How to Maintain a Civil Company Culture During Election Season

How to Maintain a Civil Company Culture During Election SeasonAs the presidential election heats up, everyone seems to be discussing hot topics framing our political discourse. Unless youre working in a political industry where people are used to this sort of talk though, it can be difficult to gauge how to keep behauptung discussions civil to maintain a professional company culture.Theres no doubt that talking about these issues is important for democracy overall, but its useless if we cant do it in a calm and levelheaded mannerparticularly while in the arbeitszimmer. Political discussions can often be very damaging to company culture if they get out of hand.Its important for employers to carefully monitor these discussions when theyre happening among employees, and to ensure theyre keeping discourse to a polite minimum. Most offices include workers with a smattering of different backgrounds and political opinions. A key component of company culture is ensuring everyone feels comfor table and welcome, and political talk can often be detrimental to these efforts.Employers should maintain policies on political discourse from the get-go. Its up to your discretion whether or not you want to ban these discussions altogether, as there are pros and cons. Discussing politics can be a great way for employees to get to know each other and share important ideas, but it can also create rifts between employees and dramatically change the atmosphere of your work environment. Thus, its important to instill a few key guidelines to ensure nothing gets out of hand. Follow these tips for keeping political discourse in the office under controlRemind employees of the impact of their discussions. People who are politically passionate need to know that expressing this can lead to rifts with other employees. Political talk is often a slippery slope to heated emotions and arguments that often become very personal. Remind employees that work is a place where they should be focused on th eir tasks, not focused on trying to convert someone away from their political party.Let employees know hateful speech will not be tolerated. No matter what the issue at hand, employees need to understand the impact of their rhetoric, and realize theyre surrounded by colleagues who may have very different backgrounds and opinions. Teach employees to always be respectful and avoid heated rhetoric no matter what the topic at handno insults or cruel words allowed. And make certain employees truly understand the policy will be enforced and are aware of the repercussions should they neglect to follow the rules. Teach employees how to remove themselves from these conversations. As a boss, you cant be everywhere at once, so political talk will often take place when youre not around. Teach employees how to walk away from a conversation thats making them uncomfortable. Encourage them to change the subject back to work or other current events, or to walk away by politely letting their colleagu es know they need to be getting back to their tasks. Employees can avoid direct questionssuch as, What do you think of Paul Ryan?by letting others know they like to keep their political opinions to themselves. Often, political talk becomes heated when people are unsure of how to step away from the situation, so arm your employees with these tactics from the beginning.In an election season, it can be difficult to uranfang political discussions at work and maintain a favorable company culture. By carefully monitoring your work environment and ensuring each employee knows the ground rules for keeping things civil, your office should be able to get through election 2012 without any damaged relationshipsor a headache.Have you ever had to quell political discussions at work? How did you go about keeping things civil? Let us know in the comments section below.IMAGE Courtesy of LeftyParent