Project Manager Interview - Project Management and Workplace politics

Project Management and Workplace politics. 

In any workplace environment, politic is very much present. We all have faced workplace politics in in one form or the other. The ways of handling politics may differ from person to person and many have followed different guidelines while leading projects, There are many other things we can do handle workplace politics and general issues in Project management.

Some of the ways to handle workplace politics are;

1.  Its always advisable to keep notes or follow up with a written summary for all the corridor or coffee table discussions.

2. Refrain from gossiping. If you happen to come across a situation when a team member complaints about another employee, just listen but don't give your views. It helps the other person to vent out   and more often it is sufficient to resolve the conflicting issues.

3. One important quality of managers is that they should talk less and listen more. When it comes to advice and suggestions, think twice and then advice. When you speak less and listen more it actually leads to improvement of the amount of actual communication.

4. You need to have a cross cultural understanding of human behavior. If you are working with a client from Saudi Arabia, he will be different from the USA client is many ways. Nowadays its very important since teams are global and spread across different countries. People in different countries think, work and communicate in a different manner and hence it is good to get some understanding of the people. You can lean culture of different countries by reading books and in the internet, but the best way is to get movies from different countries. Its probably the fastest and easiest way. You can also learn a foreign language if the situation arises.

5. Keep proof and evidences ready. Very essential as at some point in the future it may come in handy. 

6. Refrain from talking about your political ideologies and views, religion or religious matters or any other sensitive topics, because people may have very different opinions and views. It may create negativity