Organizational politics is what happens when we contend with each other for control or dominance, or when we work together to solve shared problems. Rescheduling collaborative work is one activity in which organizational politics plays two critical roles. The role that perhaps comes to mind first is cooperative political behavior. Cooperative political behavior is behavior in which we influence others — and allow others to influence us — to shift control of resources needed for producing the desired results.
A second role for political behavior related to rescheduling is perhaps less widely acknowledged. That role includes anti-cooperative political behavior. Anti-cooperative Although political behavior accounts for much of
our ability to reschedule when we need to, it
also accounts for much of the need to reschedulepolitical behavior is behavior in which we set our own parochial concerns ahead of others' concerns in order to achieve our own objectives. We do this even though — or sometimes because — we recognize that this choice can prevent others from achieving their objectives.
Anti-cooperative political behavior is relevant to rescheduling because it's often the source of the need to reschedule. Thus, although political behavior accounts for much of our ability to reschedule when we need to, it also accounts for much of the need to reschedule.
The paradox of the politics of scheduling
Politics thus has a paradoxical contribution to organizational scheduling. This paradox can seem at first to condemn organizations to an unending struggle to stamp out politics, but it actually provides a path to resolving itself.
Politics provides a resolution to this paradox as follows. If the people of an organization can acquire political mastery, they can guide their anti-cooperative behavior so as to reduce its harmful effects. And likewise, they can guide their cooperative behavior so as to enhance its beneficial effects.
Last words
To understand how to guide political behavior, we can examine that behavior at two scales. At the direct scale we make political choices that directly affect how one person (or one organizational unit) collaborates with one other person (or one other organizational unit). At the system scale, we make political choices that affect how systems of people or organizational units collaborate. Next time we'll survey those choices and the consequences of each, both at the direct scale and the system scale. Next issue in this series Top Next Issue
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Related articles
More articles on Workplace Politics:
- Devious Political Tactics: Credit Appropriation
- Managers and supervisors who take credit for the work of subordinates or others who feel powerless are
using a tactic I call Credit Appropriation. It's the mark of the unsophisticated political operator.
- Devious Political Tactics: The False Opportunity
- Workplace politics can make any environment dangerous, both to your career and to your health. This
excerpt from my little catalog of devious political tactics describes the false opportunity, which appears
to be a chance to perform, to contribute, or to make a real difference. It's often something else.
- What Insubordinate Nonsubordinates Want: I
- When you're responsible for an organizational function, and someone not reporting to you won't recognize
your authority, or doesn't comply with policies you rightfully established, you have a hard time carrying
out your responsibilities. Why does this happen?
- Impasses in Group Decision Making: II
- When groups can't reach agreement on all aspects of an issue, the tactics of some members can actually
exacerbate disagreement. Here's Part II of an exploration of impasses, emphasizing two of the more toxic
tactics.
- Deceptive Communications at Work
- Most workplace communication training emphasizes constructive uses of communication. But when we also
understand how communication can be abused, we're better able to defend ourselves from abusive communication.
One form of abusive communication is deception.
See also Workplace Politics and Workplace Politics for more related articles.
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