Politics are inevitable in organizations for a few reasons. There is a differential in power and authority through the hierarchy (legitimate power) or through other means (referent and expert power). Additionally, people and teams within an organization are in constant competition for limited resources, leading to inherent conflict, as they try to satisfy their specific needs and objectives, while potentially not considering what is best for the organization. Politics are not necessarily good or bad, they just are. Positively and ethically use politics to the advantage of you and your initiatives.
The reason project and program managers often have to navigate the political minefield is that they can threaten the power and self-interests of stakeholders who are involved in the work effort. Related to Stakeholder Management, there are often extensive organizational politics at play which must be considered and, at times, taken advantage of in order to successfully deliver the initiative. When performing the research of the stakeholders, also take time to learn where power resides and is distributed within the company. Sometimes, this ties to the formal hierarchy, but often it does not. This is also why it is important to understand power, interest, and whether stakeholders are positive, negative, or neutral towards your particular work effort.
A key thing to remember is that power and influence do not necessarily correlate with an organization chart. As a project and program manager, ask the following questions to ascertain power holders within the organization.
- Who has influence? Thought leadership?
- Who are the known subject matter experts within the organization?
- Who currently has critical tacit knowledge on organizational systems or processes?
- Ask 10 or more people who they can rely on when they have an issue. If a specific name appears numerous times, this individual is likely a leader who is well regarded and respected.
- Who makes decisions? If you look at board meeting minutes and see someone who often gets their way, this is a power holder despite their title.
Once the power holders are understood, now tactics can be deployed to effectively build alliances and navigate the political power structure.
Jeffrey Pfeffer defines organizational politics in the Power of Organizations as:
“those activities taken within organizations to acquire, develop, and use power and other resources I to obtain one’s preferred outcomes in a situation in which there is uncertainty or dissensus [disagreement] about choices”
Pfeffer defined several tactics that can be utilized in order to properly gain power in organizations. Use these towards the advantage of your initiative.
- Outside expert: If there is dissension on a decision, bringing in an outside expert can legitimize a decision that has already been reached.
- Controlling the agenda: As the manager, you are primarily responsible for setting the agenda for initiative related meetings. Certain topics can be included or excluded depending on the politics of the situation.
- Coalition: This is related to relationship and trust building. This is my personal chosen tactic when navigating the minefield of politics. If you can utilize your expert and referent power to persuade powerful stakeholders to your side, this will help the project be successful. This focuses on establishing good relationships.
- Cooptation: Similar to a coalition, this attempts to build and mobilize support who agree with one stakeholder or position. The main difference is coalition focuses mainly on a good relationship.
- Committees: This tactic is used when decisions are unable to be accepted. It resembles a more democratic and cross-functional approach which can clear hurdles for difficult decisions.
While Pfeffer’s model does have limitations, it can provide a framework for developing a strategic approach in how to approach the organizational politics surrounding your initiative. Remember that politics are more about managing people and the relationships rather than things. The key is to act with integrity towards all stakeholders and remain positive. This helps builds trust, which is a huge asset for communicating with stakeholders and managing a team.
Remember to build effective relationships, now that the influencers and true leaders are known, and make efforts to grow the network. It is important, when engaging these leaders, to utilize active listening and respond effectively to what they are telling you directly and indirectly. During disagreements, never get personal and always keep an organizational perspective. Consistently operate with integrity and transparency, as your reputation needs to be above reproach in order to maintain the best political positioning.
Organizational politics are a minefield, plain and simple. That metaphor implies a high degree of risk and care in order to navigate through it successfully.
Summary Tips:
- Politics are a reality in organizations. Accept it.
- Become well versed in using politics in a positive and ethical manner to further the goals of you and your initiatives.
- With projects and programs, you have to be aware of the political power structure in your organization to drive your stakeholder management and communication strategies.
- Understand who the true power holders are versus simply looking at an org chart.
- The more transformative your initiative is and the more functions it affects, the more politics will play a role.
- There are several tactics which can be successfully utilized to navigate the organizational political structure. In my personal experience, building coalitions is very effective at progressing the initiative along while limiting the change of derailment from political reasons.
- Govern yourself accordingly and operate with integrity at all times. This will help make your political positioning and reputation positive and sustainable long term.
-Jonathan Ozovek