OFFICE POLITICS DISGRESSION (for those who cannot open below link) Landmark study of Slichter, Healy and Livernash in 1960 undermining need of Formal Labor Union to put pressure on management to tighten standards and accountability in order to preserve profits in the face of higher wages was widely acclaimed. Formal union acting as Critics to management will have positive impact for efficiency improvement, better balancing relation between employer & employee, taking care of mutual interests and improve communication. Informal Labor union is the result of divide and rule policies being adopted to disturb the entire industrial peace for vested interests. Similarly, opposition bench in parliament is also necessary to point out wrong policies of the government for the sake of country. Any effort to grab the power for vested interest in absence of effective opposition will ultimately ruin the country. Office Politics is one such area which is inevitable and essential. Lets have look at the definition of Politics-- a) The activities and affairs involved in managing a state or a government b) The profession devoted to governing affairs c) Social relations involving intrigue to gain authority or power Going by the definition (a) & (b) it is inevitable, but is largely being misused in conformation to definition (c). On one side it is essential as for overall development,on the other hand if misused it ruins the development of the organisation/society/country. POLITICS IS INEVITABLE: Critics are essential, not the Criticism.No body in this universe is COMPLETE to work without mistake or flaw. Critics are the way to correct inadvertent mistakes which any body is liable to commit in the course of his performance due to any reason.Definition (b) comes in a way here to govern such inadvertence.Those opposing positive side of Politics and their refusal to participate characterizes fear of being revelation of their deficiencies before juniors or inferiors. Office politics are fact of life to help achieve what we want in the world of work without compromising others in the process. Learning to use the power positively while diffusing the negative efforts of those who abuse it is the way to achieve overall effectiveness and growth. CAUSES TO MISUSE OFFICE POLITICS: 1) It is the strategy to gain advantage 2) It is to seek advantage at the expense of others or greater goods 3) Authority discrimination and abuse of power 4) Too much of competition between individuals due to misalignment of teams and teams objectives 5) Discrimination in likes and dislikes for employees 6) Most people care passionately about their decisions at work and this encourages political behavior as they seek to get their way. 7) Decisions at work are impacted by both work-related goals and personal factors, so there is further scope for goal conflict. 8) Limited resources leading to conflict amongst people 9) Performance limitation resulting into sycophancy and adoration by seniors DEALING WITH THE SITUATION: 1) Leaders must govern their own behavior first 2) All profile should accept the reality and effectiveness of CRITICS 3) Understanding Whos who in the organization. 4) Re-Map the organization chart to create observers & influencers 5) Delegating such observers & influencers role of CRITICS to identify individual gap and bridging gap between all individuals and organization as a whole. 6) Understanding & identifying the informal network 7) Understanding the talent gap amongst individuals 8) Understanding reasons & basis of inter-relationship conflict : friendship, respect, manipulation 9) Listen carefully 10) Neutralize negative play; bring them in mainstream 11) Shortcomings should not be the reason to victimize any employee. This overall integration and change of behavioral pattern of the entire organisation is bound to make cultural abundance leading to better Team Management, Performance and overall Growth.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 09:26:55 +0000
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