WORKING POWER

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WORKING POWER POLITICS How to Understand and
Maneuver Complex Systems

• Karen Lee Ashcraft, Ph.D.
• Associate Professor
• Department of Communication
• University of Utah

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Common reactions to office politics A 2nd look

• Power politics dirty words
• The source? Individualism merit in U.S.
  culture
• The consequences? Disillusionment, helplessness,
  passivity

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Shifting from apathy to action

• Power politics essential to complex
  organizations
• Knowing how to get things done is as important as
  knowing what to do
• Our goal to learn how politics work so we can
  transform resigned apathy into informed action

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Redefining the terms

• Power (perceived) potential to influence
  organization goals, processes, and outcomes
  ability to mobilize others to action
• Individual level
• Politics embedded communication patterns that
  regulate how power works
• Organizational/system level

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A general template

• 1. What are your objectives?
• 2. Who are the pivotal people?
• 3. How are they likely to respond?
• 4. What are their power bases?
• 5. What are your power bases?
• 6. Which communication strategies best
• fit your situation?

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2. Who are the pivotal people?

• Identify relevant subunits measure their
  relative power.
• Use multiple indicators reputation,
  repre-sentation, resource distribution, symbols,
  etc.
• Diagnose patterns of dependence
  interdependence.
• Dependence critical decision-makers, compliance
  vs. support/cooperation
• Interdependence others affected, friends
  allies of influential groups/individuals

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3. How are they likely to respond?

• How will your goals affect them in terms of
• power/status
• performance evaluation reward
• work processes
• What are their goals, stakes, assumptions?
• Anticipate their perceptions feelings about
  your goals.
• If necessary, test your analysis.

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The case of Julia Dobbins

• 1 What are her objectives?
• 2 Who are the pivotal people?
• Individuals and/or subunits
• What (inter)dependency patterns are present?
• 3 How will they likely respond?

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4. Their power bases?5. Your power bases?

• Structural sources
• legitimate authority
• resources
• location in the communication network

• Individual sources
• expertise
• reputation, performance
• referent power
• individual attributes, skills

Resulting currencies (1) inspiration-related,
(2) task-related, (3) position-related, (4)
relationship-related, (5) personal-related
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Returning to Julia

• 4 What are their power bases?
• 5 What are Julias power bases?
• Evaluate the relative power of the people (or
  subunits) involved.

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6. Fit between communication strategies and
situation?

• A. Influence tactics
• Framing The context of the issues
• contrast, commitment, scarcity
• Timing When things occur
• moving first, delaying, deadlines, waiting games,
  order of consideration
• Interpersonal factors The actions of others
• See Figure 1 -- threat, exchange, appeal (to
  value, emotion, reason)

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6. Continued

• B. Key situational factors (see Figure 2)
• Interdependencies
• Distribution of power
• Time available
• Values Relevance extent to which theyre
  shared
• Emotion Relevance, nature, degree
• Nature of relationship with pivotal subunits and
  individuals

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Final advice for Julia

• 6 What strategies would you advise Julia to
  take?
• First, analyze the situation. Are time, values,
  emotion relevant here? What are Julias
  relationships like? Etc.
• What should Julia test or investigate further?
• What should she do now?