Survive Office Politics

How to Steer a Course through Minefields at Work

Bloomsbury Publishing

• Publisher: A&C Black Business Information and Development
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781408134078
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Développement personnel
• Subtopic: Réussite personnelle

All workplaces are affected by the intrigues of office politics, and in many businesses who you know can be more important than what you know. Survive Office Politics is full of advice on how to cope with difficult situations and people and get on with your job.

This book offers practical help on how to keep cool under pressure,
watch out for danger signs, deal with a difficult situation, and work
out who is doing what and why. It features a quiz, step-by-step
guidance, top tips, common mistakes and advice on how to avoid them,
summaries of key points, and lists of handy books and Web links.

'The workplace can be a minefield, so ensure your survival with Survive Office Politics.' Company

1Understanding internal politics

by Kathleen Kelley Reardon
Professor of Management and Organisation at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business

Many of the hurdles managers must face and overcome have little to do with technical competence. Rather, they have to do with politics. Internal politics is a fact of life in organisations, yet many managers and CEOs will tell you their success is largely due to allowing ‘no politics’ in their firms. They’ll regale you with stories of how they use and encourage ‘people skills’ to create a desired environment and accomplish organisational goals. What they’re really talking about is how they use politics.

Step one: Accept that politics is a part of office life

In common vernacular, ‘politics’ is used to describe what people do to influence decision-makers, accomplish hidden agendas, and surreptitiously advance their careers, often to the detriment of others. But politics is not always so sinister.

By its very nature, politics involves going outside usual, formally sanctioned channels to accomplish objectives. However, it doesn’t have to be done in a secretive manner and the results can often benefit everyone involved. When used to influence people in the service of valid company goals, politics becomes a positive tool indeed. The team leader who makes valuable connections with people who can advance the team’s efforts is acting politically.

Given two competent people, the one who has political savvy, agility in the use of power, and the ability to influence others is more likely to succeed as a senior manager. Indeed, to the successful senior manager in a competitive organisation, day-to-day life is politics. That’s why smart business people think like Caroline Nahas, managing director of Korn Ferry International, Southern California. To be politically astute, you need to ‘read where the trend lines are’ and ‘be ahead of the game’.

Of course, politics is not always positive. Sometimes, people must defend themselves from political manoeuvring. When surrounded or targeted by colleagues playing underhand political games, job survival may require one to act similarly. In organisations where bias or favouritism dictate who gets key assignments and promotions, political manoeuvring is required to get into the loop.

In short, the astute employee or manager must understand how politics functions in organisations in order to advance his or her and the firm’s own goals.

Step two: Assess how political your workplace is

The first step in acquiring political acumen is learning to identify the kind of political organisation you’re working in. Without this knowledge, you’ll be operating in the dark, wondering why opportunities were lost. There are four primary levels of political arena—minimal, moderate, highly political, and pathologically political—and they often co-exist inside a large organisation.

1 Minimally politicised

The atmosphere is amicable. Conflicts rarely occur and don’t usually last long. The atmosphere is comradely— there’s an absence of in-groups and out-groups, and one person’s gain isn’t seen as another’s loss.

Rules may be bent and favours granted, but people treat each other with regard and rarely resort to underhand political means. These are excellent environments for people uncomfortable with aggressive politics. Unfortunately, such organisations are more the exception than the rule.

2 Moderately politicised

These types of organisation operate on commonly understood and formally sanctioned rules. They often include smaller, fast-moving firms and large ones focused on organisational agility. Where customer focus, results, teamwork, and interpersonal trust are priorities, politics is rarely destructive, and often focuses on surfacing worthwhile ideas.

Achieving objectives via unsanctioned methods isn’t unusual, but tends to be subtle and deniable. When conflicts get out of hand, managers will invoke sanctioned rules or common principles for resolution.

As a manager, however, when such an arena becomes dysfunctional, you will see considerable denial before unspoken political rules surface to the point where you can identify and address them constructively.

3 Highly politicised

Conflict is pervasive in this kind of culture. Instead of applying formal rules consistently, combatants only invoke them when convenient. In-groups and out-groups are clearly defined. Few people dare to communicate directly with senior managers. ‘Who’ is more important than ‘what’ you know, and work is often highly stressful, especially for those in out-groups.

When there’s conflict, people rely on aggressive political methods and involve others in the dispute. Highly political organisations are usually incapable of resolving conflicts constructively. They place blame and don’t tolerate losers. Such quick fixes rarely alter the dysfunctional pattern.

4 Pathologically politicised

These organisations are often on the verge of self-destruction. Productivity is suboptimal and information massaging is prevalent. People distrust each other, interactions are often fractious, and conflict is long-lasting and pervasive. People must circumvent formal procedures and structures to achieve objectives. They spend much time covering their backs.

Management uses a carrot-and-stick approach to control people. Subordinates are seen as stubborn, wilful—even stupid. In the classic Harvard Business Review article, ‘Asinine Attitudes toward Motivation’, Harry Levinson described this as the ‘jackass fallacy’.

Step three: Recognise the signs of political pathology

To avoid political pathology, managers must recognise its encroachment. Here are five indicators that it’s time to alter the political environment to save it from self-destruction.

Frequent flattery of persons in power, coupled with abuse of people in weaker positions.

Information massaging. No one says anything that might rock the boat, and the common means of communication is hint and innuendo.

Malicious gossip and backstabbing are common, even where little overt conflict appears.

Cold indifference, where no one is valued and everyone is dispensable, indicates the area has been systemically polluted by people in charge. Survival is based on obsequiousness, and getting others before they get you.

Fake left, go right. People, even entire departments, purposely mislead others in order to look good when they fail. Teamwork is absent. Managers sacrifice subordinates’ careers to avoid looking bad.

Step four: Match political style to political culture

A crucial step in learning to manage politics is identifying individual political styles. The mix of styles and their ‘fit’ with the predominant political arena exert considerable influence on goal achievement.

1 The purist

The least political are ‘purists’, who believe in getting ahead through hard work. They shun politics, and rely on following sanctioned rules to get things done. Purists are usually honest—sometimes naïvely so. They believe in getting ahead by doing their job well. Purists trust other people and prefer to work with those who do the same. Behind-the-scenes grappling for power and prestige is not of interest, hence purists are best suited to minimally political climates and will struggle to survive in highly political or pathological arenas.

2 The team player

‘Team player’s believe you get ahead by working with others and using politics that advance the goals of the group. They rarely put their own individual career needs ahead of group needs. Team players prefer to operate according to a set of sanctioned rules, but will trade favours or engage in other relatively benign politics to achieve team goals. Focused on doing the job well and creating conditions for team member ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• How well do you handle office politics?
• 1 Understanding internal politics
• 2 Handling office politics
• 3 Coping with a difficult boss
• 4 Using non-verbal communication
• 5 Managing others’ perceptions
• 6 Networking for successs
• 7 Dealing with office romances
• 8 Managing office politics in meetings
• Where to find more help