Having the election this week I found the dynamics of political party persuasion quite interesting. Typically it is not a topic that anyone talks about in out office., almost as if it is taboo and offensive which to some I am sure it is. After the election on Tuesday, it seemed that all apprehension to discuss party affiliation was gone. Obama supporters were very outspoken about their excitement that their candidate had one and McCain supporters expressed their excitement in the historic relevance of the win but also their fears from the elections outcome. It also seemed to me that McCain supporters felt uncomfortable expressing their support. So, Obama supporters were very expressive and McCain supporters did not say much at all. No matter what my political affiliation is, I find the dynamics of communications about it in organizations quite intriguing.
4 comments:
Last week was very interesting,even at my workplace everyone had views and opinions about whom they supported and what they thought was right and wrong. I think this topic is very interesting and there is a lot of curiosity involved. As for the supporters of McCain, well my office manager was in support of him as she said she was conservative and did not believe in making abortion legal which was supported by the democrats, i have no much knowledge about this but this was what was going on around me. Well i think people who have knowledge do speak, if they are not speaking then they obviously do not know much of the topic and so choose to keep quite
That is the general experience that I have had with other people as well. In other conversations that I have had with other people, generally the Obama people are really happy while the McCain people are a little weary due to his lack of experience and left wing support for Obama. I will not reveal my political affiliations (I actually am an independent voter), but it is interesting how this topic is very taboo and people often try to avoid it, especially in professional situations such as in an office. It is just like the saying, “stay away from politics and religion at the dinner table,” except it’s at work. In my ROTC experience, I have been taught that this is improper etiquette, and I think this is because some people try to impose their views on others.
Well to be results were already very obvious. Even to a person who never knew anything about politics, Obama sounded very logical and organized in his thoughts and McCain, not so. Even at work people were always standing in the cafeteria listening to debates but not many were saying a lot. After the election, I asked this lady how she felt about it and she was like she didn’t vote for it because of issues like abortion but its ok. Anyways, I believe even the people who voted for McCain knew that Obama is a better option but they just didn’t vote for him either because of Obama's color or the fact he is a Muslim looking guy.
It is true, politics in the office can be very touchy, especially in elections where stereotypes are thrown around over and over. I noticed that racial considerations were very prominent in this election: speculations like Obama's support may not be strong because of his race. That, in some circles I have been around, is the primary reasoning for any short in the number of votes he was expected to have. And on the other hand, McCain was generally labeled a weak candidate.
The proverbial "water-cooler" is supposedly the location for much of the political conversation in this country. How many times has the water-cooler been referenced to casual interchange of political communicaiton and discourse. But as is sometimes the case, the water-cooler is not the place; it really depends on the culture of the particular work place.
In my own job, the manager we had didn't think that political topics were proper for a retail establishment, and strongly discouraged such conversation.
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