A politically demanding customer company is educational and highly exciting for a limited time. In the long run, however, in my experience, a political shark tank dulls. The following measures show how you can master the political level as well as the content level.
How to deal with politics in spartancomposites.com company?
Carry out order clarification
As a management consultant called in, you don’t have to solve every problem. If there is a political crunch in the organization, it doesn’t matter to you as long as your project is not slowed down. Carry out an order clarification in which you define results, goals, scope and risks. If things then change politically, you refer to the agreed assignment.
Helpful tools from the consulting method case are the consulting offer, the project profile and the problem/goal description.
Accept politics
The larger, older and more multifaceted organizations are, the greater the effect of internal politics. Where people work, there it is human. From day 1 of your engagement, you should accept the level and keep it on your radar. Realism beats naivety. Politics in a company is part of the day-to-day business of the management consultant.
Continuously support stakeholders
In projects, the stakeholder is the employee, recipient and requestor. Conduct a stakeholder analysis right at the start.
- Who has what influence?
- Who is motivated and to what degree?
Seek constant dialogue with the actors. Approach people. The stakeholder map, the onion model and the target diagram of the consulting method case support you in this ongoing task.
Switch customers
If the political aspect takes up too much space for you, then changing customers can be your option. Sometimes a break or a transition to another area in the company is enough. In this case, you are in luck. Otherwise, it is worth leaving and turning to customer organizations where the focus is on the work content.
Play with open cards
The majority of customers appreciate it when you, as an external person, share your perception of the political situation. Ask the customer openly whether all the players involved have been picked up and important key players are sitting at the table.
Disclose political stumbling traps and blocks that slow down your joint project. Name the implications for the success of the project. Packaged diplomatically and honestly, this is added value for every client.