Navigating office politics

All organisations are subject to conflict and competition between the desires and interests of different departments, teams and individuals. Organisational politics refers to the processes through which these rival interests are played out and in the end joined together. While in an ideal organisation it may be hoped that decisions are made on a rational basis, politics is intrinsically non-rational and subject to power interactions between diverse interests. Members of an organisation are at the same time collaborating to achieve a common goal and competing for rewards, and at times their personal interests may be at conflict with the organisation’s objectives.

It is through the political system of an organisation that rival interests are solved. This system represents how power is applied and distributed in the organisation. Understanding the political system of an organisation is vital for a leader to operate effectively and reach their goals. A leader, exercising power, is able to have a strong influence on the political climate of an organisation through their decisions, their way of handling conflict and giving organisation politics recognition, support and inspiration to their teams.

Negative organisational politics may be very harmful for an organisation. This has been identified as one of the major contributor of stress within modern businesses. Negative politics includes the use of dissident methods to endorse a personal agenda which may chip away at organisational objectives, distract energy away from organisational goals and compromise the interests, cooperation and fulfillment of other employees. Such tools may include filtering or distortion of information, non-cooperation, allocating blame, reprisals, dishonesty, obstructionism and threats.

Impression management is another element of organisational politics that it is important to preserve an awareness of. The term refers to techniques of self-presentation where a person may decisively control the information they put forward about themselves or their ideas to create a positive impression. For the leader this entails that everything may not always be as it seems. Studies have point out that people using impression management may be more positively rated by their supervisors than others. On the other hand, being aware of the impression you are creating should be considered in building support for your own goals. The level to which impression management is applied is an ethical question that relates to a leaders credibility and reliability.

Usually, political behaviour and maneuvering within an organisation is caused by uncertainty, such as unclear objectives, poorly defined decisions, competition and change. A leader’s influence may be used to inhibit a bad climate that promotes such negative politics.

By endorsing a positive culture that values integrity, respect and fairness within their team, the leader is able to channel people’s interests and energy away from negative political interplay and towards an alliance with organisation objectives. Allowing team members to express their interests and demonstrating a dedication to support individual needs integrates their fulfillment into the work organisation and promotes the positive resolution of political conflicts.

The Political Players

Each player in the organization has a role in the politics that move wheels of getting things done. No one can escape politics and that’s why it’s important to determine who the players are and what power they wield. Any organization, whether it’s all volunteer or a corporation, will have several of the following political players:

• The boss: is the person that’s in charge of the organization. Usually, they make the final decision and are who people are trying to achieve favor with.
• 2nd in command: is being trained for the boss’s job and has a significant amount of political clout with the boss.
• The yes man: pretty much always agrees with the boss, even if it’s the wrong thing to do. Yes men get to their position by catering to what every boss deep down wants — to always be right.
• The curmudgeon: is always looking at the downside of everything. Nothing is ever good enough or “like we used to do it.” The curmudgeon has political power but it’s usually narrowly focused.
• The vortex: always creates drama and wants to suck everyone to their side, even if it’s down the path to disaster. Their typical MO is to say they just want to be helpful and make sure every option is explored but what they really want to do is slow things way down and push their own agenda.
• The empire builder: loves the political power of having lots of people. They use this power to grab even more power and will not stop until they are the boss.
• The peacemaker: wants everyone to get along and work together in harmony. Usually, they have a ton of political power because they are perceived as having the best interest of the company in mind.
• The brain: knows everything and is purely data driven. Politicians usually avoid the brain because the entire company knows how smart they are.
• The rubber chicken: is hard to pin down and always has a “what if”. They are rubber chickens because they squeak a lot but don’t really say much.
• The parrot: will steal someone else’s idea as their own. They also tend to have no real opinion other than the “right” opinion of the day and will parrot that all around the company.

One thing to remember is that people can and do change their roll, depending on the situation. It’s not uncommon for a yes man to be the boss in certain circumstances or even being the brainchild or even a peacemaker. The essence of the situation should always dictate a re-examination of the players and how they fit into the landscape. The essential item to remember is that people will fall into several different modes, depending on their attitudes and political prowess

Individual Antecedents

There are a number of potential individual antecedents of political behavior. These are

• Political skill: refers to peoples’ interpersonal style, including their ability to relate well to others, self-monitor, change their reactions depending upon the situation they are in, and inspire confidence and trust. Researchers have found that individuals who are high on political skill are more effective at their jobs or at least in influencing their supervisors’ performance ratings of them.
• Internal locus of control: Individuals who are high in internal locus of control believe that they can make a difference in organizational outcomes. They do not leave things to destiny .Hence, we would expect those high in internal locus of control to take on in more political behaviour. Research shows that these individuals perceive politics around them to a greater degree.
• Investment in the organization: is also related to political behaviour. If a person is highly invested in an organization either financially or emotionally, they will be more likely to be involved in political behaviour because they care deeply about the fate of the organization.
• Expectations of success: When a person expects that they will be successful in changing an outcome, they are more likely to take part in political behaviour. Think about it: If you know there is no chance that you can influence an outcome, why would you spend your valuable time and resources working to effect change? You wouldn’t. As time goes by you’d learn to live with the outcomes rather than trying to change them.

Organizational Antecedents

There are a number of potential Organizational antecedents of political behavior. These are

• Scarcity of resources: This breeds politics. When resources such as monetary incentives or promotions are limited, people see the organization as more political.
• Role ambiguity: Any type of ambiguity can relate to greater organizational politics. For example, role ambiguity allows individuals to bargain and redefine their roles. This freedom can become a political process. Research shows that when people do not feel clear about their job responsibilities, they perceive the organization as more political.
• Performance evaluations and promotions: Ambiguity also exists around performance evaluations and promotions. These human resource practices can lead to greater political behaviour, such as impression management, throughout the organization.
• Democratic decision making: Decision making directs to more political behaviour. Since many people have a say in the process of making decisions, there are more people available to be influenced.

Organizational politics

Politics are at work in your organization. Denying this or purposely abstaining from the use of politics will diminish your capabilities as a leader. Politics exist in every organization because the individuals and groups that make up an organization have different, and often competing, interests.

Because organizational resources are limited, everyone can’t have what they want. And ultimately, the organization’s goals take precedence. So stakeholders must find ways to cooperate and resolve their conflicting interests. This interplay between cooperation and competition gives rise to politics. If it’s used right, everyone benefits.

Often, the difficulties leaders must overcome have more to do with politics than obvious obstacles like technical competence. That’s why political power is valuable. Political power is the capacity to influence behavior and outcomes to accomplish objectives using the political network – or political frame – in an organization. As a leader, you can increase your influence and build political power by making appropriate and ethical use of politics.

Like any other tool, politics can be used in positive or negative ways, and the outcome can be either constructive or destructive, depending on your perspective. Generally speaking, politics are used constructively when they’re in the best interest of the organization. So it may help to think of positive politics as political behavior and actions that are honest and open, and move the organization closer to achieving its goals. Alternatively, negative politics include any actions that rely on deception and secrecy in the pursuit of personal and organizational interests.

Relationships are an integral part of your political power, just as they are important to your influence. As a leader, you need to build relationships with people who can advance your team’s efforts. Poor working relationships will weaken your political power and its effectiveness as a tool for organizational success. The positive use of politics benefits everyone involved in working to achieve organizational goals. And as a leader, you’ll be building your relationships, credibility, influence, and political power when you use politics positively.

Before you can make appropriate use of politics, you need to take some time and study two important factors of the political realm:

• your organization’s political frame, and
• yourself

Cultivating positive politics

Leaders commonly apply two strategies to help them use political power appropriately for the good of the organization, and in positive ways. The first is to create strong relationships. And the second is to promote unifying goals and objectives.

To successfully influence others, you’ll need to create strong relationships. As a leader, you must build personal, one-on-one relationships with coworkers and colleagues, whether they’re fellow leaders, decision makers, or any other member of the work community.

Keeping two concepts in mind will help you build and maintain strong relationships: respect and reciprocity. Everyone wants respect. But to get it, you have to give it, and that leads to reciprocity. In relationships, business or otherwise, you often get out what you put in. So, if you treat people with respect and are supportive of them, you’re likely to get the same treatment back.

Applying two techniques will help you create strong relationships when you are seeking support or trying to influence others

• understand the other person’s point of view, and
• make the support mutual

The second strategy to help you use your political power, appropriately and in positive ways is to promote unifying goals and objectives. Organizations are inherently political. Whenever resources are limited, competing interests and competition for those resources gives rise to politics. One way you can minimize the competition is to promote unifying goals and objectives. The key is to cultivate an attitude of doing what’s best for the organization. Once that’s the mind-set of the work community, destructive politics will give way to constructive politics, and you’ll ultimately be able to achieve more in the best interest of the organization.

Competing interests make politics a fact of life in organizations. The competition for limited resources and the need to cooperate to achieve organizational goals introduces political behavior. Politics can be positive or negative, and as a leader, you must be careful to refrain from using politics in a negative way. Avoid using politics to further the goals of one set of stakeholders at the expense of another, pitting stakeholders against each other, and abusing position power. After you have examined your organization’s political frame and how you’re going to operate within it, you can start using politics, in a positive way, to influence others. Two strategies you can use are creating strong relationships and promoting unifying goals and objectives. Both will increase your influence and political power, and your leadership capabilities.

Method of dealing with Organization Politics

Organizational politics is deeply embedded in any organisation. It must be played with care and a full understanding of the landscape, players and rules. Like any good sports team, preparation before the game makes the game much easier to play and gives you a better chance of winning. Below are a few essential skills that will help you play the game better.

• Be data driven: Usually, data wins over any sort of political agenda. When you are data driven, you rely on the facts and that is your best method to dissolve any sort of political positioning.
• Foster alliances: You need to build up alliances well in advance of any political conflict. Alliances are a great tool to help each other to make sure that nothing gets past your collective political radar.
• Admit when you are wrong: The power of admitting when you are wrong is not quite understood. When used correctly, it disseminates a politically charged situation within an instant. The trick is to use it resourcefully since if you are wrong too often, people will start to question your competence.
• Understand the question behind the question: In a politically charged environment, the line of questioning will always lead to some sort of political peak. Knowing where the questions are leading will allow you to anticipate this and adjust accordingly.
• Tell the truth: This may seem obvious but most people will skirt the truth because it may make them look bad. Don’t worry so much about looking bad that but rather, make sure you have the facts straight and that you are trying to seek the truth about the situation.
• Use email sparingly: Email can be a bane in a political environment since it’s a record of half-baked ideas and half-truths. Use email less and only when you have the facts straight
• Always look out for the best interest of the company: This is probably the best thing you can do when in a politically charged company. No one can debate you motivation when it’s in the best interest of the company.
• Foster relationships: Personal insights into your co-workers can help you move in the political landscape by giving you look into their personality. This is useful when the arguments get heated.
• Stand up for yourself: When you right, let everyone know it. Don’t stand back when someone attacks you. Instead, let them know the facts and be proud of how you handled the situation.
• Help others: By assisting others, you earn their trust and respect. You also earn their thanks that will come in handy when you need help.
• Try and find common ground: Common ground is where everyone in the situation can agree. In almost every scenario, there is some common point where all parties will agree. Finding that will allow you to achieve a vital political move — having the parties actually agree on something.
• Agree to disagree: Sometimes a situation will slide down into such chaos that the only solution is to agree to disagree. This should be your last alternative but it’s a powerful tool when you are stuck.
• Be the peacemaker: It’s best that you get the reputation of someone who finds solutions to risky problems. Being the peacemaker is one way to achieve that. Peacemakers are looked at positively because they go beyond the politics and focus on making progress.
• Know When to Say “I don’t know”: It’s much better to say I don’t know then to try and make up an answer on the go. Saying I don’t know takes strength but when used correctly, those three simple words can disseminate a volatile situation for another day. Just be careful not to use it too much.
• Constantly adjust your approach: As the saying goes, one size does not fit all. You need to read the situation you are in and choose the best approach to achieve your objectives. Doing this will allow you to be much more successful than if you just do the same thing over and over again.