When you're second-guessing yourself before communicating with someone, you probably have reservations based on their past reactions.

When you do need to communicate with such people, you may need to tailor your messages to the expectation of how they might react.

• Best time to start drama (if there is a "best" time): Monday afternoon.
• Worst time to start drama: Friday afternoon.

If you find yourself in a heated battle, try and find a way to collaborate and find a middle ground to deal with the issue at hand.

Ask your contacts in any new environment.

• Are there sensitive topics that I shouldn't discuss without talking to you first?
• Can you draw an organizational chart for me?
• Who should my main point of contact be for this project?

If you are new to an office environment you should be listening 95% of the time. Ask a lot of questions to get a good understanding of how things work.

The thing with office politics is that you...

Unless 100% of the recipients will find your information useful, only reply directly to the sender.

"Reply all" is too often the cause of office drama. Always be sure to check if you've accidentally clicked "reply all" before sending a sensitive message.