He said/she said, they said/I said, we all said drama. No matter where you go, office politics and drama will follow. Someone will decide not to like you because you looked at them wrong or because they simply don’t like your name; someone will say that you said something that you didn’t; and someone is going to try to get you fired.
Ahh yes, welcome to the corporate world. If I could count how many times I’ve had meetings with my superiors because someone has opened their mouth and accused me of something that I’ve never done. In reality, I go to work and do my job. I try my hardest not to get involved with internal power struggles or social misgivings. I don’t complain, I don’t spread rumors, and I don’t talk unless I have to. It’s not wonder that I’ve been called the “perfect employee” before.
Nipping drama in the butt is what’s important, as ending it before it has the opportunity to manifest itself as something ridiculous is the only surefire way to make sure that you aren’t adversely affected by it. Some concrete truths about office drama are:
- You’re involved – Whether you like it or not, you’re involved. The key to keeping your involvement to a minimum to express to anyone and everyone else that you aren’t interested and that you want to part of anything. The moment that you take a side (or even here someone out) you’re opening yourself up to an entire series of possible accusations. Don’t even go there.
- It’s universal – It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re working as you can never escape it. Every office seems to have its own unique mix of drama and theatrics. Unless you are completely unable to work as a result of it there’s no sense in leaving your position because of it- trust me, it’s the same somewhere else.
- It’s manipulative – Behind every dramatic event is someone trying to cause problems. It’s manipulation at its finest and I’d recommend that you don’t become victim.
Having problems at work? Talk to your superiors about it and express that you only want to be able to do your job in peace. Your employers are looking for people who come to work to work, not chat and cause problems. Good luck.
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I decided to leave one of my first jobs because of this.
And you’ve probably never been happier
it seems you witness a lot of office drama? well unfortunately we all see it displayed. i’ve seen a lot of it too — best thing is to avoid it as much as possible
@arstan – i left one of my previous jobs as well because of office drama. furthermore, i couldn’t watch the british version of “The Office” (which came out right after) because the idiot manager was just like mine. lol I love the american version of the Office now though…