WORKPLACE SPECIAL.....Office survival guide: 101

Office survival guide: 101





Even those of us who love our jobs can have days where office life seems unnerving. Here are some ways with which you can deal with the troubles, with a smile

When you don't like your job, going to work every day can be a challenge.

Your problem might be with your manager, that you constantly feel stretched to the breaking point, or that you are resentful about taking a pay cut. Or, the whole environment may just feel toxic. Robert Sutton, a professor of management at Stanford University, says that an un happy workplace can have drastic effects on your own well-being.

Whatever your reasons for being unhappy, you need to maintain your professionalism and pre vent a bad attitude from sabotaging you. Here are some tips from Sutton on how to survive working in an unpleasant office:

1 PREPARE TO FIGHT BACK

In an ideal office, you wouldn't have to treat each day like a potential battle waiting to break out. However, in a toxic workplace, you will likely have to take more drastic measures to stand up for your own interests. “In terms of a toxic workplace, if you're walking into a situation where everybody treats everybody terribly, either you hide in the corner or you go to war,“ Sutton said.

Don't compromise your principles and completely mimic the bad behaviour that your colleagues have been demonstrating.

According to Sutton, you should brace yourself for conflict.

2 AVOID CONFLICTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE

It's one thing to prepare for conflict. It's another thing entirely to seek it out. Sutton said that it's better to avoid fights whenever possible. “Try to figure out when the most obnoxious, difficult people are around and when you can avoid them,“ he said. Some workers Sutton interviewed had developed an `early warning system' to deal with their manager's foul temper. Before work, they would call the boss's assistant and ask about their manager's mood ahead of time. That way, they could avoid their boss during bad times.

3 MAKE FRIENDS

It might seem difficult to make friends at work when all your coworkers deride you. But finding allies in a bad situation can really improve matters. “Sometimes people will band together to protect themselves,“ Sutton said. Basically, give people a chance.

4 TRY NOT BECOMING ONE OF THEM

Ultimately, Sutton suggests it's usually best to plan an exit strategy if you are working in a truly toxic office.Otherwise, you'll risk becoming like one of your fellow workers. “One of the things I say to my students at Stanford, if they interview at a place where there's a bunch of nasty people, or incompetent people, is, `Look at the people you're going to be working with.

The odds are you will become .like them. You're not going to change them,'“ Sutton said.

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