Business Politics Objectives:
- To learn more about workplace politics and to be more aware of them.
- To learn good habits for the workplace
- To learn the right way to handle politics in the workplace
What is business Politics?
- The use of ones individual or assigned power within an employing organization for the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond ones legitimate authority.
- Workplace politics is sometimes referred to as office politics or organizational politics.
- Office politics has also been described as "simply how power gets worked out on a practical, day-to-day basis.
More on understanding business politics
- Every workplace is a political environment.
- Its about defending your position, earning respect, exchanging favors and keeping your sanity on a day to day basis.
- Relationships are one of the number one most important things that is needed to succeed in business politics.
Relationships/alliance building techniques
- Listen without interrupting - hear your coworker out
- Acknowledge a colleges point of view even if you disagree - Showing respect
- Offer a favor when you have expertise to share
- Look for opportunities where you have real value to add
- Ask questions - it sparks conversation and helps you connect - Don’t overdue it
- Keep relationships business personal.
- Beware flying solo - excluding people may get you excluded down the road.
Seven good habits to help employees win at Business Politics
- Beware you have a choice
- Know what you are trying to achieve
- Focus on your circle of influence
- Don’t take sides
- Don’t get personal
- Seek to understand before getting understood
- Think win win
Beware you have a choice
- Choose your reactions to situations
- You have the choice in choosing how you feel and react
Focus on your circle of influence
- Instead of getting angry and griping about things, focus on the things you can do to influence the situation.
- This is a very empowering technique for getting over the feeling of helplessness.
Know what you are trying to achieve
- Focus on business objectives
- Look at the pros and cons of situations
Don’t take sides
- Focus on business objectives and don’t take sides with either person in this situation
- By not taking sides you will help direct conflict resolution in a objective manner
Don’t get personal
- Don’t embarrass or humiliate anyone at work or you create bad feelings between you two
- Create a network of allies to fall back on in time of crisis that you can count on
Seek to understand before being understood
- It’s a very disarming technique
- Gets the other party to be less defensive once they feel that you understand where they are coming from
WIN-WIN
- Think in terms of how can we both win in this situation?
- It’s a good strategy that builds allies and helps you win in the long term.
