Need leads to conflict which in turn leads to politics.Human nature of leading gives another colour to politics ,which at times are so damaging that we must learn tact to manage the same and protect ourselves

1. OFFICE POLITICS
Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd)

6. Group Formation &
Efectiveness
 Principles
 Gestalt
 Social Field
 Consistency
 Group Development
 Formation
 Exploration
 Competition
 Co-operation
 Discipline
 Free association

7. Essential components of Group
Effectiveness
 Effective level of functioning-Ability to
contribute towards functional aspect of tasks
 Group cohesiveness-Ability to relate
emotionally to each other and task
 Stability- Ability to stand up to resistence and
frustration

8. Conflict
 Conflict is natural in any group especially in new
group like ours –After formation/exploration
competition is natural
 Group is also a living organism and behaves like one
 Effect of environment has polluted healthy competition
 We tend to walk on corpse of others
 Unrealistic sense of superiority and ego
 Overlap of personal and official act
 Modernisation and cultural upheaval has its own effect
 till
 Culture is set in
 Org becomes superior to individual
 Conflict leads to politics

9. Manifestation
 Giving wrong input
 Misdirecting
 Keeping information secret
 Trying to be one up man or I am the best
 Unexpected problem in process and procedure
 Below par performance of the group
 Passing on buck
 Feeling happy on failures of others rather than being happy on others
success
 Jealous versus zealous & envious
 Me and me alone matters
 Group is subservient to individual
 Individual game rather than group game
 Power game to keep people under thumb

11. Office politics
 Cherrington defines ”Activities within
organization designed to acquire develop
and use power in conscious way to obtain
once preferred outcome or to manipulate a
situation for one’s own purpose”
 In politics perception is more important than
content/substance.
 Office politics – a taboo word for some people.
 It’s a pervasive thing at the workplace.

12. Definition… contd
 In it’s simplest form, office politics is simply
about the differences between people at work;
differences in opinions, conflicts of interests
are often manifested as office politics. It all
goes down to human communications and
relationships.
 There is no need to be afraid of office politics. Top
performers are those who have mastered the art
of winning in office politics.

13. Organisational politics
 Legitimate-Normal common politics used are
like
 Complaining to superior
 Short circuiting the boss
 Forming coalition
 Working to rule
 Stalling
 Stonewalling

14. Organisational politics…contd
 Illegitimate(Risky and may invite sanction and even
dismissal)
 Whistle blowing
 Mass bunking
 Go slow
 Power politics
 With purpose
 Reason-Use of facts and data to make a logical or rational presentation of
ideas
 Coalition
 Friendliness-Getting support of the people in the Organisation to back up
request
 Bargaining-Use of negotiation through exchange of benefits or favour
 Assertiveness-Use of direct and forceful approach such as demanding
compliance with request ,repeating reminders ,ordering individuals to do
what is asked and pointing rules that require compliance
 Higher authority-Gaining support of higher levels in the Organisat6ion to

15. Organisational politics…contd
 Subordinates
 Reason
 Assertiveness
 Friendliness
 Coalition
 Bargaining
 Higher authority
 Sanction-use of rewards and punishment like
negative report ,pay withdrawl

17. HABIT #1 – BE AWARE YOU
HAVE A CHOICE
 Common reactions to politics at work like normal
human are either fight or flight.
 Office is a modern jungle, but it takes more than
just instinctive reactions to win in office politics.
 Instinctive fight reactions will only cause more
resistance to whatever you are trying to achieve;
 while instinctive flight reactions only label you as a
pushover that people can easily take for granted.
 Neither options are appealing for healthy career
growth.

18. HABIT #1 – BE AWARE YOU
HAVE A CHOICE
• Winning requires you to consciously
choose your reactions to the
situation. Recognize that no matter
how bad the circumstances, you
have a choice in choosing how
you feel and react. So how do you
choose? This bring us to the next point…

20. Habit#2-Know What you are trying to
achieve
 When conflicts happens, it’s very easy to be sucked
into tunnel-vision and focus on immediate
differences. That’s a self-defeating approach.
Chances are you’ll only invite more resistance by
focusing on differences in people’s positions or
opinions.
 Hence rather than showing you’re fighting to emerge
as a winner in this conflict
 focus on the business objectives.
 In the light of what’s best for the business,
 discuss the pros and cons of each option.
 Eventually, everyone wants the business to be successful
otherwise nobody in the organization wins.
 It’s much easier for one to eat the humble pie and back off when

21. Habit#2-Know What you are trying
to achieve
 By learning to steer the discussion in this
direction, you will learn to disengage from
petty differences and position yourself as
someone who is interested in getting things
done. Your boss will also come to appreciate
you as someone who is mature, strategic and
can be entrusted with bigger responsibilities.

23. HABIT #3 – FOCUS ON YOUR
CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE
 At work, there are often issues which we have
very little control over.
 Common to find corporate policies, client
demands or boss mandates which affects your
personal interests.
 Bitching and complaining are common responses to
these events that we cannot control.
 But other than that short term emotional outlet, what
tangible results do bitching really accomplish? Mostly
none.
 Instead of feeling victimized and angry about the

24. HABIT #3 – FOCUS ON YOUR
CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE
 focus on the things that you can do to influence the
situation – your circle of influence. This is a very
empowering technique to overcome the feeling of
helplessness.
 It removes the victimized feeling and also allows others to
see you as someone who knows how to operate within
given constraints.
 You may not be able to change or decide on the eventual
outcome, but you can walk away knowing that you have
done the best within the given circumstances.
 Constraints are all around in the workplace; with
this approach, your boss will also come to
appreciate you as someone who is understanding
and positive.

27. HABIT #4 – DON’T TAKE SIDES
 In office politics, it is possible to find yourself
stuck in between two power figures who are at
odds with each other.
 You find yourself being thrown around while they
try to outwit each other and defend their own
position. All at the expense of you getting the job
done.
 You can’t get them to agree on a common decision
for a project, and neither of them want to take
ownership of issues;
 they’re too afraid they’ll get stabbed in the back for
any mishaps.

28. HABIT #4 – DON’T TAKE SIDES
 In cases like this, focus on the business
objectives and don’t take side with either
of them – even if you like one better than the
other.
 Place them on a common communication platform
and ensure open communications among all
parties so that no one can claim “I didn’t say that”.
 By not taking sides, you’ll help to direct conflict
resolution in an objective manner. You’ll also build
trust with both parties. That’ll help to keep the
engagements constructive and focus on business
objectives.

30. HABIT #5 – DON’T GET
PERSONAL
 In office politics, you’ll get angry with people. It
happens. There will be times when you feel
the urge to give that person a piece of your
mind and teach him a lesson. Don’t.
 People tend to remember moments when they
were humiliated or insulted. Even if you win
this argument and get to feel really good about
it for now, you’ll pay the price later when you
need help from this person. What goes around
comes around, especially at the work place.

31. HABIT #5 – DON’T GET
PERSONAL
 To win build a network of allies which you can tap
into else during a crisis someone screw you up
because they habour ill-intentions towards you – all
because you’d enjoyed a brief moment of emotional
outburst at their expense.
 Another reason to hold back your temper is your
career advancement. Increasingly, organizations are
using 360 degree reviews to promote someone.
 Even if you are a star performer, your boss will have
to fight a political uphill battle if other managers or
peers see you as someone who is difficult to work
with. The last thing you’ll want is to make it difficult for
your boss to champion you for a promotion.

33. HABIT #6 – SEEK TO UNDERSTAND,
BEFORE BEING UNDERSTOOD
 The reason people feel unjustified is because
they felt misunderstood.
 Instinctively, we are more interested in getting the
others to understand us than to understand them
first.
 Top people managers and business leaders have
learned to suppress this urge.

34. UNDERSTAND, BEFORE BEING
UNDERSTOOD
 Surprisingly, seeking to understand is a very
disarming technique.
 Once the other feels that you understand where
he/she is coming from, they will feel less
defensive and be open to understand you in
return.
 This sets the stage for open communications to
arrive at a solution that both parties can accept.
 Trying to arrive at a solution without first having
this understanding is very difficult – there’s little
trust and too much second-guessing.

36. HABIT #7 – THINK WIN-WIN
 As we understand political conflicts happen
because of conflicting interests.
 Perhaps due to our schooling, we are taught that
to win, someone else needs to lose.
 Conversely, we are afraid to let someone else
win, because it implies losing for us.
 In business and work, that doesn’t have to be
the case.

37. HABIT #7 – THINK WIN-WIN
 Learn to think in terms of “how can we
both win out of this situation?” This
requires that you first understand the other
party’s perspective and what’s in it for him.
Next, understand what’s in it for you. Strive to
seek out a resolution that is acceptable and
beneficial to both parties. Doing this will
ensure that everyone truly commit to the agree
resolution and not pay only lip-service to it.

39. Master game of Office politics
 “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just
how we play the hand.”
 Empathy is key to deal with
senior/junior/colleagues alike helps crumble wall
of politics
 “Experience is what you get when you didn't get
what you wanted. And experience is often the
most valuable thing you have to offer.”
 Expertise/competence-Be the best in whatever
and where ever you are at present . Organisation
or the people have no option but to give you way.
Cultivate Expertise. Dependency is key to power
and will happen if you have something scarce
unique and important

40. Master game of Office politics
 Fairness and firmness and honesty in all
action/speech/dealing cannot be shrouded
 Be Positive: Never say no when asked to do
favours and cash it when you need to get
things done
 Always explain your benefit to the company
 Squeaky clean reputation
 Present ideas to help organisation

41. Master game of Office politics
 Align with the powerful: Be visible ,make
friends with those who have power to influence
(Unethical but true)
 One step a time-Inch your way
 Wait for crisis: Go out of way to help. You will
look good
 Cultivate nuisance value: Be loud complainer
.You will be heard (Unethical and non paying
in long term)

42. Master game of Office politics
 High energy-Remain afloat in spite of
Organisational stress /strain . Sustenance of
energy which decides the winner. Remain a
fighter and fighter fights to win and you cannot
leave
 Balance between office and home- Don’t
allow office to interfere with home and vice –
vesa

43. Master game of Office politics
 Credit theft is lowbrow -Credit theft is the
trademark of the unsophisticated (and greedy)
operator. He or she might look powerful, but it's
probably an illusion.
 Embrace Change -Change creates turbulence,
and turbulence creates opportunities. Stability is
for those who want to play a defensive game, and
in today's environment, defense is not where you
want to be.
 Be funny when you want to be -Humor can make
the difference between confrontation and
collaboration. If you aren't funny, you can learn; if
you're already funny, take care to use your talent
sparingly and at the right times

44. Master game of Office politics
 Bottom of Form
 Know that workplace politics isn't a game -
Sometimes we talk about "playing the game,"
but thinking of politics that way is self-
destructive. Workplace politics is not a game.
 Skill in managing organizational politics is
helpful to managers who must compete with
others for resources, but it's also helpful to
project managers.

45. If you are sucked in to it then..
 Practice Positive Politics
 Know the difference between Blame and
Responsibility
 Deal with Rumors Decisively
 Practice ethical influence
 Exploit Smart Tactics
 Be Prepared to lead
 Know How to Face the Tough Challenges
 Practice Smart Strategy
 Understand the Politics of Communication
 Manage Your Relationships with the More
Powerful

46. Practice Positive Politics
 Politics can be constructive
 Understand what politics is
 There is a time and place for both pragmatism
and ideology
 Favor inclusiveness over domination
 Shorten your time horizon
 Abandon behaviorism and revenge

47. Practice Positive Politics
 Narrow your own goals
 When things turn toxic, get help
 When a difficult conversation is ahead, prepare
 Know your options when you're asked for a favor
 Know how to respond to requests for favors
 Know how to make peace

48. Know the difference between Blame
and Responsibility
 Know the culture you work in
 Be attuned to language
 Notice diagnoses
 Notice the grumbling
 Notice whether Blame runs downhill or uphill
 Notice whether we blame processes
 Notice whether CYA is a standard business
procedure

49. Know the difference between
Blame and Responsibility
 Notice whether you apply revised policy
retroactively
 Notice whether you revise policy in response to
success
 Notice whether you have people who are
"designated winners"
 Notice whether we blame people for breaking
unwritten rules
 Notice whether people get sandbagged
 Avoid blaming yourself
 Treat retrospectives with care

50. Know the difference between
Blame and Responsibility
 Acknowledge failure -- maybe
 Never, ever, kill the messenger
 Messenger deaths have long-lasting effects
 Watch out for spin
 Re-educate and reassign, but don't destroy
 There's no way to use Blame constructively
 Conflict isn't always what it seems

51. Deal with Rumors Decisively
 Be careful how you think about rumors
 You can't shut down the rumor mill
 In responding to rumors, make your self-esteem
your first priority
 Manage your knee-jerk reactions
 Don't spread rumors
 Rumors become more damaging with age

52. Deal with Rumors Decisively
 Most rumors are credible
 Packaged rumors spread more rapidly
 Quelling a rumor is a waste of time
 Dismissing rumors doesn't work
 Respond constructively
 Circulate the truth

53. Deal with Rumors Decisively
 Truth flies on emotional wings
 Openness can be risky
 Leave no voids
 Don't wait for rumors to develop
 People will worry if they want to
 The First Rule of Rumor Management
 Be prepared to reorganize

54. Practice ethical influence
 As a "newbie", learn about ethics from the
veterans
 In for a penny, in for a pound
 Trust only the trustworthy
 Don't appeal to judges or the public
 Accept that loyalties change
 Avoid actions that need to be covered up
 Behave in ways you can be proud of
 Beware personal benefits

55. Practice ethical influence
 Even inaction is action
 Tricky language is neither protection nor a valid
excuse
 Know the law, but don't abuse its protection
 Finagling budgets to conceal trouble is trouble
 Know the indicators of gray areas
 Be skeptical of security precautions
 Check politics at the door

56. Practice ethical influence
 Avoid exporting your troubles
 Looking the other way is usually unsafe
 When you look the other way, you risk involvement in
discrimination
 When you look the other way, you risk involvement in
cronyism
 When you look the other way, you risk involvement in
bullying
 When you look the other way, you risk involvement in theft
or goldbricking
 When you look the other way, you risk involvement in
sexual, political or religious harassment
 Seekers of illicit information use "holography"

57. Exploit Smart Tactics
 Delay is always an option
 Choose your battles
 Practice the art of compromise
 Sometimes it's best to walk away
 Choose your dance partners
 Make agreements explicit
 Make exchanges contemporaneous

58. Exploit Smart Tactics
 Keep loads uniform
 Space milestones evenly
 Milestones near deliveries are critical
 Deliver usable results at regular intervals
 Help the customer with the post-delivery
environment
 Expect confidences to be broken

59. Exploit Smart Tactics
 Negotiate time limits for confidences
 Negotiate a limited right to repeat confidences
 Negotiate escape clauses for confidences
 Don't staff the ammo dump
 Choose your enemies carefully
 Ask permission (and get it) before you give
advice, feedback or help
 Be funny when you want to be

60. Be Prepared to lead
 Share the credit
 You can't control what people believe
 Use empathy to frame messages effectively
 Knowing when to act or speak is as important as
the act or the speech
 To lead, motivate, inspire or deter, appreciate the
internal state of others
 Know how to inspire people to achieve an
immediate goal
 Know how to inspire people to achieve a distant
goal
 Know when people are overloaded

61. Be Prepared to lead
 Work always to improve your empathy skills
 Reject the myth that a few firings will shape
them up
 Reject the myth that pay-for-performance is
the answer
 Reject the Strategy of the Whip
 Do what you can to enhance retention
 Learn how to build a trusting environment
 Know the signs of an untrusting group culture

62. Be Prepared to lead
 Know how to deal with "knife-edge performers"
 Don't do virtual terminations
 Be skeptical of indirect measurements
 People aren't bolts of cloth
 Leader, measure thyself
 Measure your metrics
 You don't always get what you measure

63. Know How to Face the Tough
Challenges
 Know what problem you're solving
 Be certain that the problem you're solving is
yours to solve
 Consider what happens if you wait
 If the problem isn't yours, whose is it?
 Be certain that you're solving the right problem
 Address first the smallest problem you can
usefully address

64. Know How to Face the Tough
Challenges
 Consider asking for help
 Know what kind of help would help
 Consider the confrontation option
 Take inventory of what you already know
 In meetings, be aware of solution-seeking
 In problem-solving meetings, diplomacy is
essential
 Negotiate from their perspective

65. Practice Smart Strategy
 Superior job performance is your foundation
 Get a coach
 Know that workplace politics isn't a game
 Understand how political attack differs from routine
politics
 Political attackers have the advantage of planning
 Political attackers have the advantage of surprise
 Political attackers control the tempo of the exchange
 Political attackers can control timing
 Political attackers can choose their venues
 Political attackers can exploit prepositioned assets
 Political attackers are usually more comfortable with
attacking

66. Practice Smart Strategy
 Think beyond precedent
 Work hard but not too hard
 Rest when you can
 Acquiring resources can be a distraction
 Don't ride point
 Always, always have a backup plan
 Know what to do when all your options are bad

67. Practice Smart Strategy
 Accept the bad news as good news
 When you hit a dead end, change your tactics or
strategy
 Dogma, politics, budget and schedule tend to bias
our hunt for solutions
 Suspect first the distasteful parts of a broken
solution
 When trouble strikes, increase information
distribution
 When trouble strikes, take smaller bites
 For first-of-kind efforts, educate everyone about
the inevitability of setbacks

68. Practice Smart Strategy
 Be wary of near-completion setbacks
 Reward honesty and failure
 Reduce overload
 Read
 Know what other people are reading
 Change your experience instead of changing
other people
 Get in touch with your "No"
 Organizational psychopaths do exist
 Embrace Change

69. Understand the Politics of
Communication
 Deliver the headline first
 Use the "So What?" test to determine the
headline
 Deliver the bad news first
 Choose task names and code names carefully
 When in trouble, don't talk -- deliver
 Short schedules help perceptions
 Don't expect breakthroughs to erase anxiety

70. Understand the Politics of
Communication
 Use a four-step framework when presenting to
persuade
 As presenter, don't evaluate questions
 As presenter, stay out of the rabbit hole
 As a virtual presenter, make special preparations
 As a virtual presenter, beware technology
 Know the special techniques of virtual presenters
 When you're asked a question, let the questioner
ask the question
 When you're asked a question, make sure you
understand
 When you're asked a question, withhold derision
 When you're asked a question, stay in bounds

71. Understand the Politics of
Communication
 Don't joke about serious matters
 Know how to handle spacing out
 Be right
 Learn to recognize brilliant questions
 Learn how to ask brilliant questions
 Learn to deal with ambush questions
 Learn to deal with leading questions
 Know some tactics for ending conversations

72. Understand the Politics of
Communication
 Learn to deal with loaded questions
 Learn to deal with implied accusations
 Learn to deal with pressure tactics
 Learn to deal with cheap shots
 Learn to deal with trap construction
 Learn to deal with zingers
 Know the most common dismissive gestures
 Know some tactics for changing the subject

73. Understand the Politics of
Communication
 Keep a working journal
 Understand the three varieties of
condescension
 Know when to hold back
 Know when to walk away
 Groups have their own minds too
 Language does count
 Become familiar with the rhetorical fallacies

74. Manage Your Relationships with
the More Powerful
 Be careful about how you experience
mistreatment
 Avoid the Fundamental Attribution Error
 When the situation is unacceptable, accept
that it is unacceptable
 When in trouble, seek support
 When in trouble, remember that some things
aren't about you
 Base your self-esteem on yourself

75. Manage Your Relationships with
the More Powerful
 When leaders fight, everyone feels the pain
 A fight between leaders is a performance issue
for the feuders' supervisor
 In proximity to a leadership feud lies danger
 In a leadership feud, you can lose (win) even if
your boss wins (loses)
 Prepare for the day when peace arrives

76. Manage Your Relationships with
the More Powerful
 Avoid the role of fender
 Hands-on project managers risk schedule
collisions
 Hands-on project managers have inherent
conflicts of interest
 Hands-on project managers are more susceptible
to distraction
 Hands-on project manager roles create team risk
 Decision-makers are biased in favor of the hands-
on project manager role
 Currying favor is a corrosive tactic

77. Manage Your Relationships with
the More Powerful
 Know the tactics of ingratiators
 Know what to do when others curry favor with
your boss
 If your boss really is a dolt, look above
 If your boss is a dolt, worrying won't help
 If you're really unhappy in your job, fish or cut
bait
 To stay in a so-so job, make a commitment to
it

78. Manage Your Relationships with
the More Powerful
 Know what to do if your boss's poor
performance affects yours
 If you undertake a coup d'etat and fail, you pay
 Managing your boss really isn't in your job
description
 What you can do to others can be done to you

79. Know and recognize the three
types of promotions
 Know & recognise three types of peromotion
 If you're aiming for a promotion, know your real motivations
 To get the right promotion at the right time, know your true
capabilities
 When seeking a promotion, see yourself as others see you
 For a promotion in place, know that your contributions won't
change in kind
 To gain a promotion in place, understand your employer's goals
 To gain promotion, clean up your act
 To gain a promotion, attend to relationships
 To gain a promotion in place, get known as a resource
 To gain a promotion, document your contributions

80.  If you're aiming for a promotion in place, check
the resources
 For a promotion in line, understand your
employer's goals
 To win a promotion in line, demonstrate capability
 To win a promotion in line, be replaceable
 To win a promotion in line, make the people you
work with look good
 To win a promotion in line, be flexible about
relocation and travel

81.  When you're entering as the lowest in rank,
enter gently
 As a "newbie", know the value you bring to the
team
 As a "newbie", establish credibility
opportunistically
 Know how to identify a micromanager
 Know how to deal with a micromanaging boss
 Know when to break the rules

82. Know How to Deal with the
Devious
 Your enemy might not be your enemy
 Credit theft is lowbrow
 Talk about credit theft
 Credit thieves spare no one
 Watch for blowback
 Complexity is your friend
 Know how to deal with the minimalist stonewaller
 Know how to deal with the parental stonewaller
 Know how to deal with Major-Major-Major
stonewalling
 Know how to recognize a lateral micromanager
 Understand the tactics of the lateral micromanager

83.  Fight back when you must
 Beware the hypothetical trap
 False opportunities abound
 Beware diversions
 Flirtation, flattery and romance are not always what they seem
 Know how to deal with nepotism and patronage
 Beware the non-chance chance meeting
 Some people fly false flags
 Trust-building isn't just for the trustworthy
 It seems like a mistake, but it could be bait
 Disinterest isn't always what it seems
 Relationship-building isn't either
 Beware the conspiracy as tactic
 Recognize rhinestone opportunities

84.  Decline diversions
 Avoid dead ends
 Forgo forays
 Don't do calisthenics
 Don't run three-legged races
 Recognize the hit-and-run
 Recognize the proxy target
 Learn to recognize confidential disinformation
 When there is a favored subordinate, make a decision
 Beware unfair information swaps
 The rational model of human behavior is often wrong
 Negotiators might not be acting irrationally
 Deceptive negotiators can use intimidation tactics
 Deceptive negotiators can use shame-based tactics
 Deceptive negotiators sometimes seize the drafting role
 Deceptive negotiators can exploit the drafting role
 Injustice for one leads to injustice for all
 Beware the Hospital Pass
 Anticipate alliances
 Be wary of empire builders
 Dividers-and-Conquerors are dangerous