How much political capital do you have? How many people on your team owe you one? How many of those stakeholders have done you a favor? How much influence do you have? Does your boss and team trust that you will do what you say you're going to do? Politics are not just in Washington. Politics play a significant role in almost every company. Understanding your company's political environment and participating in its politics can work to your advantage. One thing that I would like to overhear is someone with influence telling someone else with influence that I am their favorite. The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame band, Rush, has a lyric: "If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice." If you choose not to engage in any politics within your project or program or PMO or company, then you have chosen to be apolitical. As a project manager, being apolitical is probably a mistake. "It's not what you know, it's who you know," holds true with business and in life in general, and it also holds true with project management.
A better way to phrase it might be: "It's not what you know, but who knows you."If I am a competent project manager, my work and results should speak for themselves. When you're good, word tends to get around. The question is: are there other ways to increase your visibility within your organization? Aligning yourself with the right people and growing your political capital is one such way.Political capital is the amount of influence you have. It's about how much credibility you have and how much you are trusted. Sometimes earning political capital comes from being a likable project manager. At other times, it's about quid-pro-quo.
Take star computer programmer, Chelsea; Chelsea writes excellent computer programming code for our company's signature application. Chelsea opens her email when she logs in and sees two new requests; one is from you, and the other is from me. Both requests are almost identical.I have had some recent interactions with Chelsea and have worked together in the past. What I don't realize is that Chelsea thinks I am stoic and very serious; that I am all business and I have no sense of humor.The second request comes from you. You've known Chelsea for about the same amount of time as me. Chelsea and you are on the company lacrosse team together.
You bring Chelsea coffee from time to time, and even go to lunch with her occasionally. Whose request do you think Chelsea is going to get to first. It's a no-brainer. You will go first. A way that I might go first in this scenario is if I had more political capital than you. What if I am a full-time employee and Chelsea and I share the same boss? You are a short-term contractor who reports to someone else? Then I bet Chelsea will think twice about whose request she completes first. What if I was married to Chelsea's sister?How often do you think about increasing your political capital? Many project-related decisions are made based on political capital. Always be aware of how much you have and how to get more with those that matter.
Some may think raising political capital is "brown nosing" or "sucking up". It's all in the way you go about it. I am sincere with my actions and genuinely want to forge meaningful professional relationships; there is no butt kissing involved. If I am working on people purely to get ahead and I don't care at all about the people that I am trying to manipulate, then I will likely get called out on it at some point. It would be especially artificial if I took favors from others, then spoke poorly of them behind their backs. This behavior always comes back to haunt double talkers.