Political Savvy for the Average Employee

Guest post by: Dia Sutton
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Tis the Season for Social Events at the Office - By Dia Sutton

When office politics and political savvy are mentioned, many imagine an individual who is selfish, deceitful, deceptive, sneaky, conniving and who are doing things like:

§ Snitching to management

§ Spreading gossip about coworkers

§ Faking a romantic involvement

§ Lying or covering the truth

§ Discounting coworkers or supervisors opinions or ideas

§ Spying on coworkers

§ Taking undue credit for work

You get the idea!

Yes, there are people who do exhibit these behaviors. More than we may think. However, individuals who practice such devious politics do so at considerable risk of life and limb. Practicing unethical office politics may lead to being ostracized, put in dead-end jobs, fired, sued or even punched in the face. The average employee just wants to be productive and get paid working in an environment where merit is awarded. However, to ignore office politics is to ignore those underlying factors that account for the differences in success between equally talented people or even being manipulated by others.

There is another way of looking at office politics and the meaning of political savvy and the associated behaviors. According to the author Andrew DuBrin in Winning at Office Politics, political savvy is the ability to practice sensible and ethical office politics. And yes, it is all about power – the power to control your career, people, resources and to get others to do things you want done.

The following are suggestions that people in all job levels can use to gain a competitive edge or just to survive the politics of others. Pick and choose from the political strategies presented. Decide which strategies are best suited to your skills, position, style and your boss’s style.

1. Understand your supervisor and check out the chemistry between you and your supervisor and try to keep it positive

2. Support and compliment your supervisor but don’t be phony

3. Avoid upstaging your supervisor, especially in meetings

4. Show loyalty to your supervisor and the organization (please don’t criticize pet projects of the top players)

5. Shine at Meetings

· Appear articulate, poised and successful

· Ask questions

· Allow others to talk

· Take notes when influential people speak

· Avoid daydreaming

6. Understand and show an interest in your organization mission and vision

7. Always display business manners and etiquette

· Respect people’s culture, space and senses

· Dress appropriately

· Show proper etiquette at lunch and social affairs

· Remember names

· Make appointments to talk with high-ranking people (never try to just drop in)

· Be diplomatic – use tack and diplomacy (for some of you it will mean keeping your mouth shut)

· Do not spread malicious gossip or snoop

· Use compliments when appropriate (compliment a person’s behaviors rather than a person’s traits and characteristics

8. Get your name in front of influential people

· Send copy or memo of your significant achievements

· Be associated with a special project, major committee or task force

9. Be a team player

· Be supportive of others

· Share the credit

· Make use of humor

· Share information

· Touch base with co-workers before presenting ideas

· Be willing to do menial work in a pinch to get the job done

11. Share information with coworkers

· Be a “go to” person for work related matters

· Exchange favors

12. Be perceived as a fire fighter (problem solver) and not a drama king or queen

Political savvy is about using ethical strategies. It is about cultivating relationships and establishing your brand as a professional, team player and leader. It is the totality of your skills for successfully navigating the political dynamics of an organization to accomplish one’s goals. It is the ability to understand what you can and cannot control, when to take action, know who is going to resist your agenda, and whom you need to get on your side. It means mapping out the political terrain and getting others to side, as well as leading coalitions. Most of all it means applying subtle and informal ethical methods of gaining power or a competitive edge.

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Tis the Season for Social Events at the Office - By Dia Sutton

About the Author: Dia Sutton

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Dianne Floyd Sutton is President of Sutton Enterprises, author, trainer, educator, expert witness, coach and actor. She has over twenty years of combined experience in Human Resource Development (HRD) processes, Diversity, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), and Communication training. Sutton Enterprises (SE) is a full service human resource development organization which offers a variety of Human Resource Development (HRD)services, i.e. training, keynotes, facilitations, EEO interventions, organizational development, etc. For more information about SE go to www.suttonenterprises.org

Dianne Sutton has the skills to create a safe learning environment where diverse participants are able to ask questions, experiment with new behaviors and development new skills. She also has the ability to present models and techniques in a straight forward, clear and humorous manner. She started her career as a mathematics instructor in the St. Louis, Missouri Public School System while attending graduate school at Washington University. Before founding Sutton Enterprises in 1987, she held a variety of positions at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in training and employee development.

Her most recent publication is Workplace Etiquette: A Guide to Thriving and Surviving in Today’s Workplace. In 2010 Dianne was awarded the Spencer Logan Leadership Award from the Training Officers Consortium (TOC) in Washington, DC. This is the organization's highest honor. For more information go to www.trainingofficers.org

Dianne is on a civility crusade as Ms. Etiquette. Ms. Etiquette offers a down-to-earth, in-depth presentation peppered with real life examples and appropriate humor. She demystifies the rules and gives insights into behaviors that increase respect, collaboration and trust in the workplace. Check out Ask Ms. Etiquette for answers to questions about appropriate etiquette in the workplace at www.suttonenterprises.org

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