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In my last post, I applied points gleaned from this article to IT project manager success. This time let’s look at a couple of mistakes to avoid, so that you don’t get on the wrong side of office politics.
Thwart your enemies . . . Sure this may feel good, but it exacerbates your problems. When things get politically tough, you may even want to blame your enemies – for failing to provide you with something or for otherwise creating obstacles for your project. A smarter tactic would be to listen to them. They could be the first to hint where weakness is in your project, in time for you to avoid a bad situation. They could give you a different perspective, so that you plan better. They can (gladly) tell you the source of a problem, so you can fix it faster. Maintain speaking terms with your enemies!
Hold On to Your Personal Workstyle . . . It’s easy to cling to personal habits and stay within your comfort zone. But in the world of office politics that is often a mistake. Any organization has a kind of work culture, so that those to whom project managers report expect certain behavior. Take a good look at how project managers interact in your organization. Are they hard charging? Quietly strong? Quick to raise even minor issues? Confident in presentations? Punctual to meetings? What common characteristics do you see that are opposite to your regular behaviors? These could be making you an outcast without you even knowing it!
Avoiding these may take some energy on your part, but are worth the time. They'll get you closer to being a master of office politics.
Avoiding these may take some energy on your part, but are worth the time. They'll get you closer to being a master of office politics.
Posted on: December 19, 2007 10:13 PM |
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