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Office gossip usually starts casually enough however it can often result in workplace tensions, animosity or all out chaos in the form of resignations and work suffering due to inter personal strife. A recent study conducted by Harris Interactive interviewed over two thousand employees and found that sixty percent cited gossip as their biggest annoyance at work. The bottom line is that office gossip is bad for morale and for business with the potential to ruin both careers and companies.

WHAT IS GOSSIP?

What makes a piece of information gossip as opposed to a statement of fact is if the information presented is unnecessarily detailed or speculative.

For example, a statement of fact might be "Miss. Smith called to say she won't be here today."

An unnecessarily detailed account of this information might be "Miss. Smith called to say she won't be here today, she sounded upset on the phone and I could hear someone else there in the background."

A speculative account might be "Miss. Smith called to say that she won't be here today, I think she probably had a row with her boyfriend again and she's too upset to come in."

AVOID BECOMING A TARGET OF GOSSIP

The best route to avoid becoming a target of office gossip is a) not to gossip yourself b) to oppose gossip when you hear it c) to report the gossip to a higher up or take action to counter it if you feel that it is having a negative impact.

If you have a problem with a colleague or their actions then approach them directly and broach the issue in a calm and methodical way. If you want to vent about frustrations at work then choose non work friends to talk to.

At all times the biggest defense and weapon you have against gossip is your own professionalism. The better you uphold your professional image the less likely people will be to listen to any rumors about you and support you when you make a stand against gossip.

AVOID FUELLING GOSSIP

If you are asked a question concerning another person you have the choice to present essential facts, essential and non essential facts or facts mixed with speculation. The professional route is to present only the essential facts.

It's also important to consider if the person asking you the question has any right to know the information they are trying to get. If someone who does not need to know asks you a question then try and show the person pushing for gossip where they are going wrong by answers like

"I'm sure you can ask Miss. Smith when she comes back to work."

Of course the person gossiping

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