The Office-Politics Game Workshop

From the office crab to the back-stabber to the office princess and sycophant, we’ve all had to deal at some level with office politics. During this high energy (and funny) workshop, you’ll learn about the importance of knowing the political game.

Office-Politics Game Workshop at Canadian Education Convention Toronto 2015

Franke James, Founder of Office-Politics.com, will be helping administrative professionals play the office-politics game at the Canadian Education Convention in Toronto on May 21, 2015. In this interactive role-playing game, the audience will be divided into tables of 6-8 people. Each workshop is three hours. (If you are interested in playing the office-politics game at your next corporate event please contact “ceo at officepolitics.com” for rates and fees.)

Why play the Office-Politics Game? 

“Office politics” are the strategies people use to gain advantage for themselves or to support a cause. The term’s negative connotation derives from the fact that sometimes people seek advantage at the expense of others or the greater good. Negative politicking often adversely affects the working environment and the relationships within it. Good politicking, on the other hand, helps you fairly promote yourself and your cause in a context of networking and stakeholder management.

During this high energy workshop, you’ll learn the importance of knowing the political game. You’ll be analyzing power, assessing the company’s best interests and putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. You’ll be developing key skills to navigate the land-mines of office politics and how to spot trouble before it hits the front page of the news.

While some of the game dilemmas may be humorous, the impact of ignoring office politics can ruin companies, careers and lives. This workshop will help you exercise your ethical muscles and better understand the policies/behaviours that are the foundation of a positive, healthy and productive environment.

What are the benefits of the Office-Politics Game Workshop?

• Team Building:
  Build trust through better understanding of one another.
• Enhance Communication:
  Workshop gets people talking about office politics and how to manage it.
• Exercise Ethical Muscles:
  Lets people strengthen their ethical muscles by role-playing ethical decisions.
• Appreciating Roles:
  Gets people talking about roles and responsibilities.
• Raise Awareness:
  Workshop raises awareness of the other person’s feelings which can increase empathy.
• Understand Culture and Fit:
  Gets people thinking about culture and the importance of fitting in.

The Office-Politics Game Workshop is based on the award-winning book, Dear Office-Politics by Franke James. Franke brings 20 years of business experience to her role as an adviser on OfficePolitics.com. “Many people want to pretend that office-politics doesn’t exist. But the truth is you can’t duck it. It crosses all borders and seeps into all cultures. It is everywhere. You need to learn to play the game.”

The dilemma-based social game teaches you how to play (and laugh at) office politics. In March 2010, it won a bronze Axiom Business Book Award in HR/Training. The ethical dilemmas are actual letters that were submitted to OfficePolitics.com since it was founded in 2002.

Dear Office-Politics lets YOU be an Office Politics Adviser and offer your best, sage advice. And then it turns the tables, and puts you into the role of Advice-seeker! How does the advice measure up? Well, the Advice-seeker each round is the ultimate judge, but you can also peek at the back of the book to see how the real Office-Politics Advisers answered.

“Even though some companies are less political than others, none have repealed the laws of human nature. Even in the Girls Scouts of America, we hear there are lots of politics. If there are no politics, check the people’s pulse in your company since they are probably dead!” Rick Brandon, PhD, Advisor, OfficePolitics.com

Book The Office-Politics Game Workshop:

Play the office-politics game at your next corporate event. Contact Franke James, “ceo at officepolitics.com” for rates and fees. See excerpts from the Office Politics Game workshop presentation.