When we think of gossip, we immediately think this behavior is poor and has no room in the workplace.
But. Can there be value in some forms of gossip?
Well. Firstly, gossiping in the workplace can be expensive if not resolved swiftly.
Studies indicate 96% of people have admitted to engaging in gossip, with the average person spending 65 hours per year gossiping at work.
Sheesh.
Gossip shows me you have too much time. If you were busy and preoccupied with meaningful work, you wouldn’t have time to spend 65 hours per year gossiping.
We are born only ignorant. Yet, a lot of us die stupid. Given this, if we are not born stupid, we are made stupid only from who and what we choose to believe. It makes sense to choose our information sources wisely, right?
People are also extremely biased and highly primitive. It’s fascinating that we often take the first biased or uneducated opinion as authentic. If someone is not there to defend themselves, I wouldn’t tolerate gossip that is negative or unkind.
So, what to do with an exhausting gossiper?
If we continue to allow an employee who isn’t on the same path as the company to remain in the team, despite your best efforts, they have capacity to inflict serious damage. Or at the very least distract the team with their negative opinions.
Listeners to gossip are also co-narrators. People don’t realise the act of listening to gossip actually promotes gossiping in the workplace.
A simple way to tackle this is to think about this perspective; you’re telling someone a story and they fade off from listening or seem clearly uninterested. You will probably stop talking.
It’s an easy solution. If you don’t listen, it has nowhere to go.
We are also in a world of victims right now. Victim mentality leads to gossiping, which can destroy company culture equally to other best friends’ the ‘workplace bully’ and the ‘micro manager’
Yes, gossip in the workplace can be damaging. But it’s not always bad for two key reasons;
1. Gossip is a perfect diagnostic tool.
Let’s face it, we can’t control all levels of gossip, nor should we. If a leader is close to the team and regularly on the ground, they can potentially troubleshoot small issues before they become big issues. This includes creating a strategy if the gossip is coming from a potential rotten egg.
I have spoken before about the power of taking a mini listening tour daily. It can be one of the most valuable things you do in your day.
2. Leaders can sometimes choke gossip moving up, and pass back down the correct information
If the information or gossip gets chocked off at the top when its carried up, it can be passed back down to the workforce with correct information. This is actually a great option by means of spreading communication to a large workforce that might be going through change process or even a crisis.
Ultimately, when it comes to gossiping, choosing kindness over criticism is a practical choice.
And never stop being a good person because of rotten eggs. Be wise.
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