/biz/ - Business & Finance

[Anonymous No.941429]

Can we have an office politics thread?

Basically I want to know how you can be held in high regard at work in a corporate environment without playing the game of "who can work the longest hours"? Any trips or tricks?

I've just started working as a graduate in analytics at a bank and many of my colleagues seem to be trying to impress / suck dick by being the first in the office, staying late, even when there is no urgent work to be done.

Personally I believe in work / life balance, and I have a long commute and life just sucks working unpaid extra hours on top of a 1++ hour commute each way.

tl;dr: how do you work smart not long and get ahead?

[Anonymous No.941450]

Being relatively reserved while giving out occasional positive compliments to co-workers without getting into personal drama and politics is the best way to stay on the good side of people on the same level as you; you're seen as mysterious but friendly and it gives them a positive view of you because they have little negative to say about you while still being a bit apprehensive about drowning you in shit you don't care about. Making 'smart' inquiries that catch your superiors' attention and by generally working hard and doing the right things in front of them garners positivity. I know absolutely nothing about your field but being the unassuming arduous working quiet guy that will occasionally make a decent idea while offering a joke a two got me pretty far in the restaurant business before I quit.

[Anonymous No.941456]

>>941429
>tl;dr: how do you work smart not long and get ahead?

become bffs with your boss and your boss' boss. use teambuilding and networking events to grasp for the rungs.

of course you need to back this asskissing up with quality work.

[Anonymous No.941457]

>>941429
Why are you a graduate working in a corporate bank as an analyst and still working an hourly wage? Are you an intern? If so, don't worry about office politics.

The hardest and most efficient workers will always look better than you. Always. You work at a bank - no one gives a fuck if you value work-life balance. Go get a different job if that's what you value.

Work for a research firm. Or do what my cousin always tells me: Get a job at Subway. Youre probably relatively smart so you could probably make it to assistant manager in less than two years.

[Anonymous No.941477]

>>941457
>Or do what my cousin always tells me: Get a job at Subway.

[Anonymous No.941525]

>Basically I want to know how you can be held in high regard at work in a corporate environment without playing the game of "who can work the longest hours"? Any trips or tricks?

It sucks to say, but this is going to be largely dependent on your boss. If your boss values face time, then it doesn't matter if you're the most productive and hardest-working employee in the office. I once had a boss that told me I was "treating my position like a job and not a career" because I wasn't "the first one in and the last one out" of the office, even though I was working minimum 10 hour days and usually more. I hightailed it out of there because, like you, I value work / life balance. I don't see the point of making a lot of money if you hardly have any time to enjoy yourself.

Feel out your boss, and if he doesn't understand the concept of productivity, find a new position. That's what I'd do, at least.

[Anonymous No.941541]

>>941429
like the anon said if you believe in work / life balance you will not be held at high regard, you would be held as a wageslave, as you are.

if you want to prosper in a company there is no life besides work, and if you see work as anything else than life, then you are not cut right for the job you took.

[Anonymous No.941552]

>>941450

this this this.

show a desire to learn and advance in the company.

"how can i learn more about this?, is there anything I can read/study about it?"

[Anonymous No.941567]

>>941457
Not quite, subway would be hell. I'd never lower myself to those kind of jobs.

And I work in a bank but this project is not investment or even corporate banking

[Anonymous No.941606]

In my experience, the main things are helping people whenever you can (even if it's not technically your role), and being really good at your job.
I'm a tax lawyer, employed by government. I spend a lot of time at work helping colleagues with matters that, officially, I'm not really involved in. This includes people at my level as well as people at higher levels, sometimes in different areas. Unless I'm actually in a meeting or something, I can pretty much always spare half an hour or so to talk to someone about what they're working on and whether I think they're on the right track. I think this goes a long way to remove the 'competetive' vibe you can sometimes get with people at your own level. If people see that you're willing to help them with their work, they won't resent you for being better than they are.
I'll also help out with things that aren't work-related, like helping to set up chairs for a presentation or something. It takes ten minutes, and people really appreciate it.
As for being good at your job, that's probably easier said than done but it's very important. Bosses, at least good ones, will judge you by the quality of your work. Take every task seriously, even if it's something small, and ask for feedback so you know what you need to improve on. And ask for help when you need it, but come up with your own idea first. So you don't just ask someone 'what should I do', you say 'I think I should do x, because y. What do you think?'

[Anonymous No.941610]

>>941429
Fuck office politics. I was terminated from my previous firm for literally being an autism (I was involved in modeling/projections). I did not want to play the games of the sales staff, nor of the MBA manager's stupidity, nor be party to their emotional manipulation. I just wanted to go in, do my work, and leave, but they couldn't have that.

I now work as an independent contractor on my own time and time and never been happier, and expect a comfortable retirement at this rate.