The minefield of office politics

Psychologists say it is vital to focus on the things that really matter. Rob Yeung, a senior consultant at business psychologists Kiddy & Partners, says: 'Don't get too obsessed about delivering the numbers, doing the analysis, getting the report out on time these things can be overlooked. If people like you and want you on the team, it will make all the difference when it comes to whether or not you lose your job.'

Outplacement consultants deliver the same message. Antony Dunlop, partner at City of London specialists BG Careers, says: 'A lot of the people that we see are high achievers. But they are non-political. If you are results oriented, but you let those results speak for themselves, you are liable to come unstuck. It is the politically adept that tend to be the survivors.'

Taking this message to heart does not, however, mean stabbing people in the back. This can be counter-productive.

Dunlop advises: 'Never go out to 'play' politics, or you are liable to come unstuck.'

To the experts, political adeptness means, instead, managing the way that colleagues see you. It means ensuring that credit is received for work well done, but most importantly, it means managing your boss.

Linda Jackson at the Penna Meridian consultancy, says: 'Everyone considers 'managing down', but too few people give thought to 'managing up'. Working on your relationship with your boss is important when you are both in the same building, but it is even more important when he or she is on the other side of the Atlantic.'

Making your boss look good is an important part of managing them, Jackson believes. If you help them achieve their objectives, you will be able to bask in the reflected glory.

Another strategy is to do some of their work for them. Yet another is cultivating a relationship with their best friends. However, it can all go horribly wrong if the boss that you have been 'managing' disappears. New bosses invariably precipitate job changes, especially at senior level. Cautionary tales of infighting abound in banking, including the fallout from the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers, when the combined firm initially had two chief executives, Sandy Weill (Travelers) and John Reed (Citicorp). More recently, there have been plenty of senior staff changes at Merrill Lynch following the promotion of Stan O'Neal to president.

In case your boss is one day no longer around to protect you, it is wise to cultivate numerous senior level relationships. 'Individuals who do particularly well in organisations are those that build cross-divisional alliances,' says Jackson at Penna.

Kiddy's Yeung says: 'Build a network of contacts. Build relationships with senior people on different desks if your job disappears, you will then have some alternative options.'

No organisation is likely to admit to making redundancies based on friendliness with superiors. Best practice, as well as legal obligations, require that decisions about redundancy are based on objective criteria. Nigel Nicholson, professor of organisational behaviour at the London Business School, says: 'The best organisations are those that espouse transparency, fair dealing and consultation.'

The head of human resources at one US bank says that whether office politics take hold is determined by the way that a first round of redundancies is handled. If early redundancies are seen to be based on fair criteria, then all is well if not, internecine rivalry between employees is a possibility.

Redundancy decisions based on 360 degree assessments undertaken by superiors, supervisors and peers are most likely to purge subjectivity from the process.

Nevertheless, personal judgments can creep in.

Phillip Beddows of the outplacement consultancy BG Careers says: 'Most organisations have very objective criteria for deciding who will stay and who will go, but the reality is that politics can often be a factor.'

For those who do fall victim to office politics, consolation is at hand.

A study by the Cranfield School of Management concluded that executives who lose their jobs for 'personality' or political reasons, tend to be less coolly realistic than their politically savvy counterparts. But they also tend to be calmer, more uninhibited, more imaginative, warmer - and more intelligent. In other words, nicer and higher calibre people.