Every office has gossip. How do you ensure that you do not fall victim to the spread of gossip?
While you may spend a large majority of your day with your coworkers, you do not need to share embarrassing or extremely personal information with them. Hold your wild card close to the chest.
What do you do when a coworker reels you into office gossip?
You can tell the gossiper you aren’t interested in hearing things like that, tell them that you don’t want to talk about others because you wouldn’t want them talking about you, or you can suggest to go talk to the person about their situation directly. No gossiper wants to be confrontational so that will almost always stop the gossip right away.
Here are 4 things to do if you do fall victim to office gossip…
Talk to the source. In a non-emotional way, let them know you have heard they are talking about you and you would like them to stop. If they don’t stop, speak to your boss about the issue stating the way you have already tried to stop the problem.
Address your team. If you are a manager and this happens to you or one of your employees, speak with your team about office gossip, the company policy on gossip and how to nip it in the bud.
Don’t Address the issue Company Wide. The last thing you should do is send out a company wide email that office gossip won’t be tolerated. This isn’t effective because it can come across as the management team is conflict adverse. Instead, provide appropriate training to managers and employees on how to cope with office gossip.
Lead by Example. The best way to make a behavioral change in your office is to lead by example. If you don’t want others to spread gossip than you shouldn’t either.