Question: What strategies are most
successful in a "political" organization?
Our advice:
Organizations are designed to achieve certain goals, for example, to provide a
particular product or service to the market for a profit. Decision making
within organizations is supposedly rational: All ideas are to be heard and then
those that are most likely to contribute to the achievement of the
organization's goals--as measured by reasonable criteria--are adopted. But
since there's no automatic procedure to follow in making important decisions,
we must use other methods for reaching agreement on what to do. That involves
personalities and power, where some people will have more influence than
others, whether justifiably or not. And that is where so-called "organizational
politics" comes in.
In nearly every business of any size, organizational politics is the norm and
not the exception. But there's no reason why a contributing employee shouldn't
advance in such an organization. There are several strategies to follow:
Rule 1:
Determine who has the power that will affect decisions made about you and your
unit. Obviously, that will include your manager or others above you in the
chain of command. But it also may be a colleague on the same level who has
control over something you require--resources or personnel--or who may have
influence with those higher up. Once you determine who actually influences
decisions, you need to figure out how to influence them. What makes those
people tick? What do they care about most? And what skills and resources do you
have that they need? Those constitute your power. Make those people realize
what you can contribute to help them achieve their own goals. It may be
possible to trade something over which you have control for something they
have.
Rule 2: State your case when decisions are to be made. Honesty will
often result in differences of opinion in the workplace, and there's nothing
wrong with that. To always agree with whatever others say makes you look
foolish. What value do you add if all you do is agree with everyone else? Such
a person has no power, because others will have already presented his or her
view. Having a different point of view, however, will not only attract
attention but also will show independence of thought. Thus when you do agree
with someone else, it will mean something.
But always keep in mind the distinction between offering a point of view before
a decision is made, and then acting on a decision that has been agreed to. Make
sure everyone can see that you're willing to abide by the group decision, even
if it wasn't your own. Disagreement can advance your career, as long as it's
done objectively and with no personal references. Disagree with proposals and
ideas, not with the people who offer them.
Rule 3: In a politicized organization the membership in informal groups
often changes quickly, so stay on good terms with members of each group. That
makes it easier to disagree when necessary, because you have ensured that those
on the other side understand that there's nothing personal about your
opposition. What's even more important is that it also makes it psychologically
easier for them to agree with you. After all, they like you.
-- Brooks Colburn
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