Stimulating a team approach


Businesses are inherently political in nature, full of people seeking to serve their own agendas , views and needs. Sometimes business politics can help growth and success but, more often than not, it causes the opposite outcome where people spend more time infighting and protecting territory than sharing ideas and growing capability.

In many ways one could easily argue that winning the knowledge game has more to do with handling business politics than being at the frontier of best practice. This viewpoint strongly mirrors my observation that the knowledge game is highly political in nature and there is a strong connection between political influence, power and flow of knowledge.

So, how do we respond to business politics? It is my view that, instead of being deplored by such behaviour, we need to see politics as a natural part of life. Sure we may not like what we experience but, instead of being paralysed by what we see, we need to invest in more creative ways to inspire people to try a different code of behaviours, particularly by raising the levels of teamwork and shared purpose. We may not be able to easily change the psyche of people but we can skillfully raise another view, which could lead to different habits being entrenched and, hopefully, spreading of a knowledge-sharing virus.

When it comes to working with politics it needs to be accepted that people will bring to the table widely different motivations, mental models and assumptions. For example, with regard to learning and innovation there is a wide array of perceived benefits. Senior management, on the one hand, may view the growing of knowledge as a strategic issue, one that needs organization-wide commitment. Employees, on the other hand, may view knowledge as something that gives them personal recognition or helps them to do their job more easily. However, a specialist in IT may be motivated by an entirely different value system such as one that could involve implementing the very latest communication and digital technology capabilities into the business. Alternatively, a practitioner in human resources may be more interested in issues such as training support, resistance to change and consultation rather than a pure technology-based solution. With such diversity of opinion it is very easy to see where the many sources of political tensions and agendas can arise. Left unchecked, different views can quickly paralyse any change effort. Of course, such tribal wars are not restricted to these professions and roles. Baggage often comes with the territory, whether it is indoor versus outdoor staff, head office as opposed to regional office, or the common clashes of finance versus marketing or research and development versus manufacturing.

To glue together a team effort you will need to stimulate high levels of co-operation. You need to move past egos, including your own, and pull together in one direction for any change to succeed. You do not want them looking for the exit row and escaping when things get tough. To help remove mystery and suspicion there must be easy and safe ways for people to contribute. Time needs to be given to clear up expectations and find a common language. Ignoring political conflict will not help, you need to be courageous enough to get the parties together and look for common ground. This advice also goes for relationships with suppliers, consultants , vendors , joint ventures and customers. It is imperative that the right mix of representation occurs, especially in a topic like winning the knowledge game where so many people can have a stake in its success.

Seven behaviours can improve your chances of political co-operation:

  1. Never assume you have common ground, work hard to a shared purpose.

  2. Encourage people to say in safety what they are thinking.

  3. Promote fluid and spontaneous exchange of ideas.

  4. Remind people that if they think they know it all, they are kidding themselves .

  5. Support people to ˜hang in there , even when things become heated or they feel hurt.

  6. Make sure people are involved in important decision-making and clarification .

  7. Constantly reward and thank people for their efforts, without patronizing them.

Such teamwork will not come easily, it requires leadership and skilful facilitation which sparks people into action by unleashing spirit, passion and a desire to contribute. At higher levels of co-operation people are required to challenge their assumptions and listen to each other, and that is often not easy. Similarly, if a department or professional wants to take governance or control over a change this must be discussed.




Winning the Knowledge Game. Smarter Learning for Business Excellence
Winning the Knowledge Game. Smarter Learning for Business Excellence
ISBN: 750658096
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 129

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