Office dynamics and politics of consulting and offshoring
A topic that many consultants, leaders and managers are loath to talk about, except offline is that of office politics. To be fair, Most management programs – MBA courses, even PMI’s certification program and workshops and other management training – offer pointers on addressing and managing organizational dynamics and organizational behaviors and there is an increasing emphasis on interpersonal communication skills and conflict resolution.
Though most management theorists are circular about the issues, there is only one way to move forward while encountering office politics, as with most other issues, address them: do not bury your head in sand.
Case in point, I was working with a client’s CTO group recently where my colleague and I encountered an overt manifestation of hostility from a person who was tasked with facilitating our engagement. Fact was that we were brought in by the CTO for a specific purpose. My colleague – who happens to be a Chinese American – also got the same ‘vibes’ as me from that person -who happened to be of European origin - which lead us to rule out the cultural dimension. There was only one thing to do: address the issue head on. We scheduled a meeting with the person’s reporting manager to politely and firmly bring up the issue, and surprisingly enough he took it well, speculating on various reasons why that person could be stressed (turns out, he had recently been transferred to this group in the organization, was yet to receive ‘confirmation’ and his former boss in the old group had just been laid-off). The message went back to the person loud-and-clear: we had to work together for the success of the initiative, which we did.
Well, a variation of the above case could be the challenge a client might face while working with member of our onsite staff who is being abruptly told to transition back to her offshore base and is distracted about her logistics, breaking the lease on an apartment, selling the car etc while also fighting the project fires. Just as in my case, the suggestion to the client manager would be the same: address the issue head on.
This essentially means that there are two dimensions to ‘office politics’ that consultants and consultant’s clients typically encounter: the internal (dynamics in their firm’s team) and external (the one in the client’s teams). Office politics can (and does) impact offshoring in several ways
- Turf wars, among groups and business unit leaders, can impact sourcing strategies
- Turf wars, among vendors, especially in multi-sourcing scenarios
- Individual communication styles, cultures and dynamics between client and vendor organization leaders can also impact working relationships
- At a tactical level, interpersonal relationships and team dynamics within teams and working groups can also have an impact on projects and programs
Now, given the given the nature of the topics and dynamics in offshoring, addressing each of the above would require substantial analysis. Note to self: scan the landscape for research and readings on the topic of ‘office politics offshoring;’ and if not much exists, consider adding a chapter on it in a sequel to my book [if and when I get around to working on it]
A few interesting books on the topic I came across during a recent scan.
- Bernstein & Rozen; "Neanderthalls as work: how people and politics can drive you crazy..."
- DuBrin, Andrew J. "Winning at Office Politics"
- Brinkman & Kirscher; "Dealing with People You Cant' Stand"
- Cubicle Warfare: Self-Defense Tactics for Today's Hypercompetitive Workplace.
And a few interesting blogs (though not many with an offshoring slant)
- Interesting musings on how Office-Politics is a fact of life [officepolitics.com]
- How to avoid office politics [SlackerManager] ... I’ve only paid attention to political maneueverings long enough to learn how to avoid them.
- Avoiding Office Hysteria [Jane] it is best to avoid getting involved with intra-office politics. Staying out of it will keep you neutral and, hopefully, the other parties will leave you alone.
Feel free to add to the list and ping me with readings on the topic.
Comments
I find your insights really interesting. When you get around to writing that book the following sources may be useful: 'Working the Shadow Side' Gerard Egan (Jossey-Bass)and 'Power in Management' John Kotter (Anacom)which is a little dated but apt.
Posted by: Brian O'Neill | July 20, 2007 12:09 PM
The importance of soft skills like effective communication, conflict resolution and multicultural sensitivity have taken on a new dimension of importance with the world becoming more globalized, or as you might prefer to say, more flat. Office politics is not something new and some of the most vivid expressions ot it you would find in dilbert comic strips. I've seen people get fed up and try to run away from it , maybe to a different organization in the hope that it would be absent there. The degree can matter but it's got to be there. The successful manager of today has to nimbly manage through this matrix of office politics, keeping in the mind the larger interest of the organization , probably that means delivering what you are tasked to. There are examples where people get their personal egos involved in politics and this makes it difficult to resolve conflicts of interest thereby deteriorating communication and ultimately harming project delivery. In such cases, a lot of time and effort just goes into nonconstructive activities of trying to justifying their individual stances. I think this depicts a sign of immaturity in these kind of managers.
To summarize, I would say that office politics is a reality and exists in every office, though the degree may vary. As you say, you've got to face it head on. The successfully manager of tomorrow would be able to manage his way through this to ensure a successful delivery of his tasks, which ultimately matters in the long run.
Posted by: kabir | July 22, 2007 07:36 AM