Winning at Office Politics

Understanding workplace relationships will help you manage the bigger picture

Anyone who says they sidestep office politics is essentially a liar — or in denial.

“Avoiding office politics is like trying to avoid air,” says Marie McIntyre, a nationally known management consultant and the author of Secrets to Winning at Office Politics: How to Achieve Your Goals and Increase Your Influence at Work. “If you have more than two people at work, you’ll have politics in one form or another. The key is to manage relationships in ways that let you get your job done and achieve your career goals at the same time.”

In theory, that should be easy. Just follow what McIntyre calls the Golden Rule of Office Politics: Never do anything that would harm the business where you work or other people.

Reality is a much different animal, however. For a myriad of complex reasons, common sense often goes out the window when it comes to workplace relationships, and that’s true for both managers and their direct reports. From turf battles to personality conflicts, McIntyre has seen it all over the years.

“Too many times, people forget to put that filter between their brain and their mouth,” she notes. “They have a purely emotional reaction to something and do or say something completely inappropriate … anyone who thinks it’s good to be completely honest (with opinions or feelings) at work is stupid. You need to be in adult, professional mode at all times, and keep the bigger picture in mind.

“There’s no mileage to be gained in having bad relationships at work,” she continues. “You never know who’s assistance you’re going to need down the road, who may influence a decision that affects you — a promotion, for instance — or who might even be your boss one day.”

Aside from potentially deep-sixing your career, venomous work politics also create larger, negative ripple effects within organizations. While it’s difficult to quantify, McIntyre notes that political jousting and game-playing deters collaboration, wastes time and energy, increases employee turnover and boosts the odds of missing business opportunities.

So how do you go about diffusing all these political landmines and ensuring your career path isn’t headed for a steep cliff with no guardrails? McIntyre suggests following these six tips to become a more politically savvy employee:

1. Get on board with your boss. Unless you have an invaluable or irreplaceable skill, or are the nephew of the person who owns the business where you work, it’s time to face an irrefutable fact: Your boss has way more leverage than you do. As such, waging a battle against him or her makes about as much sense as a kickstand on a vacuum truck.

“Unless they’re doing something illegal or unethical, you must adapt to your boss’s leadership style,” McIntyre says. “I’d say that 95 percent of the time, if you go to war with a boss, you’re going to lose. You don’t get to pick your boss … and too many people fail to realize that an important part of your job is managing that relationship with your boss. You must learn to manage up.”

2. Be a 360-degree player. You have relationships in all directions at work — a boss above you and peers all around you. Some people get along well with co-workers but are oppositional to authority. Others suck up well to management but get in squabbles with co-workers. But a good 360-degree team player builds relationships in all directions, McIntyre says.

3. Understand the power map. Organizations rely on hierarchies because they need people to make decisions to get things done. To be politically savvy, you need to know who has that power — and recognize when it shifts.

“One of the most common flashpoints for any employee is when a new manager or chief executive officer steps in,” she points out. “When that power shifts, people often fail to realize they need to build new relationships. Expectations are going to change and you need to find out what they are. This is especially true if your new manager comes from outside the organization, because they know nothing about you, and all your leverage is gone.”

Employees who face new expectations or management styles must be flexible and realize that just because things are different doesn’t mean they’re wrong — unless it’s illegal or unethical. “If it’s too uncomfortable for your style or personality, maybe it’s time to get a new job, because you’re not going to change the organizational culture,” she adds.

4. Be your own best promoter. Most people don’t want to talk themselves up for fear it will sound like bragging. Get over it — but be subtle, McIntyre suggests.

“Self-promotion doesn’t mean bragging, it means looking for opportunities to let people know what you do,” she notes. As an example, she cites a client who was frustrated about a three-year wait to get her position reclassified, due to extra responsibilities she’d assumed. When asked to pinpoint the last time she’d reminded someone that her additional responsibilities warranted a reclassification, her reply floored McIntyre: Three years ago.

“I told her she needed to go in with documentation about all her new responsibilities and talk about all the things she does that now go above and beyond her original classification,” she recalls. “Some people think that if they just wait, someone will reward them appropriately … but most of us are way more aware than management of what we do.”

How does one go about subtly promoting themselves without looking like the resident Eddie Haskell suck-up? If your manager doesn’t request regular feedback from you about your job, McIntyre suggests you offer to provide a monthly summary of your activities.

“Only a moronic manager would say no to that proposal,” she says.

Employees also should look for opportunities in casual conversations to mention activities and accomplishments. The bottom line: If you’re waiting around for someone to notice what you’re doing, you’re being way too quiet, she warns.

5. Connect with the power people. Whether you want to attend a conference, tackle a special project or get a promotion, someone higher up than your immediate manager will likely make the ultimate decision. As such, the more familiar you are to the people who have the power to affect your career, the more likely those decisions will fall in your favor.

That means maximizing what may be limited opportunities to chat with higher-ups at, say, a Christmas party or a company picnic, or when you unexpectedly bump into them in a break room.

“Higher-level people often feel uncomfortable with employees, so it helps if you have a question to ask, or something to share about what’s going on in your end of the business,” McIntyre says. “Or mention a new business trend.”

6. Commit to the business. It’s almost axiomatic that people who are higher up in the corporate food chain — and who can affect your career — also are jazzed about your company’s business. So if you want to impress those people, you must be able to talk adroitly about the business, McIntyre says.

“You need to be as interested in the business as they are, so pay attention to trends in and read publications about your industry,” she suggests. “You should be conversant about the environment in which your company operates. And if you’re in a business you really don’t give a flip about, maybe you’re in the wrong business.”

In short, if you want a promotion, a transfer to a different job or a good performance review, you need to play politics, whether you want to or not.

“Even if you want nothing more from a job than a more pleasant environment in which to spend eight hours a day, you need to manage relationships,” McIntyre concludes.

With enough practice, it’ll become as natural as breathing.



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