Healing Space | How to play the office politics game

Even within a well-diversified team, equal distribution of work is a challenge. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

Note to readers: Healing Space is a weekly series that helps you dive into your mental health and take charge of your wellbeing through practical DIY self-care methods.

Working in teams is complex, especially at workplaces. And any place where teams exist gets political quickly, because workload is never evenly distributed and some ask for, and take credit, more easily than others. Sometimes these situations become blatantly unfair, but the head of the department doesn’t really care because they are just looking at deadlines and output, and not the minutiae of who actually did what, just that it all got done and deliverables by the team are met. When that’s the case, complaining and cribbing about teammates tends to make the complainant look petty or selfish, when in fact they have a legitimate sense of feeling exploited for the larger end.

Read more articles like this

Effective team leaders tend to have a handle on the team’s dynamics and what it boils down to is understanding the nature of each participant and contributor. Some workers need more explicit encouragement, some prefer not to draw attention to themselves, while others thrive only when there is limelight. A good team will have a range of personalities, some more alpha than others, and establishing a good combination of participants is as much a staffing requirement as a management one. Good teams have space for some to lead and some to follow, just as a good cricket line-up would have some all-rounders, some batsmen and some pace and spin bowlers. The effective leader would be able to play to the team’s strengths.

Even within a well-diversified team, equal distribution of work is a challenge. And that’s because often those who look like they do the most work, or who talk most about the work they do, are not always the ones who do the most work. However, the paradox is that the opposite is equally true. Simple output is not an effective measure of productivity. Some team members have the best idea but they are sparks that come once in a while, and cannot be worked out on a consistent basis. Some great sparks need the drudgery of ground work to take them to fruition, and it’s not always the person with the best idea who has the best ability, resources or the right kind of energy to implement the idea.

While it’s easy to get possessive about an idea, it’s also important to remember that the most creative ideas, whether in government, corporate structure, or creative fields like music, film and writing, actually require a whole army of workers with various strengths to bring them into being. The most important part is not the idea in isolation but the ability to break it down into its productive parts and distribute that as tangible work that will further the idea among those who will fulfil it. This is the tough bit, to extract great ideas from team members but also manage egos to the extent that the ideas become collectively owned and contributed to.

The really tough bit is in the decision to be unfair. Unfair from the ground up is not unfair from the top down. Why? Because the leader is the one with the larger vision and must keep in mind the client’s brief, the larger goal of the project, assignment or company. And in this process, individual interests become sacrificed to the larger requirement. So your idea becomes the team’s. Your heavy work load and late nights become the team’s collective contribution to the company. The credit is rarely ever individualized and while organizations do try to keep it in mind during promotions and assessment times of the year, often you can feel under appreciated. This is why organizations require mission statements, vision statements and leadership that is able to inspire individual workers to the larger goal by example.

What can you do if you are part of a team that doesn’t always have space to recognize your contribution?

First, diligently keep a note, or a diary of your work. A timesheet that documents hours put in per project, significant contributions or work done behind the scenes is best. This will come in handy during assessment time, when pitching for a raise, and also when updating your CV for that next job. It also gives you a realistic assessment of your contribution.

Second, have a realistic understanding of your role. Sometimes we imagine we’re doing more than we are. If you’re doing more than you should, step back a bit. If you’re doing all the background work and nothing visible, you will know where to step up and take charge.

And third, speak up. Quiet labour is no virtue. If you won’t speak up for yourself with data to support you, you aren’t really giving the leadership a chance to understand your individual contribution to the larger team. You don’t have to change who you are and how you work; if you’re an introvert and diligent with desk work, you don’t need to suddenly get extroverted and get into client interactions. Chances are your strengths are important to the team’s dynamics as they are. However, you do need to have a realistic insight on how your contribution appears to or remains unseen by the rest of the team and correct the perception.

How to gain recognition as a team member

1. Have a clear assessment of your role for yourself. Ask your boss for feedback.

2. Maintain a systematic list of your contributions with times and durations.

3. When you take on ‘unofficial’ work, like helping make team presentations, list it.

4. Understand your skills apart from your certifications. Getting the team together for dinners, or calming people down in a crisis, fundraising is as valuable a people skill as an MBA.

5. Practice making your case but do so in the context of your role within the team. You might be more valuable as a support than a leader, in which case seek recognition for the role you play realistically.