Surviving Office Politics:

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• Surviving Office Politics
• Swimming with the Sharks

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Politics Occur Naturally in Organizations

• Competition for scarce resources
• Salary Staff
• Dept. budget Office
• Position Space
• Recognition Benefits

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What is Office Politics?

• Communicating indirectly
• Using covert tactics to advance
• Controlling other people through
• psychological manipulation
• Being cautions about telling the truth
• Hiding vulnerability
• Currying favor

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Organizational Politics

• Involves intentional acts of influence to
  enhance or protect the self-interest of
  individuals or groups.

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Organizational Politics

• Political Tactics
• Attacking or blaming others.
• Using information as a political tool
• Creating a favorable image.
• Developing a base of support.
• Praising others (ingratiation).
• Forming power coalitions with strong allies.
• Associating with influential people.
• Creating obligations (reciprocity).

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Are there politics in your organization?
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Politics Reflect the Competing Interests of
Stakeholders

• Stakeholders Groups with an interest in the
  organization, its inputs and outputs
• Managers
• Staff
• Shareholders
• Customers
• Suppliers

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Examples of Office Politics
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Example Looking Good

• Pete is a supervisor who is ambitious to a fault.
  Everything he does is for effect. One of his
  ground rules is that only positive information
  makes its way from him to his boss. Negative news
  is totally ignored. He makes it clear that anyone
  in his group who says bad things about him or the
  organization risks getting fired. If an employee
  openly disagrees, he or she is labeled a
  non-supporter. Everyone who reports to Pete
  agrees the best practice is to fall into line and
  be a yes person.

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Example Power by Association

• Mike is a young marketing manager. He sees work
  as a game and compulsively seeks to be a winner.
  He gets turned on by challenging, competitive
  activities where he can prove himself. He hates
  being pushed around. His goal is to become more
  powerful because power means freedom. To expand
  his influence and to increase his chances of
  advancement, he is developing very strong
  relationships with major customers who can make
  demands on his company.

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Example Favoritism

• Larry was hired as the heir-apparent to the CFO.
  Cora, a financial analyst who had been with the
  company for two years, made herself indispensable
  to him. When Larry was placed in charge of the
  annual budget review, he made Cora his assistant.
  At a point where his views clashed with those of
  a Senior Auditor, Larry fired the auditor and
  promoted Cora to that position even though she
  wasnt the most qualified person for the job.

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Example The Copywriters Clique

• When Kate became a copywriter for a newspaper in
  a large city, she was invited to join her group
  for lunch her first day on the job. She
  discovered the group met informally once a week
  to gossip, to exchange inside tips, and to get to
  know one another better. Kate quickly learned the
  value of trading information at these events. The
  message was clear lunch was political. A final
  note Its important to remember that to be human
  is to be political. Whenever peoples priorities,
  values, and interests diverge, some type of
  politicking usually takes place.

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Office Politics

• Problem A non-management employee runs the
  department grapevine for gossip and her
  information is usually correct, including the
  news that you are about to take over as manager.
• Solution It might be tempting to sit her down
  immediately and explain that the grapevine is
  dead and that any information will come from you
  in the future. An effective manager must have
  access to the grapevine to learn employee
  concerns. Even when the message is untrue, gossip
  usually reflects employee concerns and fears.

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Office Politics

• Tips for dealing with the office grapevine
• Listen to whatever is being said without getting
  too emotional or losing your temper. You dont
  know what message will get sent back through the
  grapevine.
• If the information is accurate, dont go on a
  witch hunt to find the leak. You cant close the
  grapevine down, but you can put a crimp in access
  to it.

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Office Politics

• If the information is totally false, dont make a
  public denouncement. Nothing cuts a grapevine
  deeper than a completely false story.
• Pump as much accurate information into the system
  as you possibly can. Prevent rumors by
  consistently leveling with employees. Correct
  false rumors immediately. Communicate in person
  whenever you can. Memos, e-mail messages, and
  comments that get passed through numerous people
  are usually wide open to interpretation.

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Office Politics

• Dont try to kill the grapevine. Its human
  nature for people to want to exchange inside
  information about whats happening in the
  office. Too many attempts to manage the flow of
  information will make employees suspect youre
  covering something up.

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Managing Office Politics

• Reduce System Uncertainty
• Reduce Competition
• Break Existing Political Fiefdoms or clichés
• Create interdependent reward structure

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Positive Political Strategies

• Know your own interests and goals
• Focus on common interests rather than differences
• Build relationships
• Social groups
• Inside the organization
• Outside the organization
• Vertically as well as horizontally

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• Politics is a necessary evil and often its
  just plain evil. Unfortunately, its also how
  things get done.
• Mr. Blaine Pardoe, Director
• Technology-Education Services
• Ernst Young LLP

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• Office politics fills a leadership vacuum
  If you build a unified company-wide team,
  politics wont have a place.
• Mr. Lawrence B. Seruen
• Author The End of Office
  Politics,
• published by the AMA

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• Pardoes Five Principles

• for Dealing with Office Politics

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Principles

• 1. You cant win unless someone else loses.
• 2. Just because you dont get what you want
• doesnt mean youre getting the shaft.
• 3. Politics is about power and power is
• measured in weird ways.

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Principle 4 The past is prologue

• Always learn the unofficial history of your
  company who got into power, how they did it,
  where the bodies are buried. The unofficial
  history isnt always accurate history gets
  distorted by the victors. But it will teach you
  how politics gets played at your company how
  far people will go, what happens when you lose.
  Youll never see that stuff in the annual
  report.

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Principle 5 Dont believe everything you
hear

• Information is power, and lots of
  information comes in the form of rumors. But too
  many people believe too much of what they hear
  and make bad decisions as a result. Whenever I
  hear a rumor, I think about it for a day. Does it
  make any sense? Who stands to gain from spreading
  it? Is there an acid test that I can use to
  evaluate whether its true? Nine times out of
  ten, I conclude that it just doesnt hold water.

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• Influence

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Influence Tactics

• Rational persuasion. Trying to convince someone
  with reason, logic or facts.
• Inspirational appeals. Trying to build enthusiasm
  by appealing to others emotions, ideals or
  values.
• Consultation. Getting others to participate in
  planning, making decisions and changes.
• Ingratiation. Getting someone in a good mood
  prior to making a request being friendly,
  helpful and using praise or flattery.

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Influence Tactics

• Personal appeals. Referring to friendship and
  loyalty when making a request.
• Exchange. Making explicit or implied promises and
  trading favors.
• Coalition tactics. Getting others to support your
  effort to persuade someone.
• Pressure. Using intimidation or threats.

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How To Extend Your Influenceby Forming Strategic
Alliances

• Mutual respect.
• Openness.
• Trust.
• Mutual benefit

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Conflict between Self-Interest and Mutual
Interests Requires Managerial Action

• OrganizationalStakeholders
• Individual
• Groups

Influence tactics
MutualInterests (organizationaleffectiveness)

Political tactics
Empowerment
Self-Interest
Motivationteam buildingcommunicationleadership
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Impression Management

• The process by which people attempt to control
  or manipulate the reactions of others to images
  of themselves or their ideas.

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Delegation, Initiative and Empowerment
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The Evolution of Power From Domination to
Delegation
High
Power DistributionFollowers grantedauthority
to makedecisions.
Power SharingManager leader followers
jointlymake decisions.
Influence Sharing Manager leader consults
followers when making decisions.
Degree of Empowerment
AuthoritarianPower Manager leader imposes
decisions.
None
Domination
Consultation
Participation
Delegation
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Delegation
The process of granting decision-making
authority to subordinates.
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Barriers to Delegation

• Belief in the fallacy, If you want it done
  right, do it yourself.
• Lack of confidence and trust in lower-level
  employees.
• Low self-confidence.
• Fear of being called lazy.
• Vague job definition.
• Fear of competition from those below.
• Reluctance to take the risks of depending on
  others.
• Lack of controls that provide early warning of
  problems with delegated duties.
• Poor example set by bosses who do not delegate.

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Personal Initiative The Other Side of Delegation
Levels of Action
Decreasing time to action to solve a problem
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Tips for Personal Initiative and Taking Action

• Go beyond the job.
• Follow through on new ideas.
• Dont be defeated by criticism learn from it.
• Look ahead and around.

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Avoiding Action

• Over-conforming
• Buck passing
• Playing dumb
• Depersonalizing
• Stretching
• Smoothing
• Stalling

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Avoiding Blame

• Bluffing (making something look better than it
  is)
• Playing safe
• Justifying
• Scapegoating
• Misrepresenting

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How to Keep Office Politics from Derailing Your
Career

• adapted from Get your foot off my neck! How
  to move up when office politics has you down, by
  Dawn M. Baskerville and Joy Duckett Cain, in
  Essence

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Make superiors accountable

• Meet with your direct supervisors and ask
  for a written list of what you need to accomplish
  in order to advance to the next level. If you
• can demonstrate that you have already
• met these goals, ask when your status
• will change. If not, work with your
• supervisor to create a timetable for
• meeting the goals and being promoted.

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Be the squeaky wheel

• After your initial meeting, continue asking
  for your supervisors feedback and direction
  and make sure your supervisor is aware each time
  you check off something on the list. Do not
  assume your boss knows all your accomplishments.

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Find a mentor

• Find someone high up in the ranks who can
  become your champion, guiding you through the
  maze of corporate politics and helping you
  develop professionally.
• Look for someone with whom you
• share a common background, interests,
• and chemistry someone who will take a
  personal interest in helping you get a head.

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Raise your profile

• Join professional organizations and become
  active in community programs.
• Many times, those in power positions
• are more likely to take notice if you are
• hosting a charity event than if you are
• back at the office with your nose to
• the grindstone.

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Cut your losses

• Remember that timetable you created for
  getting ahead? If you keep your end of the
  bargain, but the promotion is not forthcoming,
  start looking for new opportunities elsewhere.
  Why waste your energy continuing to play a game
  you can not win?

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Summary of Survival Strategies

• Know your goals / interests
• Focus on common ground. Not differences with your
  stake holders
• Build, nurture personal relationships
• - internally
• - externally
• - laterally, vertical
• Be true to yourself
• Think before you speak