The organizations political landscape starts from the top. Who ever leads the organization will not only form the landscape but also have an impact on the rules (more on that later). The political landscape is the formal hierarchy, informal hierarchy and alternative hierarchies that connect the political players together.
Formal Hierarchy
In most organizations, this is the organizational chart that defines the reporting structure and who works for whom. It’s the first indicator of how the organization is setup politically and can bring to light a lot about how the landscape is first formed. Consider some of these ideas when looking at your organizations reporting structure.
- Flat Reporting: Flat reporting structures come about because the people at the top want to be visible into every aspect of the organization. Flat works when you are small but as an organization grows, flat starts to strain and produces other hierarchies.
- Lots of Executives: An organization with lots of executives usually means that there is a lot of politics because executives want more power and they now have to fight among other executives for a smaller number of resources.
- Functional: A functional hierarchy groups like resources (legal, HR, etc.) under one boss. These resources are then farmed out to various groups or divisions (if they exist) to get tasks done. In general, functional groups don’t really have a revenue stream so they are constantly corroborating their existence and this creates a natural political atmosphere.
- Divisional: Most companies use the divisional approach since it allows for more accurate reporting of performance and allows people to pay attention on specific products and markets. The politics of a divisional hierarchy tend to centre on budgets and interactions with the functional groups. Even a divisional hierarchy needs functional groups for support.
- Matrix: A matrix takes the functional approach and the divisional approach and crosses them. Resources are common and assigned to projects those divisions wants done. This structure is filled with political struggle because there are various reporting structures, resources don’t work on one thing and politicking is driven by the constant fight between matrix mangers and divisional managers.
As you can see, there are several different organizational hierarchies and each has it’s own distinct political challenges. Most organizations tend to be a hybrid and that adds an even more interesting dynamic to the political landscape.
Informal Hierarchy
All organizations have an informal hierarchy that runs parallel to the formal one. This informal hierarchy is built at all levels and comes about by people working together. By working together, people within the organization know the go to people for vital items. These people are the organizational gatekeepers that have some political power by the nature of their position or reputation. It’s pretty obvious who these people are because they may control an executives schedule, are critical to a legacy system or know all the office gossip.
Alternate Hierarchy
This is similar to the informal hierarchy but more formal in the sense that it’s usually associated with the matrix type organizations where there is a lot “dotted line” reporting. Dotted line reporting is when you have more than one boss. The dotted line means that you are responsible for some aspects of someone else’s project but they don’t write your review. This alternative hierarchy can be a powerful political lever. It usually taps into a different part of the organization and your dotted line boss can sometimes be a valuable tool when your interests are aligned.
Information links the Landscape
Within this political landscape, the main linkage between everything is the availability to and the flow of information. Information is a precious commodity. The worth of this commodity naturally rises and falls as the political landscape shifts up and down all of these hierarchies. It is important to realise that you are a player in this landscape. Where you fit in and what power or influence your position and linkages have will be just as important as your ability to use that influence.