Politics@ Work

Hmm!! This is not a new subject for the senior managers. I think at one point of time each of us have felt the politics at work, and so have I too in great degree. Oh yes!! Good politics is good and Bad politics is worst. Even though you try to avoid, you still get it and this is why political awareness in an organization will become increasingly important. As one of my colleague Fellow at the CMI says, "Lack of political awareness can have lasting repercussions. If you really want an organization to achive success in today's complex environment, you cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the political dimension of your business or service".

So why!! it all starts from the need to "get things done", which applies in the place of work. Everyone needs political skills to manage and achieve goals. None of us can operate in vacuum, immune from the need to consider the impact of our actions or inactions on others. The good news is that managers are not solely driven by self interest, they do use thier skills to build alliances and gain concensus and they are not the least bit machiavellian about the way they go about it. Politics is simply a fact of life but it is growing in importance and managers needs to know how to play it. Do you all think the same.

So here are few questions for discussion
- do you think most common understanding of "politics" among managers is of alliance-building to achieve organziational objectives.
- do you as managers view politics solely in term of poeple "protecting" their turf or pursuing pesonal advantages
- do shaping key priorities withnin the organization is currently viewed as the most important activity requiring political awareness skills
- Does the future managers prdict a signnificant shift in the needs to use political skills to build external relationships
- Do you as manager think your political awareness is "good" or "excellent".