Office Politics Waste Execs’ Time
Bonnie Harris covers workplace issues for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7828 and at bonnie.harris@latimes.com
Office politics are alive and well, with managers saying they spend close to one day each week dealing with internal conflicts, rivalry disputes and other volatile situations in the workplace, according to an OfficeTeam survey.
When asked how much of an executive’s time is wasted dealing with company politics, the mean response from 150 managers with the country’s largest 1,000 companies was 19%.
The survey attributed overbooked schedules as fueling the problem, and it said managers who travel frequently or spend more time in meetings may not notice tense situations until it’s too late.
