In the face of insidious and omnipresent unofficial rules, especially under conditions where official rules are lacking, how exactly should professionals deal with these implicit regulations? A reporter from Southern Television Network has gathered expert opinions and organized some strategies for dealing with unofficial rules based on domestic and international public materials. Some of these strategies can be very useful for professionals to adopt:
1) **Empathize and Reflect Regularly**
Everything happens for a reason. When encountering cold violence, it might help to look inward and find the cause. Try to see things from others' perspectives, learn to self-reflect, and prevent colleagues from developing animosity towards you. Often, if you don't adapt to office politics, it's not necessarily because your colleagues have issues—it could likely be due to your own problems.
2) **Strive to Adapt**
Boost your "immunity." The attitudes of colleagues towards you often stem from your own assumptions. Being overly sensitive to others' attitudes can easily hurt yourself. If you respond in kind, it will create a vicious cycle. Anyone entering a new work environment will have hopes and fantasies about their professional life, but cold violence is like a bucket of cold water thrown on those dreams—it’s normal. Understand that cold violence cannot be completely eradicated.
3) **Act Positively**
Don’t wait until you can no longer bear it before seeking solutions. Instead, when you first encounter setbacks in the workplace, actively consider ways to solve them. At least, maintain an awareness of positive responses. Proactive and constructive communication is particularly important. In fact, in the battle against cold violence, whoever takes the initiative first often wins. This communication must be positive—not just for the sake of communicating. Be open and honest, discuss the issues frankly.
4) **Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You**
If you dislike being ignored or excluded, remember that others feel the same way. To avoid office cold violence, first ensure that you do not become the "perpetrator."
5) **Stay Cheerful**
Remember, emotions are contagious—happiness included. In a pleasant and enjoyable environment, who would have the time or inclination to plot small conspiracies? Face workplace cold violence with equanimity. Not resisting is sometimes the best form of resistance. Before fully understanding the situation, simply ignore it and focus on your own tasks without letting it bother you. Always maintain an optimistic attitude.
6) **Think Win-Win**
Conflict of interests is one of the causes of company politics. We know that when someone wins, someone else must lose. We worry about others winning because it may imply that we are the losers. In reality, the world isn't always so binary. Try thinking from the perspective of "how to achieve a win-win situation under the same circumstances." This requires you to first understand others' interests in this situation, then understand your own interests, and strive to make both parties accept and benefit mutually.
7) **Understand Others First, Then Seek to Be Understood**
Interestingly, once one party feels understood, they tend to become more open towards you. Achieving a win-win situation is difficult without mutual understanding between each other.
The above are some strategies prepared by the career forum for dealing with unofficial workplace rules. Let's all learn together.
Source: http://orange.hitvs.cn/bbs/BBSTopicRead-lounge-379697-1.htm