Office Politics:  More than Just Fitting In

Office politics are very powerful, yet many companies and organizations deny that they really exist as a means for getting ahead solely based on relationships. There are many different definitions of office politics, but what they are is a means to which power and influence are managed internally.

Politics really are the strategy of building  relationships that allow you to get the resources you need to accomplish your goals.  They even exist within your school and organizations that you belong to.  Most often the students who have authentic relationships with their teachers, have a positive attitude, work hard, and are respectful will have additional opportunities offered to them.

The same is true of the world of work. Office politics are a fact of life.  You will either  hate it, admire it, practice it or avoid it, but the reality is that in order to maximize your success you will need to learn how to navigate it.  It is essential to remember that office politics are not about using people or making others look bad so that you can look good.  Sabotage, being dishonest, and unfairly ruining someone’s reputation will always backfire on you in the end.  It is about building authentic relationships with others.

Most experts believe that 1/4 of your time at work should be focused on enhancing your workplace relationships. This does not mean that you spend twenty five percent of your time talking to others.  What it does mean is that you should focus on ways to build relationships with others that will make them open doors for you as opportunities come up.

So how can you do that?

1.)  Take a genuine interest in your co-workers –know something about their personal lives and ask questions about their families and interests

2.)  Acknowledge people who help you–send handwritten thank you notes to share your gratitude

3.)  Offer to help co-workers who need help—stay late to help a co-worker or offer to help them finish tasks once you have finished yours

4.)  Make others feel important–understand that your success is really not your success.  Always give credit to your boss or to the entire team.  Those in the know will already know who is the “go-getter.”

5.)  Stay Away from Office Gossip–You are hired to do a job.  Give your efforts towards completing the best job possible!  When the office gossip comes around with the latest round of news tell them you are busy now but will catch up with them later.  Once you do not follow up a few times,  they will get the message.

6.) Seek a mentor and a sponsor–there is a difference between a mentor and a sponsor.  A mentor is someone who helps answer questions for you and to offer you guidance about your job.  Their wisdom can be extremely valuable when you are confused about handling different situations at work.  Mentors do not always work for the same company as you do.  Sponsors on the other hand work for the same company as you do, and they are higher up in the company hierarchy.  By working hard for a sponsor, they will look for new ways to promote you within the organization.

Now would be a good time for you to find a mentor.  You might already have a trusted teacher, coach, neighbor, or family member who you go to for advice.  If so, you are already on your way to being mentored.  If not, please read through the list below provided by the Wharton Business School that outlines the best way to go about finding a mentor:

DOs

• Communicate what you respect about him/her – it shows that you know why you would like them to be a mentor.   Genuine praise also goes a long way.  Try to find “deep” reasons that demonstrate you really thought about this instead of shallow ones.  An example of a deep reason might be, “I really respect how you handle work life balance while still holding such a senior position.”  An example of a shallow reason would be,”I want you to be my mentor because you are successful.”
• Communicate your situation and how their mentor ship can help – People become mentors because they are inspired by the passion and potential of those they mentor.  So share where you are headed with your life and career and why their experience/advice can help.
• Actually ask the question – Would you consider being my mentor? ¬– some people shy away from the question and can leave the other person confused.  People only become mentors when there is personal rapport and mutual respect.   So first ask to see if you can meet or call them once and then see if you can build rapport with them.  You also don’t want someone to be your mentor just because they have cool experience.  You want to inspire them to care about where you are headed.
• Communicate what type of mentor relationship you are looking for – This includes both the type of advice/feedback you are hoping to receive and how often you hope to interact (one a quarter, every month, ad-hoc, etc…). Many people are happy to be mentors but are also very busy people.  Articulating clearly what kind of relationship you want to build will help them decide.
• Listen and adapt to their response – Very likely this person will be happy to be your mentor but may counter with frequency of communication. Just go with it.
• Follow up – it’s up to you to make it easy for your mentor to help you. If this person agrees to be your mentor, he or she would still expect you to take the lead, figure how best to communicate and proactively build the relationship over time.

Assignment:  Your assignment for this section is to think about someone who you would like to serve as a mentor for you.  It is best to think about someone who you already know and whose advice you value.  Use word to write a formal letter asking the person if they will consider mentoring you.

An example of the format you should follow is found below:

 

123 Main Street           (Your Street Address)

Memphis, TN 38152 (Your City, State, & Zip)

June 10, 2013             (Today’s Date)

 

Ms. Margaret Brooks (The Name of the Person You Are Writing To)

Vice President (Their Title if Appropriate)

Google (Their Company)

1600 Amphitheatre Parkway (Their Street Address)

Mountain View, CA 94035 (Their City, State, Zip)

 

Dear Ms. Brooks:   

It was really great to meet you again at the recent entrepreneurship summit held on the University of Memphis campus in the FedEx Institute of Technology. Not only did I particularly enjoy your speech about communities, quite genuinely I also enjoyed our conversation over coffee. My interest in building communities pales in relationship to yours, but as shared I am already implementing some of the techniques you shared. Many of my students are interested in following social media as a career choice, and it would be helpful to learn even more in order to offer them information about the latest trends in the field.   (mention where you met them and why you are interested in them.) 

Perhaps you can find some time in your busy schedule to speak with me once a month to share some of your further thoughts with me and to assist us with keeping up to date with future trends. In return, I would be happy to share with you the data that my students are compiling within users of their age group from the mid-south.

 Thank you very much for your consideration. I will be looking forward to your reply.

Kindest regards,

Kelly Penwell

 

How you will be scored: