by A. Fader

Created on: March 19, 2009

Having been the subject of office gossip myself, I can attest to the fickle nature of this curious creature. When is gossip accurate? When is it inaccurate? Are there bits of truth within a bigger lie or vice versa? I am of the personal opinion that for the most part office gossip is best left to its own devices and not worth getting caught up in. However, anyone who works in an office knows that regardless of whether you agree with my sentiments or not, you may inevitably find yourself the topic of this type of conversation at one point or another. So how does one deal with such a predicament? Well I suppose the best way to answer that question is to explore the beast itself and see what lies beneath.

The Good

Despite the general feeling that gossip is best avoided at all costs, I would have to disagree; there are certain times when it might not be such a bad idea to hop on board. Perhaps something positive is being discussed about a colleague of yours, such as what a great job he/she did on a recent project. If you agree with this opinion, and believe the individual is deserving of the praise, then why not offer a compliment yourself? The laws of attraction state that whatever you put out into the atmosphere is what you're likely going to receive back. Positive begets positive, so why not spread a little positive praise around the office? Everyone likes to hear nice things said about themselves, so your colleague will most likely be appreciative of the gesture, not to mention when your turn in the rumour mill comes around you might be surprised to find who will return the gesture and/or stick up for you. (And who won't.) After this, I would say the only other reason to pay attention to office gossip is if the topic up for discussion is regarding the structure of the organization you work for. Perhaps there are opportunities for promotion that will be surfacing in the near future, or conversely, the topic may point to signs that it's time to get out of the company and move on. Either way however, be sure to get your facts straight first! You're going to want to avoid making any rash decisions about your position within the company unless you are positive the information you are relying on is accurate. You don't want to end up with egg on your face, or worse.

The Bad

My advice is to avoid gossip when the nature of the subject is debilitating toward others. If you are quick to jump on the bandwagon and feed into the negative gossip about a co-worker, chances are

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