties, that can very quickly strain work relationships,” says Charles Purdy, senior editor at careers website Monster.com in the article. “That could negatively affect your ability to collaborate, or even cause you to be passed over for a promotion.”
To the managers out there: Knowing that politics are more than likely to arise in workplace conversation, especially now, you have an opportunity to set the tone. Consider these tips from Forbes’ article “Five Ways to Manage Political Talk in the Workplace” to help your employees navigate these difficult, potentially harmful discussions.
- Avoid party politics: It’s easy to be sucked into the blue or red discussion. Have employees, instead, discuss big-picture concepts, specific ballot measures, or general concerns. Encourage them to talk about how they would be affected by changes in order to help explain why they are concerned about specifics. By keeping the focus on the details, employees can have constructive, educational conversations that help others (even those with opposing views) see their side.
- Remind employees to be respectful: Political views are an extremely personal matter. Everyone has reasons to believe what they do, and there is no standardized solution. Ensure that employees are sincere in their interest for another person’s views, and have them truly consider why another person may feel the way they do on a certain topic. By taking a humanized approach, your employees can respectfully share opinions with each other without getting nasty. Practicing these discussions may even help them in other work conversations and difficult situations in the future!
- Make sure they’re aware of when to stop: Make sure your employees know when to end the conversation. If they begin to get social cues during a discussion that the other person is feeling uncomfortable, it’s time for them to divert the discussion. They can let the other person know that they respect their point of view and appreciate the conversation, then move on. There’s no use in having an inner-office conflict over an attempt to influence another person’s political views.
- Remember your position: Employees and leaders alike have a difficult decision to make when discussing politics at work. While leaders play a critical role in setting the tone for what is acceptable in each environment, employees often follow their lead. Some leaders choose to take a firm stance of not discussing politics with anyone. Others take the stance of being open and true to themselves. My advice to employees and leaders is to decide with whom and when you share your views based on each individual interaction. If you wouldn’t share personal life details with someone, politics probably shouldn’t be a topic you discuss either.
- Know that knowledge is power: Cheesy, I know. But remember that the more information you have about an employee, the more responsibility you carry. One of the reasons traditional HR encourages leaders and employees to stay away from discussing politics in the office is because these discussions can open companies up to potential risk. If an employee has a heated political discussion with a manager, then is released due to an unrelated issue, the employee has the ability to feel as if their differing political views were the ultimate cause of their termination. Again, this is where using your best judgment as to what personal opinions you share with whom and when comes into play. Employees and leaders would be wise to proceed with caution, regardless of whom they’re talking to.
If those suggestions don’t work, you could always ban politics in the office. Just kidding. That would be unAmerican. But you could always follow my lead and keep your head down when the conversations start to get heated.
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