Office gossip - good, bad or neutral?
“Use it wisely, you ride on it; use it foolishly, you drown into it.” This goes perfectly well with office gossiping.
How can it be good when it does not help you in improving knowledge in your field or improve your work-style? It could help-
Typical office gossip starts with:
“have your heard about …”
“do you know his next …”
“I did not know about …”
“They will be …”
“My boss is …”
“Their boss has …”
…
Do you too tap into the office gossip. There’s nothing to be ashamed or shy or guilty about it. I do it, you do it, everybody does it. We’re living in 21st century and it’s no longer a kitchen chit-chat we do in the office, but something really related to work environment/people etc. Experts believe keeping abreast of workplace gossip is healthy and can be beneficial to your career. Just remember to follow a few simple rules and you can gasbag to your heart’s content.
Office gossip could be malicious (more from the employer’s perspective), in general the activity is a type of informal communication about objects and events, as well as who’s doing what, where and with whom. Gossiping forges social bonds. We trust the people we are gossiping with and learn what is and isn’t acceptable from their responses.
A recent study by University College London has found gossiping is extremely common (everybody knows that already!). We spend between one-fifth and two-thirds of our conversational time doing it. And despite the perception, only a comparatively small amount of gossip is dedicated to criticising the behaviour of others.
While we may be uncomfortable with the notion of gossip, it is necessary if we want to be clued-in to what’s going on in the office. Every organisation needs an informal grapevine so information can pass through. It’s a form of networking, particularly when the talk focuses on information that can be used to place oneself better for promotion or other benefits. We need to rethink our notions of gossip.
The good old office grapevine has received a tremendous amount of bad press, but if office gossip is used properly, it can be a powerful career aid(now we’re talking!). It can provide you with a great deal of useful information, including rumours, many of which become fact.
It’s simply about conversing with colleagues. Everyone needs to have a conversation. Whether it starts with the phrase “have you heard?” or “are you aware?” the result is that information is being passed around. And this could very well change the path of your career or put you in a better position to get where you want to go, only faster.
In its best it could be not about starting or spreading rumours, rather about cultivating sources of information. We are in an information society and spurning informal information is naive. The key is to learn how to listen and listen well. Listen to the conversations of subordinates and supervisors, suggesting you eavesdrop on conversations in staff rooms, meetings and even in bathrooms(that’s bad!).
It’s easy to identify people who are in spaces of influence, who hear what’s going on. So, if you’ve heard something that you think might be an opportunity for furthering your career, what should you do? You should first try fact-checking what you’ve heard. If it’s appropriate, go back to the source. If you can’t and there is no other reliable way to check, take what you’ve heard with a pinch of salt. But don’t make important decisions based on what you’ve heard, that’s a very important point to be kept in mind.
It’s also a good idea to talk to those you trust about what you’ve heard. However, never repeat information that is of a personal nature about another person.
Managers can also use gossip. Grant Michelson, author and research director at Audencia Nantes Business School in France, says employers can use gossip to test the water if they’re considering major changes.
Michelson has looked at the role of office gossip extensively and believes managers who use the grapevine effectively can head-off scaremongering and negativity.
“Finding out things on the grapevine is very important to management in trying to anticipate problems.”
An ear to the ground Stephen Cross is a project manager for a large government department. He uses gossip in the workplace to help him to manage staff and his projects.
“You listen and you put things together to get a clearer picture of what might be going on,” he says. “I always make sure I have a plan B or contingencies in place in case the rumours turn out to be fact.”
Keeping the information generated by office chat in mind makes his job easier. “Having a mental file in place means I’m ready for anything.”
Next time you visit the kitchen area at your work, look at the things from a different perspective. Get smart and keep eyes and ears open. Look and listen to what could be of interest to you, your job or your future; but don’t waste too much time. The amount of time to spend on such thing is mostly subjective and every individual is the best judge for himself.
Latest posts by Kevin Barclay
- Leadership lessons from President Obama - March 20th, 2009
- Recession hypocrisy - February 26th, 2009
- US President Barack Obama and his look-a-like - January 22nd, 2009
- Corporate begging - 2008 - January 1st, 2009
- Cutting trees for Christmas - environmentally friendly ? - December 31st, 2008
- Scarlett Johansson’s nose-blow worth 2 grands and counting - December 18th, 2008
- America’s Most Wanted’s host John Walsh’s son’s murder mystery solved - December 16th, 2008
- Child porn arrests in California - December 12th, 2008
- GM, Ford, Chrysler bailout sucks - December 11th, 2008
- Fight Against Terrorism - December 5th, 2008