Why is it that every job you have there is always office politics?
No matter if you have three people or 500 people in your office, office politics always ends up turning into office conflict. That is why I found Diane L. Katz’ new book, Win at Work, so helpful. It brings conflicts to light and helped me understand how to alleviate situations that are uncomfortable in the workplace.
Specifically, where do conflicts come from?
Ms. Katz suggests the following:
•Jobs aren’t identified and overlap other jobs in responsibility
•Job orientations don’t discuss culture and what is acceptable and what isn’t
•Managers who can’t manage
•No reinforcement to Training programs
•Managers who don’t know how to control their behavior
•Cultures that support lying
•Blaming others for something that you should take responsibility for
•People who like to stir the pot and cause trouble
She talks about how she knows how to handle conflicts because she uses the “Winning Circle” technique.
Ms. Katz explains that if you break down each situation by using the Winning Circle, these situations can be easily fixed.
The Winning Circle consists of a series of questions to ask yourself when you have a conflict:
1. What is the situation?
2. What can be negotiated?
3. What can’t be changed?
4. What does your previous experience tell you about the situation?
5. How does the situation make you feel?
6. What is your strategy?
7. What will the strategy bring to the game plan?
8. Will these changes be for the better?
The book goes on to talk about each of these topics in great detail. What I found interesting is after she explains each of the eight concepts in depth; she throws in a series of case studies on various situations that anyone who works in an office could relate to.
Some notable case studies include: how to manage a micromanager, how to deal with someone who likes to cause trouble and how to deal with a client’s anger. The case studies reinforce what you learn from Ms. Katz’s book. The sharing of these case studies helps if you are going through a similar experience. Ms. Katz is an expert in conflict resolution and the reader can learn a lot from her.
What I didn’t like was that she mentioned her own business several times throughout the book and I felt it was more like a sales pitch at times. (I get enough sales pitches throughout the day.)
Generally, Win at Work was an easy to read, quick read. To me, that is important in a business book because as a business owner, I have limited time. The book was relatable and if you have a conflict, it’s probably worth reading this book to help solve it.Win at Work was an easy to read, quick book, which to me is important because I have limited time. Ms. Katz is an expert in conflict resolution. What I didn’t like was that she mentioned her own business several times throughout the book and I felt it was more like a sales pitch at times. (I get enough sales pitches throughout the day.) Otherwise, the book was relatable and if you have a conflict, it’s probably worth reading this book to help solve it.
This post also appeared on Blogcritics.org.
