It's My Party and I'll Do What I Want To
by
Charles Lamson
Subtle and covert political games often take place in settings that on the surface do not seem to be political settings at all.
Organizational ceremonies are part party (a celebration of a sense of community that binds people together) and part work (a reminder of the status and power hierarchy that separates). The Shoenman and Associates annual Christmas party had characteristics of both. Although it was held after hours on the Friday before Christmas, attendence was required. No spouses or family members were allowed to attend, except the boss's family. But the event also was a party. It was held at a rustic bar, away from work where people seemed to "eat drink and make merry" with one another as equals regardless of their formal rank, and where the boss acted more like like a host than like a supervisor - wearing casual clothes, and circulating from table to table, making small talk at each stop. But the tension between the two identities is also quite clear. As one married member put it, "The structure of the event tells employees that "'your work is your life, and these are your friends.'" It's so fucking weird. There's dancing later. I don't want to dance with people that I work with."
After dinner was over, the program began - a series of jokes and skits that were carefully prepared and professionally executed. All of them were funny. All were ambiguous. Most made fun of the higher-ups in the firm.
Together, they created a joking relationship that seemed to help bridge or flatten the hierarchy of the firm. They celebrated the bosses' problems. All three top managers were going through divorces. The employees joked about the divorces, and presented a skit entitled "The Mating Game" - a take off of the series The Dating Game - that included a voluptuous blond asking pointed questions about the sexual appetites and exploits of three divorcing upper managers.
Other jokes and skits made fun of the managers' status symbols, and of one manager's inability to keep secretaries, because he was so obnoxious. The humor also commented on the crazed pace and work hours of the agency - one skit raffled off a coupon for electroshock psychotherapy treatments. Many of the jokes were about the craziness of the work environment. They also made fun of other workers.
One skit spoofed the large number of female employees who dyed their hair blond. Another made fun of the different attire of the business side of the operation (dark blue suits and ties) - and the creative side - (almost anything else).
At one level, the humor made it seem that the organization's hierarchy had disappeared, and it was a community of equals. After the program ended, the participants adjourned to the bar, and the dance floor during this very informal part of the ceremony, filled with bosses and subordinates. Bosses and subordinates buddied around the bar, arms on shoulders, joking and laughing. Workers commented on how the humor had skewered the bosses. Some were even honest with management. The obnoxious manager asked the office manager what people thought of him.
"What the hell," she thought. She told him that he was considered to be a bastard and was the most disliked person in the agency. This is something she admitted that she never would have said at work. She could get by with saying it, because they were at a party.
In Western societies eating signals community, and drinking alcohol symbolizes freedom, especially from the drudgery of work. Parties are times of unusual license. And frictions encountered in the presence of alcohol tend to be forgiven. It seemed that the rules of the game were very different at the party than they were at work
But behind the scenes things were different. Hierarchy and formal power/relationships were subtle, but still in place. People seemed to dance with one another as equals. But even during the most informal part of the party, most females were secretaries. They danced with the males who were their own age or older, and who occupied higher positions in the organization. The skits that skewered upper management were written by a skits committee, only after a lengthy negotiation process, and they were revised many times before being approved by the committee chair.
As one member put it; "We really had to watch our asses. But we had a fucking ball putting this thing together."
Interactional rules were constantly being negotiated. But negotiated in a way that maintained the underlying power relationships. Subordinates could make fun of their supervisors, but only in approved ways. Supervisors could fraternize with their subordinates but only in ways that maintained the hierarchy of the firm. Supervisors could ask for reports on how they were perceived by others; but they alone could decide what to do with that information. Subordinates could give frank responses, but only in private, and only when asked. Some kinds of communication were out of bounds, and other kinds were permitted. Although the bounds were different at the party than at work, boundaries did exist, and in negotiating them everyone was reminded that underneath it all was a power relationship that could not be challenged.
After the breakfast, the speeches started. The boss "Walter" was in control of the entertainment part of this ritual. Walter congratulated for the firm's success, and noted that it occurred in spite of problems in the public relations division, and because of their hard work and sacrifice - late hours and frenetic work pace.Walter gave gifts to retirees and recognized their loyalty to the firm. Walter talked about the things agency does for us, like funding the pension program - not mentioning that the agency is giving year end bonuses that are customary in other advertising agencies.
*SOURCE: STRATEGIC ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY - SIXTH EDITION BY CHARLES CONRAD AND MARSHALL SCOTT POOLE; PAGES 167-171*
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