The Ugly Side of Change: Office Politics, Negative PR, and (GASP!) Smear Campaigns

As a change agent, at some point you may find yourself looking out at a scene like this…

Let’s talk for a few minutes about the ugly side of change: Office Politics, Negative PR, and in extreme cases, even Smear Campaigns. If you are a #changeagent, in all likelihood you have either been tangled up in some of the aforementioned, or at some point in your career, you will be entangled. It’s the unfortunate reality that if you set about making improvements and doing things differently, at some point you will rock the wrong boat.

If you are like most, you are likely wondering, “What am I doing wrong?!?”

Before we get to that, and what you can do to help fix the problem, it is important to recognize that in all likelihood, you are actually doing a lot of things right. Otherwise no one would be talking about you/ your work/ your team. Someone has noticed you, your team and your work. You are shaking things up and that is probably a very good thing.

“There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.” – Brendan Behanv

Given, however, that we would all love to avoid reading our “career obituary”, we need to understand why our once-friendly colleagues now see us as ‘persona non grata’ and what we can do to fix it.

Why Are They Talking?

Before we address how to fix your situation, it can be helpful to identify clearly what your own situation really is. We’ve outlined some common scenarios that can help you identify the root cause of those not-so-friendly looks and comments you’ve been getting.

Your own situation may fall neatly into one of these, or it may be a combination of them. Stepping back and looking at it objectively without emotion will help you keep calm and identify what to do to remedy the situation.

Scenario 1: You’ve Had Your Head in the Process and Forgot to Share the Good News

If you have been busy making changes, improving things, you have been very focused on the process, on the target, on the goal. You have followed the Action Plan or Project Plan to a tee. And you are moving the needle, seeing positive trends in the metrics and outcomes. But does anyone else know it?

While your team may be well-aware of the targets and results, it is entirely possible that others in your organization are unaware of the impact of the improvement work!

It can take time for the rest of the organization to “catch up” to where your team is, and to feel the positive impact from the change. Additionally, if you have made significant improvements in a process that has historically performed poorly, that process has likely been talked about in a negative way for a while. In the absence of hard data and sustainment of improvement, the new performance level may be attributed to a fluke. Negative perceptions and talk will continue until enough of the organization believes the data and sees the improvement will continue for an extended time period.

Scenario 2: You’ve Had Your Head in the Process and Forgot the Emotional Side of Change

If you are working on the right things, it is likely that the work you’ve done to make change has not gone unnoticed. But in the absence of an abundance of good news in the form of positive metrics data and performance results, what has been noticed may not be the good that has come from the changes you have made.

Change - even small change - is disruptive.

This means that while you have had your head down driving improvements, a lot of things around the thing you have been improving have had to adjust. This is a rather inelegant way of pointing out that the changes you and your team have made may be causing inconveniences to other parts of the organization. Even when a change reduces waste and makes the job easier and faster, it requires people to learn something new to do things differently.

We must remember that changes, even good ones, can result in feelings of grief and loss. To understand more about the emotional impact of change at work, read about the seven phases of emotional processing that happen as a result of change.

There is a balance of how much change is possible for an organization to undertake at one time. Rules of thumb tell us that no more than one-third of the organization should be in a state of loss at a given time. We must take into account all of the changes that our team members and associates are undergoing at a given time (so things such as economic downturns, pandemics, family or personal relationship/ health challenges all have a cumulative impact on how much change can be absorbed).

You can never underestimate the emotional impact of change!

Scenario 3: You’ve Had Your Head in the Process and Did Not Adequately Understand and/or Address the Needs of Stakeholders

Stakeholders are the people/ groups of people who have a “stake” in the outcome of a project or change initiative. What does it mean to have a “stake” in something? Simply put, those that have a “stake” have an interest in, influence over, or could be impacted positively or negatively by a change initiative or project. Stakeholders can be inside or outside of your organization.

When you think about it, understanding the “who” side of change is critical. Inadvertently failing to recognize a stakeholder (or stakeholders) at the beginning of a project, or failing to address the needs of the stakeholder(s) at any time, can result in negative perceptions of the project, of your team, and of you. Another risk to consider is that some powerful stakeholders can and do take offense at not being included or not having their needs met. By virtue of their position, they often expect to “have a say and get their way.” Not recognizing this risk, can lead to Scenario 4 where politics come into play.

On the flipside, identifying stakeholders, understanding and managing their needs and expectations throughout the project or change initiative contributes to building trust and increases the likelihood of a positive outcome. There are numerous techniques to adequately consider who stakeholders are and what their needs are; a good reference for five tools to do this well can be found here.

Scenario 4: Politics are Now in Play

We’d be remiss to ignore the possibility that there is something more happening. In a “traditionally managed” organization, positioning for power via competition and political maneuvering are common, as are deflecting attention from one’s own performance shortcomings via drawing attention to the performance shortcomings (real or imagined) of someone else.

If you have found yourself in Scenario 1, 2, or 3, finding yourself in the midst of Scenario 4 becomes much more likely. Why?

Because no one knows the positive impact the changes have had it becomes easy to assess blame and point fingers (deflection) or to deny the positive impact has happened at all (continued complaining about poor performance that is no longer relevant).
Enough people have experienced “loss” from the changes and are looking for somewhere to place blame and point fingers for their emotional distress and stress (if you/ your team/ the project had not happened… they would still be comfortable in the status quo).
One or more high-powered stakeholder(s) are no longer “in your corner” may actively retaliate against you/ your team, or may vocally denounce or resist the change initiative (deflection, creating a scapegoat are possible outcomes).

What Can You Do to Remedy the Situation?

There are four steps to effectively address negative PR. These are adapted from an article on the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) website found here.

1) Identify and Confront the Source of the Negativity

It is important to find out where the negative comments and perceptions are coming from. If you are fortunate, these may be obvious and out in the open. For example, someone who consistently makes negative comments about the change, the project, the team or you in meetings or over email may very well be the source of negative PR. Sometimes you will need to dig deeper if the source of negativity is not out in the open.

The approach that should be taken in confronting the source should never be emotional or combative. While it can be tempting to react emotionally when you feel under attack, it is imperative that you stay calm and present facts and data that disprove the negativity. Many times the source will apologize, but do not expect that the negativity will instantly stop. You may need to repeat your message of facts and data repeatedly.

Remember, “if you don’t tell your story, someone else will.”

2) Make Amends.

Be aware that perception is reality. Even if you are not at fault, it is a good idea to do what it takes to help heal the damage to the relationship. Ask what you can do to make things right, and do that and more. If you have failed to identify stakeholders or inadequately managed their needs, you may have to go above and beyond to build or rebuild trust and rapport. Empathy can go a long way towards repairing the relationship.

3) Acknowledge Mistakes.

Acknowledging mistakes means recognizing where things went wrong and where you and your team can do better, and what you will do to prevent problems in the future. Accepting responsibility for the mistakes that were made helps reopen lines of communication and build trust.

It is important to understand that when we acknowledge mistakes, this is not the same thing as accepting blame for rumors and innuendo that may have been a part of false negative publicity. Continue to stick to the facts and data that refute the false negative publicity in a positive way.

4) Enlist Supporters to Speak on Your Behalf.

Solicit others who have experienced positive impacts from the projects and change initiatives to speak up in support of you, your team, and the changes. The more high-quality, positive PR you can generate, the better. Let people know how important their voice is to helping others understand and lend support for you, your team, and the good work that is being done. Sometimes all it takes to quiet negative publicity is one strong voice advocating for the positive impact of change.