Business Politics

 

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.