How to Avoid Workplace Gossip

Work place gossip is as inevitable as the sun rising in the morning. Almost every workplace has at least one person who delights in knowing everything that goes on in and out of the workplace. Gossip can lead to a toxic work environment, where people are emotionally stressed out.  It can lead to frustration, anger, violence and a drop in productivity levels, which could eventually lead to job losses.

While gossip is bound to occur, there are ways to avoid it. You don’t have to get stuck in the quagmire that results from gossip. You do have a choice, and it’s learning how best to deal with gossip that is the important thing. Once you know how, your work life is sure to improve. In this article we will discuss various methods that can be used to deflect or avoid office gossip. 

• The best way to avoid gossip in any environment is to keep your personal life personal. Don’t tell the people you work with that you’re in the middle of a messy divorce, or that you got hammered at the bar last night and did something a little crazy. Instead, if you need to talk about something, talk about work. Stay professional at all times, and leave your home life where it belongs, which is at home.
• Remember that the more powerful you are in the company, the more gossip can affect you. If you’re a manager, any sort of slanderous material, whether spoken or written, can lead to big trouble. Workers under you are practically waiting for you to mess up. If you’re in a senior position, it’s best to keep this in mind.
• If another worker or your boss tells you something, keep it to yourself. If you don’t, you risk getting a reputation for a loose tongue. Your boss won’t trust you, and the workers certainly won’t either. It’s far better to have a reputation of trustworthiness.
• If you’re being told a bit of gossip, don’t give in to the urge to believe it. Rumors have a way of growing each time they’re told. Better yet, tell the gossiper politely that you’re not interested in the gossip they’re about to tell you, and do something more productive with your time, like work. Once you do this a couple of times, your fellow workers will stop trying to pass on the latest gossip to you, leaving you much better off.
• If you’re too shy to tell them you’re not interested in their gossip, try changing the subject or leave the conversation as quickly as possible. Make up an excuse if you have to.

As you can see, there are a myriad of ways you can avoid the gossip game. Like almost everything, you have a choice. You can choose to gossip, or you can choose to avoid the gossip trap.

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