The Pitfalls of Talking About Politics at Work and How to Avoid Them

The issue isn’t, “Should you avoid talking about politics at work?” but rather how to avoid the conversation when the topic comes up. In our highly charged political climate, with major elections happening globally, the topic of politics is a risky one to broach or engage with at work.

Here are examples of how it might come up:

• Someone at the office circulates a petition, encouraging signatures for a local or regional issue.
• An email is forwarded to many of your colleagues, touting the political success of a candidate and dismissing the validity of the opposition.
• You’re in a meeting where the topic of elections comes up. Your boss makes a statement and looks around the room to see who agrees.
• Someone shares an instant message of a political cartoon making fun of a candidate’s physical appearance.

While these gestures might feel innocuous on the surface, they can escalate. I’ve heard stories of a client whose teammate shared a political cartoon on an internal company messaging site, celebrating the poor health of a candidate they didn’t like. The responses to the picture grew in intensity as many called for the candidate’s demise. This is not appropriate for work conversation, and as such, their boss interceded with a human resources representative in tow.

While you might feel passionate about your political views, here are some reasons to avoid discussing them at work:

• People might remember your thoughts or comments out of context. After the online or in-person dialogue, negative comments could be attributed to you when you didn’t say them.
• Your colleagues might feel pressured to agree with you, even when they don’t.
• You can be “guilty by association.” If one of your colleagues spews vitriol about a political issue or person and you’re in the room, even if you don’t say anything, you could be associated with the comments.
• Your views might evolve or change as you learn new information about a political candidate or situation. Later, when you have a different perspective, you may not have the opportunity to rectify your earlier, less-informed views.

To avoid discussing politics at work, or in professional settings, follow these tips:

1. Remember Each Person Is Entitled to Their Own Views

That said, you don’t have to be in a non-work-related conversation that makes you uncomfortable. If politics comes up in a meeting, politely ask that the conversation returns to the meeting agenda. If a discussion gets heated over politics, excuse yourself and return to your work.

Refrain from lecturing others about their decision to engage in political chatter at work. Everyone is entitled to see the world the way they do, and your job (at work) is to do your job.

You might say, “I appreciate the elections are on everyone’s mind right now, and if we could finish up the budget conversation, I’ll excuse myself so you all can continue discussing your thoughts.”
 

2. Communicate in Advance Which Topics or Discussions You’re Not Comfortable Participating In

If you aren’t OK talking with professional colleagues about topics such as the elections, immigration policy, religion, family planning, political figures or financial responsibility, let them know. 

You are allowed to set boundaries around topics you’re happy to engage in dialogue about and which ones you’re not. Once set, uphold those boundaries to ensure others around you learn and will respect them. If they see you set a boundary, but then repeatedly break it, the boundary has little merit. 

As you see the discussion heading to a heated political discourse, you might say, “I made myself the personal rule to not discuss politics at work. I appreciate you respecting that with me.”
 

3. Be Careful Asking Questions

Whether you do so to learn more about someone’s position, or because you’re deflecting the attention off yourself, asking questions can be a way to avoid engaging in heated conversations. But be careful: If your question emboldens the other person or feels patronizing or sarcastic, you might have just lit a fire you can’t put out. Use questions carefully.

Instead of a question like, “You seriously think that candidate has a platform people will get behind?” you could ask, “You’re bringing up things I’d not heard about before. I’d like to understand those issues more. Where can I read more about this?”

It’s never easy when we feel passionate about a topic, yet we must refrain because of the environment and what’s deemed appropriate. At work, it’s advised to refrain from discussing polarizing opinions that aren’t work-related.

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