Organizational politics is when someone uses their power within an organization for the pursuit of agendas and self-interest without regard to their effect on the organization's efforts to achieve its goals (Businessdictionary.com). Organizational politics does not only have to come from an individual but it can come from a group within the organization. All organizations have some sort of a political environment, but not all of it has to be bad. If you know how to play the politics of your organization, it can work in your favor and help to open communication. By being able to read the environment that you are in, you will have a better understanding of the rules and how to play on them. This balance act of trying to understand the rules of office politics affects communication because you need to try and figure out when would be a good time for you to act. You may need to keep your eye open to learn some of the likes and dislikes of coworkers or even manager so that in speaking to them you can communicate more on their level and have less negative conversations thus helping yourself in what you are trying to achieve. The communication with organizational politics is something that can be subjective. What one person may consider to be an alliance, the other person may consider it to be a friendship. In the end all organizations have politics, knowing how to play the game and understand that it exists will help you achieve your goal.
References
Organizational politics definition retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organizational-politics.html