In my article last year "It's A Jungle Out There" I wrote about the similarities between the wildly popular CBS TV show Survivor and surviving the office politics in the work place.

"Surviving at the office is much tougher than surviving on a deserted island. The castaways on the CBS summer television hit Survivor provided transfixing entertainment. They also provided textbook lessons for all of us on what it takes to survive the politics and competition in the workplace. "

"When you were first hired as a trainee or on the factory floor there was no competition. There were enough resources (jobs) so everyone worked happily together. But then you found yourself competing for lead, supervisor, manager, general manager, vice president, and senior VP. With each step the competition became more intense, the politics more conniving, until there were just the four of you left competing for the job of President."

We had a very open discussion about these issues on the Management Forum at the time and took some polls that you can read here.

The Game - Survive The Office
For a business perspective this year, we will do annual (actually weekly) performance reviews of the contestants, treating them as if they were employees of our company. Your "employees" are the cast of the CBS TV show, Survivor II.

Each week you will have the opportunity to promote the people on each team who deserve it to the next higher level in the company. We start at "trainee" and work up to "CEO". Just like the TV show, you decide who to promote by voting one person out of the company each week.

Week 1 - Trainee
There are four "work groups" in your company. Two in the "Kucha" department and two in the "Ogakor" department. Vote for the individual you think is least qualified to be promoted (and should be voted out of the company.) You can vote one individual out of each team if you choose.

Kucha #1
Kucha #2
Ogakor #1
Ogakor #2

John Reh
About.com Guide to Management
http://management.about.com
management.guide@about.com