This one came by request. I’m not claiming guru status here, I was not known for deft political manoeuvring, but I can tell you what actually helped me, especially for those entering mid to large departments.
Two core moves to start with: say little, watch a lot.
Why silence first
Your first year is already at capacity. You are prepping new classes from scratch, grading at a scale you’ve never seen, learning systems, figuring out where anything is, and attending every meeting because you don’t yet know which ones are dispensable. Adding politics to that load is a fast track to overwhelm. Protect your energy. Keep quiet. Listen.
What to watch
Your learning lab is the all-hands space, school-wide meetings, board of studies, any room where most academics are present and students are not. You’ll also pick up signals at seminars and informal gatherings, but the big rooms show you the whole chessboard: cliques, alliances, simmering rivalries, and who actually carries weight.
Give yourself months. Some people map the terrain quickly; others take longer. Either is fine. While you watch, do light homework:
Put names to faces and look up profiles on the intranet.
Note research areas and outputs.
Notice who speaks, who abstains, and who everyone watches when decisions land.
Common archetypes you’ll meet
These are rough sketches to help you spot patterns. They are not value judgements on whole people, and remember most colleagues are excellent.
Research stars: You may rarely see them at meetings. They model what is rewarded locally time protected for outputs, sharp boundaries, focus. Study their operating system: Where do they say no? How do they structure their weeks? What do they never attend?
Teaching martyrs: Deeply vocal about student issues, sometimes on teaching-only contracts, sometimes not publishing at all. If your goal is to write, avoid getting pulled into the gravity well of permanent crisis on behalf of “the children”. Care, yes. Become the department’s emergency line, no.
Greasy polers: Advancement at all costs. Will happily take your idea, your labour, and your credit. They do not wear badges. This is why you watch before you partner. Keep a paper trail. Share just enough.
Inventors of work: They manufacture new policies, pilots, and projects that look brilliant on a CV while others carry the execution. Treat new initiatives with healthy scrutiny: scope, ownership, resourcing, sunset date.
Brittle people: Often outwardly confident, inwardly fearful of being found out. Scheming and undermining are defence mechanisms. Keep distance, keep receipts, keep calm.
And then there is everyone else, the 95 percent who are generous, funny, collegial, and the reason going to work can be a joy. Build your circle of trust there. It takes time.
How to learn without getting burned
Say little at first: You have ideas. Save them until you understand the local history and failed fixes. Politically, premature solutions can step on landmines you cannot see yet.
Keep watch actively: In meetings, note recurring themes, who frames decisions, who drafts the minutes, whose objections stop the room. That tells you more than titles do.
Do profile homework: Check outputs and interests so you can spot real collaboration opportunities. Then sense-check how they are to work with before you pitch anything.
Map the reward system: Who gets time? Who gets thanked? Who gets promoted? Those signals tell you what behaviours the institution values, regardless of what it says.
Protect your boundaries: Early clarity on what meetings you must attend versus can skip will come with time. Until then, default to attending, but privately track which ones never change your actions. Start pruning.
Document agreements: If you must engage in politically sensitive tasks, record decisions, responsibilities, and deadlines in shared spaces, not just email.
What I actually did
I defaulted to quiet in year one. I only spoke when I had context or when asked directly.
I observed the all-hands rooms like an ethnographer. Who sits where. Who defers to whom. Who drafts the action list.
I looked up profiles and read work before initiating collaborations.
I steered clear of the greasy polers and the inventors of work, no matter how shiny the project.
I cultivated a small, trusted circle among the 95 percent and invested there.
The gist
Say less until you know the landscape.
Watch carefully in the rooms where power is visible.
Learn who is who, what is rewarded, and where the traps are.
Build with the majority who are good people and keep distance from the handful who will drain your time and peace.
In the early months, your best political move is restraint. Protect your bandwidth, map the terrain, and then act with intention.