Corporate Groups
3 mins read

Corporate Groups

Several groups of employees represent different points-of-view within an organization. It is those different views that cause friction and power plays. Across professional and workplace boundaries, the more difficult groups tend to fall into one of the following groups.

* Intelligent

The intelligent group consists of people that are capable of doing the job and who know everything that there is to know.They are usually seen as a threat because their intellectual assets seal their positions. They are usually placed outside of the standard groups, however, they are allowed in when they’re needed. These people usually work hard and, because management needs them, managers usually shield these people from the politics.

* Just Get By

This group of people just wants to make it to the next paycheck. They usually complain about everything and do exactly what is expected of them, and no more. While this appears to be a stress-free way to handle life and work responsibilities, it actually takes more effort to limit oneself than it does to simply do the job. Management usually hands these people the simple, grunt tasks to keep them busy and to frustrate them enough to make them quit.

* Just Doing the Job

People that “just do the job” are hard workers and only want to work. This group tries their best to avoid confrontation and political situations. However, they are usually single-minded and are easily confused and frustrated if some twist or political ploy is thrown in front of them. For the most part, management sees them as the project worker-bees that get in, do the job, then get out. If they’re left alone too long or without some supervision to move them on to the next project, they turn into the “Just Get By” group.

* Scared

The people of this group work at a frantic pace and are usually afraid that they don’t know what they’re doing, but they don’t want anyone to find out. Highly unorganized, they are always stressed. They usually find comfort and camaraderie in chatting constantly to other people about how terrible their lives are and usually develop physical ailments that reflect their complaints.

* Intimidating

The intimidating group of people has little knowledge of their position, so they use intimidation to keep people out of their corner of the world. They are similar to the “Scared” group, except that they are more forceful in how they present themselves. They appear to have the right solution at all times and will do battle and start gossip about anyone that thwarts them. In most cases, they are usually the pawns for many managers.

* Politically Oriented

In general, this group consists of the company spies. As for production, they are generally useless, but as for corporate climbing and backing up their boss, they are brilliant. They work on small projects, but they know how to market their work such that management thinks they are fantastic. They sometimes move around the office causing problems through political mischief so that they can solve them and appear as heroes. Your best course of action with this group is to minimize your interaction.