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Politics News Blog Archives
Politics News Blog posts insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domain of the politics facet of life. Politics News Blog: Office-Politics News 1 Guide to office politics: July 17, 2007 by Leon Gettler
Building coalitions, lifting other people's ideas, witholding information, sucking up to the powers that be and checking what's going down to see whats in it for you: welcome to the office. Office-politics is part of every workplace. Most people regard it with disdain, saying it's used by people who can't get ahead on merit or ability. But arguing that the system is political, as some commentators have said, is like complaining that water is wet. Politics is about power and that makes management deeply political. Also, there's an upside to politics. It's a way of getting things done, and you don't have to be an awful person to make that happen. So how do you make office-politics work for you? The BNET site provides some tips on how to win in office politics. Some of it's over the top and cheesy. Like setting aside $30 a week to have lunch with colleagues. But there's other stuff in there that's common sense. Like what to do when you end up hearing stuff you wish you hadn't heard. And drawing insights into who gets promoted, ignored or patted on the back. Understanding who is influential and how they do it can show you what gets rewarded, and what gets ignored or punished. I would say there are some basic rules in office-politics. The first is the Law of Paybacks. Personal relationships are part of office life. Favours are exchanged and most people expect to be paid back. That's good politics. Number two is that success always comes with adversaries and opposition, sometimes from unexpected territory. And the golden rule? Everyone has to be a winner. The best politicians know how to get people to embrace their ideas as being what's best for them. Office-politics is no different. Any other tips to add? Either to the BNET list or my points? How much office-politics is going on at your workplace? Is it bad? Are some getting ahead just playing politics? Have you learned how to work the system? What's your advice? Politics News Blog: Office Politics News 2 Office Politics: Productivity increases when friends work together: Jul. 10, 2007 Gathering with the gang after work can be fun - and a new survey suggests it may also benefit on-the-job performance. 57% of executives polled said that office productivity improves when co-workers are friends outside of the office. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of employees surveyed agreed. But managers and employees aren't as aligned when it comes to just how beneficial it is to have buddies on the job: 22% of employees said befriending co-workers has a "very positive" impact on productivity while only 2% of managers felt asstrongly. Politics News Blog: Office Politics News 3 Office Politics: Sexual stereotypes alive and well in Canada’s offices: July 4, 2007 Canadian men in the workplace are primarily viewed as knowledgeable, while female workers are perceived as more dedicated, according to a survey by Monster.ca. The poll, which was conducted on Monster's online employee self-assessment site evalu8me.ca, showed that Canadian men on the job are viewed primarily as knowledgeable, dedicated and team players – in that order – while women on the job are viewed as dedicated, team players and organized. Politics News Blog: Office Politics News 4 Work/Life Balance, New Challenges and No Office Politics – Top Attractions for Women in Interim Management: 3 July, 2007 - 64% of respondents became Interim Managers to work more flexibly Achieving a better work/life balance and taking on more stimulating work are the top attractions for women Interim Managers, according to a survey of 700 female Interim managers, commissioned by Russam GMS in June 2007. 64% of women became Interim Managers to work more flexibly and 21% stated they wanted to take on more challenging work. These factors were considered more important than financial reward. Just 11% had left their jobs to earn more money, whilst only 4% switched to Interim Management to take on a more senior position. Having a more flexible work life was also considered the top benefit of working as an Interim Manager, according to 62% of respondents. 17% felt that Interim Management enabled them to express their opinions more openly; whilst for 15% it brought an end to such monotonous work. Some stated that the opportunity to escape the office politics they associated with their former working lives was a major benefit (6%). A resounding 76% of respondents stated that they now enjoyed a better work life balance as an Interim Manager, compared to their former careers. Politics News Blog: Office Politics News 5 Know your foes in office politics: July 19th, 2007 by Toni Bowers I blogged recently about a company that conducted, along with IBM, a study that showed that online gamers develop leadership qualities–specifically strategic strengths–from the games they play.Online games aren’t the only source of strategy education. The Art of War, the Chinese military treatise written by Sun Tzu in the 6th century B.C. (and praised as being the definitive guide to military strategy) has undergone a resurgence of late as it applies to business and managerial strategies. I happened to be on the site BNET.com recently when I saw that one of their feature packages was how to excel at office politics. One of the parts of this feature was a “field guide” to the 10 most common political personality types most of us have to deal with in the workplace. Pretty funny stuff but I think that those types might differ a bit in the IT world. Politics News Blog: Office Politics News 6 Office Politics: On the job training lacking in Canada: 18 July 2007 Canada’s envied high standard of living is at risk unless we exploit our greatest untapped resource—the human mind. According to a recent report from the Canada Council on Learning (CCL), Canadian industry is unprepared for success in the knowledge economy as fewer than three workers out of 10 ever receive any training on the job. Politics News Blog: Office Politics News 7 OFFICE POLITICS: July 13, 2007 It is 1999. You work in an office. It is the office of Russia’s FSB (KGB). Your co-workers share a special comradeship, and a special history. Some of the agency’s top bosses are linked to organized crime, kidnapping and murder. The kidnappings are a means for siphoning money from Westerners in order to finance Russian-speaking Arab terrorists in Chechnya. The kidnappings are also used to keep certain political players in line. The murders have to do with maintaining the position of hidden structures that supersede the Russian legislature, the national executive and the armed forces. There is nothing unusual in this, because conspiracy is a matter of FSB tradition. Politics News Blog Comment: The game of power is bound to be a dirty game. It becomes very clear to us as we talk of office-politics, media politics, organizational politics, sexual politics, gender and politics, religion politics, or even family politics. We treat these areas of human action and interaction as being integral in them-selves. And if the game of power dirties them, we look down upon this game as such over there in these areas of our loving or responsible concern. But otherwise we give this game a freehand, and let it dirty the other areas of our life action and interaction! Why do we forget the definition of politics - the game of power that the mighty play to hold their domination over the weak - when we allow it to play its tricks over there in the office? I invite you to subscribe to my E-zine titled Life Coach, free of charge. This E-zine publishes insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domains of various facets of life. A not-to-be-missed opportunity! Subscribe to it here: I also invite you to subscribe to my Life Blog - no need to provide your e-mail address here. This RSS feed keeps you informed about new developments taking place on this site. It also harbors 25 journal bloglets posting insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domains of various facets of life. In order to subscribe to the blog, right-click on the orange RSS button (see buttons up to the left) and then paste the URL into your RSS reader. 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