the kind of people that make or mar you at work

The Kind of People That Can Make or Mar You at Your Workplace

2022-10-17T22:32:52+00:00

By TRWCBlogger

The people you work with influence your career.To be a game changer and make things work for you, you need to do a mapping of people who may affect you directly or indirectly at your workplace.This post will help you do that.In mapping people who are relevant to attaining your daily job responsibilities goals, you need to:

1. Identify by listing relevant people (stakeholders)

When identifying the stakeholders, you need to ask some critical questions:

What are they bringing to the table? (Value contribution)
Do they have information, counsel, expertise or something that will be useful to the company or project? (Usefulness)
How much influence does the stakeholder have? (Influence)
Who do they influence e.g.: other companies, NGOs, media, investors, consumers, suppliers and so on? (Leverage)

Is this someone who could derail or delegitimize the process if they were not included in the engagement? (Necessity of involvement)
How willing are they to work with you? (Willingness)
Do they really want to help? (Legitimacy)

2. Analyze by understanding the stakeholders’ perspectives and interests.

This allows you to see where stakeholders stand when evaluated by the same key criteria and compared to each other.

3. Visualize the relationship of your work objectives vis-à-vis other stakeholders.

This helps to untie the often complex interplay of issues and relationships. It resolves trust issues.

4. Prioritise by ranking pressing issues

This will help in determining which stakeholders are most useful to engage with. There is a grid you can use in sorting your priority as below:

High power + High level of support = Manage closely

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The Chief Executive Officer of your place of work or your line supervisor falls within this category. They are very powerful and are involved in the day-to-day running of the company. They see who does what and who doesn’t. So they are directly involved in your growth.You have to manage them closely and they have to see you as effective, but be careful not to be seen as playing for attention.

High power + Low level of support = Keep Satisfied

The Board members of your company are in this category. They are very powerful as well but not involved in the day-to-day running of the company. They do not see who does what and who doesn’t but only read your periodic performance appraisal presented by your CEO. They are involved in your growth but may give you low direct support. You have to keep them satisfied through your appraisal by your superiors. Low power + High level of support = Keep InformedYour colleagues that are roving around the same cadre needs to be carried along. You need to work open-door and open-minded, and give room for collaboration, partnership and support with them. They may not have the power to determine your appraisal but their words may inadvertently get to High Power people.Low power + Low level of support = MonitorThe last kind of people on the grid is the junior staff in a company. Their job specifications may appear insignificant but they are majorly gate-keepers for the High Powers. They carry files, they serve teas, they are the drivers and their careless talk may be vituperation or endorsement for you. You’ll need to keep a close eye on them.

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Mapping your stakeholders at the workplace allows you to understand the level of engagement that you require from the people working with you on delivering a particular project or outcome.You need to categorise stakeholders based on their interest, attitude or their level of support. Remember, always keep your friends close and your foes closer! Temidayo Babatunde has a demonstrated experience in Human Capacity Development. He can be contacted via his LinkedIn ([email protected])