Monday, November 20, 2006
Dealing with office politics
20th November, 2006 - Business Line
Effective organisations create systems that keep a check on office politics
Recently, a young man who had completed his studies in hotel management in Switzerland came to me seek some counselling about job opportunities. He had put in two years of service in a hotel. He said that one reason he had quit his previous job was the degree of politics in the organisation. He was really fed up with it and felt it was better for him to quit. In his words, "We are taught in schools and universities the right way of doing things. But when we go into the working world, all we learnt seems to be unreal. It is not what you know, but who you know that makes the difference."
I tried to console him by saying that politicking is a way of life in almost all organisations. One must not be dejected or demoralised by it, but learn to cope with it. It is not long before one learns the ropes and become part of it or learns to cope with it. Still, there can be other ways of dealing with office politics.
When organisations become more and more professional, there seems to be a lesser degree of politicking. A friend of mine jokingly said that politicking puts some fun into corporate life. Without politics, there are no gossips. And without gossips, corporate life will be dull. But when office politics becomes malicious and vicious, then morale problems set in.
Christopher Parker, the author of Power, Politics and Organization, contends that many individuals need to accept the process of political influence as a fact of modern organisational life. Underneath the superficiality of organisational culture are subtle, but more strong currents of politics. It appears that technical skills and educational qualifications alone will not suffice for promotion. One may also need a degree of political skill. Unfortunately, no firm or institution teaches the fundamentals of office politics.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Power in Organizations, says that students graduating from business schools are often insensitive to the (political) game that is being played in organisations and its rules. This may be true in the initial stages of organisational life, but people are gradually indoctrinated into the office or factory politics. During this process, they look around for the political forces which have power and try to identify with them. It is somewhat similar to the mentor system in Japanese organisations. The mentor provides political support in addition to counselling, advice and other kinds of assistance. But the Japanese system is formalised, understood and recognised, unlike the politicking process, which is disguised and subjective.
How people enter into some political force in an organisation is interesting. The entrants may pass some vital information gathered in gossip sessions to the members of the group in control or go to lunch or coffee breaks with that group or render some personal favours.
Organisational politics drains quite a bit of energy and effort. It demoralises the people who are outside the group. The overall results can be low productivity, poor morale, high degree of absenteeism and turnover. If people cannot quit or be absent from work, the next alternative is to be at work and engage in counter-productive activities, which in some circles known as `goldbricking'. Such activities may even amount to withholding of information or resources or forming a coalition of forces outside the power structure.
Certain individuals and organisations rise above the level of politicking. They tend to be objective, show concern for people and their problems regardless of their make-up and keep themselves away from power groups.
Effective organisations create systems to keep people involved in organisational life on an equal basis. The feelings thus fostered help organisational health in the same way good feelings sustain the psychological health of individuals. People at the top must ensure that no one group dominates in the organisation. They must carefully review the decisions, recommendations and activities of the groups that try to gain mileage out of politicking. Channels must be developed to crosscheck the views of these groups and develop objective measures whether it is for promotion or any personnel action.
Unless people at the top realise the real damage caused by political forces in the organisation and break them, individuals, alone, cannot overcome this illness. If you are a good boss, you already will know where such politics exist or operate in your organisation and once you know it, nip it before it causes more damage to your organisation.
If you are a member of such a political force, remember that membership will last only for a while. If you are outside such a force, seek more constructive outlets than brooding over office politics. Cheer up!
(The writer is a professor of management and international consultant to some global organisations. He has authored a number of books on management)
Effective organisations create systems that keep a check on office politics
Recently, a young man who had completed his studies in hotel management in Switzerland came to me seek some counselling about job opportunities. He had put in two years of service in a hotel. He said that one reason he had quit his previous job was the degree of politics in the organisation. He was really fed up with it and felt it was better for him to quit. In his words, "We are taught in schools and universities the right way of doing things. But when we go into the working world, all we learnt seems to be unreal. It is not what you know, but who you know that makes the difference."
I tried to console him by saying that politicking is a way of life in almost all organisations. One must not be dejected or demoralised by it, but learn to cope with it. It is not long before one learns the ropes and become part of it or learns to cope with it. Still, there can be other ways of dealing with office politics.
When organisations become more and more professional, there seems to be a lesser degree of politicking. A friend of mine jokingly said that politicking puts some fun into corporate life. Without politics, there are no gossips. And without gossips, corporate life will be dull. But when office politics becomes malicious and vicious, then morale problems set in.
Christopher Parker, the author of Power, Politics and Organization, contends that many individuals need to accept the process of political influence as a fact of modern organisational life. Underneath the superficiality of organisational culture are subtle, but more strong currents of politics. It appears that technical skills and educational qualifications alone will not suffice for promotion. One may also need a degree of political skill. Unfortunately, no firm or institution teaches the fundamentals of office politics.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Power in Organizations, says that students graduating from business schools are often insensitive to the (political) game that is being played in organisations and its rules. This may be true in the initial stages of organisational life, but people are gradually indoctrinated into the office or factory politics. During this process, they look around for the political forces which have power and try to identify with them. It is somewhat similar to the mentor system in Japanese organisations. The mentor provides political support in addition to counselling, advice and other kinds of assistance. But the Japanese system is formalised, understood and recognised, unlike the politicking process, which is disguised and subjective.
How people enter into some political force in an organisation is interesting. The entrants may pass some vital information gathered in gossip sessions to the members of the group in control or go to lunch or coffee breaks with that group or render some personal favours.
Organisational politics drains quite a bit of energy and effort. It demoralises the people who are outside the group. The overall results can be low productivity, poor morale, high degree of absenteeism and turnover. If people cannot quit or be absent from work, the next alternative is to be at work and engage in counter-productive activities, which in some circles known as `goldbricking'. Such activities may even amount to withholding of information or resources or forming a coalition of forces outside the power structure.
Certain individuals and organisations rise above the level of politicking. They tend to be objective, show concern for people and their problems regardless of their make-up and keep themselves away from power groups.
Effective organisations create systems to keep people involved in organisational life on an equal basis. The feelings thus fostered help organisational health in the same way good feelings sustain the psychological health of individuals. People at the top must ensure that no one group dominates in the organisation. They must carefully review the decisions, recommendations and activities of the groups that try to gain mileage out of politicking. Channels must be developed to crosscheck the views of these groups and develop objective measures whether it is for promotion or any personnel action.
Unless people at the top realise the real damage caused by political forces in the organisation and break them, individuals, alone, cannot overcome this illness. If you are a good boss, you already will know where such politics exist or operate in your organisation and once you know it, nip it before it causes more damage to your organisation.
If you are a member of such a political force, remember that membership will last only for a while. If you are outside such a force, seek more constructive outlets than brooding over office politics. Cheer up!
(The writer is a professor of management and international consultant to some global organisations. He has authored a number of books on management)
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