BoSStats -- Office Politics Discussion

An effective manager can (and must) nip office

politics in the bud. I had a General Manager who 
did this extremely well. If someone went to him in 
private and made a comment(derogatory) about a 
colleague .. he would immediately call the 
mentioned colleague and with both of them in the 
room .. he would say " Mr J just mentioned to me 
something about you.." 

Needless to say.. Mr J got the message .. and so 
did the rest of the organization soon!

posted on 1173114767.2 by fundakid

A good idea, but is it sufficient?


Certainly, management must suppress office 
politics.  The tactic you describe helps contain 
some back-stabbers and rumor spreaders.  What 
about employees who raise legitimate concerns?

In general, complaining to the boss is rarely 
effective, and almost always a poor career move.  
This actually enables all sorts of Machiavellian 
tactics -- after all, the victims cannot ask for 
help.  

Management must provide a clear set of rules -- 
and use its authority to enforce them -- or 
factionalism and political maneuvering will 
dominate the lawless power vacuum.  Perhaps a 
system where the boss disallows secret complaints, 
but adjudicates sufficiently serious disputes in 
the open, would work well to contain manipulative 
behavior.

posted on 1173139523.1 by SiteAdmin