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About a week ago, we asked you a fairly belated question: are politics still taboo at the office? As always, the poll is still open, but the preliminary results are in:
- 32% of you said that you try to avoid starting conversations about politics, but you speak your minds when you find yourself in such a conversation
- 9% took the path of least resistance and either remained silent or agreed with whoever had started the conversation, in order to expedite the end of the conversation
- 3% said you speak your mind whenever and wherever you choose
- 3% said you actively remind people NOT to talk about politics in the office
But the biggest number of you — 50% — said that your answer depends on who else is a party to the conversation. We interpret this to mean that you may be more willing to start a conversation among colleagues on your level, but also that you may end up taking the path of least resistance if the situation calls for it.
One commenter questioned, conversations aside, what about political apparel (pins, t-shirts) and office decor? This is a very interesting question and one we may have to save for a later poll — our $.02 is that, for office decor, political banners and posters should be with your personal pictures and inside jokes: in a spot in your office that you view the most, and NOT one your visitors or passers-by view often.
We also asked about which sources you relied upon for your political information — one person wrote in to laud blogs and radio, but without specifics. Bueller? … Bueller?…Bueller?
Some further reading:
Politics in the office: Worse than office politics [Fortune's blog, The Gig]
Life's Work: Talking Politics in the Office [NYT]
Photo credit, above: watching the inauguration at the office, originally uploaded to Flickr by Chris Radcliff