How do you navigate office politics?
Recently I've been put on a couple projects with another analyst on my team and a manager from a different team where we present our findings to the VP together. During the analyst's presentation, the manager interrupted a couple times to discuss nuances to be aware of when pulling the data, making sure it's accurate, etc. Analyst takes this really poorly and privately asks me to exclude the manager from future meetings with the VP. I told him the manager interrupted him with positive intent, not necessarily discredit him during his presentation. I obviously don't want to outright exclude the manager, but I don't want to make an enemy out of the analyst either. Additional context: Analyst is a recent grad, I've been working for a few years and have a master's in Digital Marketing. I don't want to deal with politics. When I joined the firm this wasn't a problem, and I have a great relationship with the manager. I also report directly to the VP so I have alot of influence for my paygrade. TL;DR: Manager on different team interrupts analyst's presentation. Analyst asks me to exclude manager in future meetings. What would you do? TC: 78k #workplace #officepolitics #culture
Manager needs to be there, cutting people out won't be doing yourself any favors. The problem here is that the three of you dont seem to be going in to the presentation in sync with a solid plan. That isn't the place for surpise questions - the questions may well be valid and can help drive a presentation, but they should be planned with answers prepared ahead of time. Get together for a dry run of the presentation to work these types of things out before getting in front of the VP
Thanks for the suggestion. We actually did do a dry run to rehearse and the questions didn't come up the first time. You're right about us going in without a solid plan though. I was under the impression that it was more casual, probably because I work closely with the VP, but I shouldn't have assumed the other analyst would think the same way.
Ask analyst what alternate ideas he has for getting the manager’s feedback. It’s not an option to keep the manager out of the loop. Let the analyst contribute to solving the interruption problem, and let him know that you all still need the input. Analyst now has a decision to make, you don’t.
Who has more influence over your career - the manager or a recent grad? Here's your answer.
this is the mildest form of office politics, you gotta learn how to handle this before you move to the big leagues, or even the medium leagues...