The Political Spiral
byAs a young project manager, this writer suddenly found himself consumed in a project that was quickly spiraling out of control. What can you do when politics consume your project? Learning from his mistakes is a good start.

As a young project manager, this writer suddenly found himself consumed in a project that was quickly spiraling out of control. What can you do when politics consume your project? Learning from his mistakes is a good start.
The dangers of playing the game of politics in project management are great, but are the rewards worth it? There are some very good reasons to play the political game on a project (as well as a few really bad ones), and there are some strategies a project manager can employ to avoid the pitfalls.
All is fair in love, war and projects. Projects, you say? Why not? Projects are similar to love and war in one significant way: they all involve people who are motivated to compete to improve their status. As potential suitors would contend for the affection of a lover, organizational leaders compete for power and resources.
If you’ve ever been involved in a highly visible project in which major stakeholders are jockeying to position themselves to impose their own agenda, then you would have experienced project partisan politics. And If you are a ScrumMaster on an agile project, there isn't a more important impediment to get out of the way.
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"That rainbow song's no good. Take it out." - MGM Executive Memo after first showing of The Wizard of Oz |