Office politics getting messy? 5 pieces of advice from entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo to stay out of trouble

Office politics does not always involve an open confrontation. Sometimes, it starts with a casual request, a conversation about a colleague or an extra task quietly added to an already busy schedule. For employees, the real risk often comes when conversations, responsibilities and expectations are left unclear.

Entrepreneur and content creator Ankur Warikoo recently shared five practical ways employees can protect themselves from workplace politics. His advice focuses less on confronting difficult colleagues and more on creating clarity around your work, communication and responsibilities.

When a request makes you uncomfortable, ask for it in writing

One of the simplest ways to protect yourself at work is to create a written record. If someone asks you to do something that makes you uncomfortable, Warikoo suggests not immediately refusing or turning the exchange into an argument. Instead, ask them to put the request in writing.

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You could say: "Just so I understand what you want, could you send me an email?"

The request changes the nature of the conversation. Something that may have sounded casual when said verbally now has to be clearly explained. If the request is inappropriate, the person making it may be reluctant to put it on record.

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Documentation can also help prevent confusion later. Keeping a written trail of important instructions, decisions and changes in responsibility gives employees something concrete to refer back to if questions arise.

Don't let one person become your only link to important information

Every workplace has people who seem to know what is happening across the organisation, from project updates and management decisions to promotions and internal discussions.

But depending too heavily on one colleague for information can leave you vulnerable, Warikoo says. Instead, build professional relationships with different people across the team and organisation.

The aim is not to turn colleagues into sources or create a network of "spies". It is simply about making sure important information does not reach you only through one person's interpretation.

Speak to different colleagues, stay connected across teams and ask questions directly when something affects your work. This reduces the chances of becoming dependent on a single person's version of events.

Stay away from workplace gossip

This can be one of the most difficult rules to follow. A colleague may casually ask, "Yaar, what do you think about him?" It can seem harmless to share an honest opinion, especially when the conversation feels private.

Warikoo's advice is straightforward: praise the person.

The reason is simple. Negative comments can travel much further than expected. A criticism shared informally with one colleague can eventually reach the person being discussed, often without the original context.

That does not mean employees need to be insincere or compliment everyone. There is a difference between giving constructive feedback in the appropriate setting and becoming part of workplace gossip.

If feedback is genuinely required, it is better to keep it factual, professional and directed to the person who needs to hear it.

If you are given someone else's work, make the trade-off visible

Taking on additional work can become a problem when employees keep saying yes without making their existing responsibilities clear.

Imagine you are already handling X and Y when your manager asks you to take up Z, which is someone else's responsibility. Rather than simply accepting the additional task and quietly stretching your working hours, Warikoo suggests making the competing priorities visible.

You could respond: "Happy to take this on. I'm currently working on X and Y, which I understand are also important. Which of these should I deprioritise to take up this new work?"

The response does not reject the assignment. Instead, it puts the decision about priorities back with the person assigning the work.

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It also creates clarity around what you were already handling and why another task may affect an existing deadline.

When you are blamed, ask where exactly you went wrong

Being criticised or blamed in front of colleagues can quickly turn into a defensive exchange. An employee may instinctively respond with, "But I didn't do that" or "That's not my fault."

Warikoo recommends taking a different approach. Ask: "Can you tell me exactly where I went wrong, so that I don't repeat it?"

The question shifts the conversation from an argument about blame to a discussion about specifics. The person making the accusation now has to explain what went wrong, what was expected and what could have been done differently.

It also allows an employee to show that they are open to feedback without automatically accepting vague or unfair criticism.

The approach works best when delivered calmly and genuinely. In cases involving harassment, discrimination, retaliation or serious misconduct, however, conversational tactics may not be enough. Employees may need to use formal workplace grievance or HR processes.

The bigger lesson: Don't play office politics

The common thread across Warikoo's five suggestions is clarity. Put important instructions in writing, build relationships across the organisation, stay out of gossip, make changing priorities visible and ask for specifics when you are criticised.

These steps cannot eliminate office politics. Workplaces involve competing priorities, personalities and disagreements. But they can reduce the scope for misunderstandings and make an employee's work, responsibilities and communication easier to establish.

The idea, ultimately, is not to fight every workplace political battle. It is to avoid giving unnecessary office politics room to work against you.