Tips for coping with office politics / stressful job

[loobylooz]

Hi
I'm currently working in a difficult role that I didn't want to do and didn't have training for.
Basically in the middle of a new strategy (the role represents) as a bridge between two powerful people who don't like each other
One has started using any example of my work (which is complex and reliant on others that I can't control and often never been done before) to fight with the other director at committees

It's super stressful and I can't win

I can't sleep (been 5 months now) on sleeping pills. Keep shaking with anxiety.

Do not any to go off with stress as then it's on my record and if I get another job it would show on regency

Currently wfh when I can and using up a lot of annul leave

Anyone else have any suggestions ?

Get another job?

Are you line managed by either of the two powerful people who don't like each other?

I think you need to talk this through with someone who isn't involved in the power-struggle to come up with coping strategies?

Are you getting caught in the cross-fire - is their enmity actually damaging you at work? If it is, your focus needs to be on covering yourself, making it clear that you remain neutral.

It does sound like a toxic situation and as pp said, you might want to start looking at other roles either internally or externally.

It is definitely difficult. I started a new role in the my company last year, which is basically setting up a new governance with 8 or so very top management.

I was quite naive at the beginning and didn't realise just how political the whole thing was. Nothing is ever said by chance, it is all calculated. So when one manager was criticising the director to me, he was a) testing my reactions and b) hoping some of it would get back to the director (they were hoping I'd be able to influence him ).

Who is your manager? You need to talk to them.
You also need to stay as neutral as possible.
And if you're this unhappy then absolutely look for a different job.

Also, is your work being criticised? In what way?

You said that it's reliant on others, so can you put caveats on your work (e.g. cite the success factors for each deliverable : "XX dept must provide analysis by YY date" / "roll out timing dependant on IT development on time" etc.).

I have received countless horrible emails from one manager, all beginning "Dear Ciel" and then laying it on thick.

At first I was horrified and thought that I was doing my job really badly. My line manager then explained that although it said "Dear Ciel" it was actually addressing the other managers/director and he was just using me to get at them.

Once I accepted that (although it ruined a fair few weekends when I was worried) I stopped caring so much. His critical emails haven't impacted my annual evaluation. And as he always blows up like this, the impact is lessened. Everybody just shrugs and say its "T" being "T".

It sounds to me as though your job exists as a poor
' fix' dreamed up by senior management/HR between two warring managers. They have had a bad idea.

What they really need to do is to work the issues through with their own staff, and leave other people out of it. As things stand, you are acting as the tangible embodiment of the tension, and it isn't healthy. For example, if the role is about x team manager/director sharing information/strategy with x team manager, then a more senior player/OD facilitator needs to work through with both of them the organisational reasons they should cooperate and the productivity (and other) consequences of not doing so.

I don't think it would be a disaster to let someone senior know that your role is causing tension and isn't working. You would need to present it very factually and preferably without having to criticise either by name, although you could give examples of the type of issues, anonymised.. If they won't release you from the role, I agree a mentor is a good idea, but it must be someone with nothing to gain from any advice. I don't think your reputation would suffer, because you were probably picked because you are level headed and competent.