Minimizing negative office politics: An action research on promoting a humane and enabling work community by improving communication

• Main Author: Gutierrez, Raffy Niño T.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2018
• Subjects: Office politics > Philippines; Organizational behavior > Philippines; Communication in organizations > Philippines; Communication in personnel management > Philippines
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/5467
• Institution: De La Salle University

The action research sets out to fix an organizational problem, that negative office politics is visible in the workplace and that it has slowed down the business process by causing a division amongst the owners and ultimately establishing barriers in communication. The first cycle of the action research aimed to foster greater awareness on the negative impact it has within the company. Through face to face interviews as a form of collaboration, intervention and data generation we found that many of the respondents felt many of the common negative effects of office politics such as feeling stressed-out, job dissatisfaction, low morale, burned out, and even had turnover intentions. This data was collaborated with the owners and used as motivation for change and development. The second cycle focused on top management and the underlying issue that there is a division in the company and that it has created barriers in communication that came from the power dynamics of the owners and left a perception of negative office politics at play. We focused on improving communication as a way of addressing negative office politics and to help break down the division amongst the bosses, this was an effort to reduce miscommunication, help align goals, and promote transparency and collaboration. The result showed that many of the owners felt that the meetings were helpful and that it allowed for us to talk about current problems and got real time feedback, likewise, allowed decisions and actions to be quicker. It allowed also a forum to clear the air on some issues that has hindered us from moving forward.