IT & Politics

Does it seem like every company is plagued by politics when it comes to IT or is it just me? I have worked three jobs since graduating in May of 2008 (all steps up) and it just seems like the better my job gets the more slammed by internal company politics I have to deal with! Am I the only one that feels this way? Or is this really par for the course?

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Comments

networker050184

Its not just IT. Everyone has to deal with it.

QHalo

Par for the course.

msteinhilber

It's out there everywhere unfortunately. Though in my opinion, it seems like IT gets to deal with it more often since it's a resource that most all departments use whereas other company projects don't always involve all of the other departments as much as IT - at least it seems that way at my current job.

motogpman

Perfectly normal, but not normally perfect for most IT people. This is my first Corporate gig and it is THICK. Many times a day I wish that I was still a field engineer. Not in one spot very long, when politics or personality conflicts came into play, you could rest knowing it wouldn't be long before the project was finished.

NightShade03

msteinhilber wrote: »

It's out there everywhere unfortunately. Though in my opinion, it seems like IT gets to deal with it more often since it's a resource that most all departments use whereas other company projects don't always involve all of the other departments as much as IT - at least it seems that way at my current job.

Exactly my point. It took us 2 months to order 10 servers...2 months!! I don't understand why people can't just setup a meeting, agree on what they want, get a quote and order it? It really isn't that difficult.

motogpman

Because it's like politicians, they have to justify their jobs and create a quagmire of meetings, powerpoints, finger pointing, conference calls, and then wonder why deadlines aren't met. They don't understand the K.I.S.S. rule and departmental communication skills lack nowadays.... you know, everything is such a SECRET. Drives me insane.

OK, rant over.... this is something I am dealing with right now, so when I read it I was like a bottle rocket, LOL.

it_consultant

My experience has been that the more subservient of an IT department you have, the worse it is. Once you get it into everyones' head that IT is a profit generating department, they get a lot less ridiculous. Having an IT director with a backbone and an independent budget helps as well.

Sometimes people are just morons, I had someone tell me once that they could do my job but they didn't have the time. I don't think there is anything that can cure that type of attitude.

NightShade03

@ it_consultant - The sad thing is...it's not the "higher ups" or CTO holding us back or causing trouble....it's the people within the IT dept and the DEVs that we work with (we are a SaaS company). You would think the people within the dept could *play nice*

forkvoid

It's the same no matter what field you're in, or what you do. You always hit politics. It's part of the job. On the flip-side, though... if you can learn to play the game well, you'll increase your position. Shying away from politics entirely, I believe, is detrimental to our careers. I'm not advocating being another schmuck spouting he-said-she-said-not-my-responsibility BS... just learn what people want, why they behave the way they do, then deliver those things.

NightShade03 wrote: »

Exactly my point. It took us 2 months to order 10 servers...2 months!! I don't understand why people can't just setup a meeting, agree on what they want, get a quote and order it? It really isn't that difficult.

I would call that a poor management chain. If there's too many stakeholders, you end up with the above result... reduce the number of stakeholders, appoint liaisons between groups, set immovable deadlines with auto-fallback options if those deadlines aren't met(ie, if the group can't decide between Cisco or Juniper by X time, set the auto fallback option to one or the other with that specified as "If no consensus is achieved by X, product Y will be automatically chosen."), etc. If you give people the responsibility without the proper authority to execute their tasks, then everything just comes to a crawl.

veritas_libertas

it_consultant wrote: »

My experience has been that the more subservient of an IT department you have, the worse it is. Once you get it into everyones' head that IT is a profit generating department, they get a lot less ridiculous. Having an IT director with a backbone and an independent budget helps as well.

Sometimes people are just morons, I had someone tell me once that they could do my job but they didn't have the time. I don't think there is anything that can cure that type of attitude.

I completely agree with this. If my IT Manager didn't stand up for us we would be nothing but slaves. The scary part is that I'm not exaggerating.

NightShade03

forkvoid wrote: »

I would call that a poor management chain. If there's too many stakeholders, you end up with the above result... reduce the number of stakeholders, appoint liaisons between groups, set immovable deadlines with auto-fallback options if those deadlines aren't met(ie, if the group can't decide between Cisco or Juniper by X time, set the auto fallback option to one or the other with that specified as "If no consensus is achieved by X, product Y will be automatically chosen."), etc. If you give people the responsibility without the proper authority to execute their tasks, then everything just comes to a crawl.

This is a great thought and would probably work beautifully if I wasn't at the bottom of the chain (therefore I can't make that kind of call). But still a great idea!

Mojo_666

networker050184 wrote: »

Its not just IT. Everyone has to deal with it.

This is the truth, it has to do with people, welcome to life.

It is hard to avoid, but easy to work arround though.

shodown

Yep comes with any job there is good politics and bad politics. Its the bad that we all hate.

mikej412

NightShade03 wrote: »

It took us 2 months to order 10 servers...2 months!!

Sounds more like bureaucracy then politics.

NightShade03 wrote: »

I don't understand why people can't just setup a meeting, agree on what they want, get a quote and order it?

But then the bureaucrats would have to find some something else to do to make it look like they're working.

brad-

welcome to the workforce.

earweed

It's everywhere, not just in IT.

Zartanasaurus

Hole in one for the course.

Psoasman

The higher you move up in the chain, the more politics there are and the less time you probably get to spend working on your stuff. I am usually able to fly under the radar by being able to blend in.

NightShade03

Thanks for all the replies. I guess the best thing to do is deep breath...and remember tomorrow is another day.