Watercooler chit chat isn’t always captivating: Martha’s got a new cat, traffic really was terrible today and Garrett wants to explain the difference between bouldering and top roping, again. But conversations at the watercooler don’t always stay cool. Talking politics at work can heat things up very fast. With the midterms less than a month out, it might seem impossible to avoid. We caught up with Ask a Manager’s Alison Green for some advice on how to gracefully navigate political chat.
Best practice is to not talk politics in the workplace. But that seems impractical?
If we were all in agreement that that was best practice, it would be pretty practical. I think the problem is there are a lot of people who want to talk politics regardless of the interest level of the people around them.
What if I’m the only one who doesn’t want to talk about it?
It really is OK to set boundaries. If you don’t want to talk politics at work, you can be direct about that. You can say “you know, I’d rather not talk politics at work” or “we look at these issues pretty differently and I’d rather keep politics out of our work relationship.” You can even say that you’re taking a break from politics right now. You probably will not be the only person in your office who would like that break and other people may actually be relieved that someone is setting that boundary.
My workplace isn’t like that, it’s acceptable to talk about politics. So I’m good?
There are offices where political talk is common and where it does not end in disaster. So there are people who are happy to talk politics with their co-workers. If everyone involved is consenting to the conversation, that’s fine. I would say you want to be aware of trapped bystanders who might not appreciate the conversation as well. If you’re having a heated political debate with a co-worker and you’re both perfectly happy to be part of it, you still don’t want to subject other people to it. That’s a good way to drive your co-workers mad or just make it hard for them to concentrate. So you’ve got to be respectful about that.
Agreeing with co-workers is ideal. But if managers…
