Bad at Office Politics? Three Steps You Can Take Today.
“I’m bad at office politics. I don’t know how to play the game.”
I’ve heard this time and time again in my coaching conversations. Some people love playing the corporate game. Some people think it’s a bunch of bullsh*t, only want to do their job well and be compensated accordingly. Unfortunately, if you’re in corporate, each organization has a set of unspoken rules that could dictate your success.
This may seem scummy and gross. I get it. But ultimately, your salary and career progression is not decided by you. It’s decided by people in a room that you’re not in.
When discussing office politics with clients, I like using the RAPID Framework. RAPID is a concept coined by Bain which helps complex organizations make decisions. Here is an outline of the framework from Harvard Business Review:
Recommend - People in this role are responsible for making a proposal, gathering input, and providing the right data and analysis to make a sensible decision in a timely fashion.
Agree - Individuals in this role have veto power—yes or no—over the recommendation.
Perform - Once a decision is made, a person or group will be responsible for executing it.
Input - These people are consulted on the decision.
Decision - The person with the D is the formal decision maker.
So how does this relate to office politics? To understand the “corporate game,” you must understand your organization’s RAPID and how they influence you. For example, let’s say you are a sales manager at a tech company and want a salary increase. Here are three steps you can take to navigate your organization:
Step 1: Write a RAPID for every person who influences your pay. The RAPID, in this case, would likely be:
Recommend – your direct boss recommends you for a pay increase
Agree – your Director needs to agree with the pay increase
Perform – Payroll processes the actual payment change
Input– Other senior managers have influence or a say if you get an increase. They are also likely dipping into that same pool of money to get pay increases for their direct reports. They can agree or disagree with your increase
Decision – in this scenario, the D is likely the Sales Director
You need to understand who influences your pay and your career. If you don’t know this, ask your boss to explain how salary increases work in your organization.
Step 2: Spend your time in front of the right people who influence your career and promotions. Create allies, not adversaries.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely a motivated individual. Knowing your RAPID will help you direct energy in the right places. Look at the list of names on the RAPID and think of ways to be more visible and make their lives easier. What problems are they encountering and how can you solve them?
In this step, look at how to be the most visible with the least time and how to scale your efforts. For example, if you have a new way of closing a deal on a new product, it will be more useful for you to demonstrate your method in a team meeting, or better yet, in a company All Hands rather than 1:1. You want a one-to-many approach.
Understand where to spend your time. When helping people, are you usually working 1:1 or one to many?
Step 3: Know Your Bank Balance
One of my business coaches gave a great analogy of a bank balance. The more you give, the more you build up your bank balance. You build your credit by providing value. However, you drain the bank once you ask for a salary increase or promotion. You need to fill the bank up over and over again to build up goodwill. When was the last time you filled up the bank balance? More importantly, did the right people have visibility over it? Did you only do something to help your direct team rather than the people on the RAPID?
Ultimately, you need to think about what value you are providing to people.
I’d love to hear comments and feedback below if this helps you.