A workplace is not a political convention. Nor is it a neighborhood pub where you can say whatever you like. A workplace is a place for serious business.

If this is true, it follows that you won't even have the time for political discussions. Not if you are really do your job the way you should.

Apart from the fact that there is no time, you should nix political discussions at work for a whole lot of other reasons.

First, it leads to ill will. Some people hold very strong and even fanatical political views. If you insist on holding political discussions at work, such discussions might degenerate into an argument. In the heat of the argument, a lot of things might get said which will be remembered long after the argument is over. To avoid such a situation, nix political discussion at work.

Again, there is a very thin line between politics and religion. If you work in a place where Jews, Arabs, Africans and Europeans are on the staff, political discussions should be totally avoided. Dangerous topics like Arab-Israel relations might lead to blows in some cases or even a gun shot fired in anger. Africans are also very touchy about topics like colonialism, slave trade, the Ku Klux Klan and Civil Rights. Now, if different people hold such different views, there is no point in looking for trouble. Nix political discussions and the problems are solved.

It is also a fact that certain political discussions can affect your progress or lack of progress in your place of work. Just think about this. Your boss holds certain political views. You hold views that are directly in conflict to the ones your boss does. You then go ahead and tactlessly express your views and your boss hears them. He may not say anything to you but if he is the kind of person that bears a grudge, he has marked you. In the months or years to come, he may hold your political views against you. This is a situation you could have avoided if you had simply kept your mouth shut.

Of course, nobody is saying that you have to become deaf and dumb in your place of work. As colleagues, you can hold discussions on almost any topic of your choice. But since political discussions have some dangerous implications, you will be wiser to stick to safer topics like sports, movies, girls (for men) and guys (for ladies).

Finally, we have to consider the perspective of the employee. If workers are always holding political discussions during working hours, chances are that they are not getting much work done.

Concentrate on your job and cut out the political discussions. You were employed to work and not to hold political rallies in the office.

Learn more about this author, Emmanuel Osondu.
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