Did you ever play whisper down the lane? What starts as one statement quickly becomes misconstrued as the statement is whispered to another, then another- by the end its a completely different statement. We hear something and then interpret it into something else. Rumors can get started and progress the same way as the game- the end result can be both misleading and destructive.

Rumors are contagious. They create excitement and wonder and how a person is perceived. In the workplace, people are watched and then an opinion might be formed, or something is overheard and interpreted incorrectly, causing misinformation to spread. A rumor is simply a concept that someone hears about someone else.

Depending on who is spreading the rumor, its difficult to stop. If it is a person who's highly respected, people will believe it. Rumors aren't a problem if people keep them to themselves, but ultimately people enjoy the gossip and, chances are, if one employee thinks they know something, they will be more than happy to share that knowledge with anyone else who is inclined to listen.

It is extremely difficult to prevent a rumor, because even if they aren't true, there is no way to stop someone from forming an opinion. If you are friends with someone of the opposite sex, you are automatically sleeping with them. If you are in the boss's office with the door shut, you are getting a warning. Such is the perception of others- based on past experiences or their own opinions. They perceive the immediate situation, form an opinion, then quickly go tell their fellow worker(s). Hence, a rumor has begun.

Unless the person who the rumor is about knows about the rumor, or someone close to them hears and confirms it not to be the truth, stopping a rumor is usually done with a substitution of a new, improved and more exciting rumor. Often, the victim does not hear about the rumor until its old hat- i.e. "there was a rumor going around about you several weeks ago"- now its too late- the rumor has made its way around the office.

I believe that the only sure-fire method to end workplace rumors is to discourage all employees from gossiping. This is quite difficult since everyone loves to hear a good story about someone they know- the juicier the better. Unless the rumor is told to someone who can stop this "whisper down the lane" trend, it continues to spread.

The ideal situation would be for people not to believe, or share, everything they are told about someone in the workplace. Even better would be if the person who hears a rumor, goes directly to the rumor's source(s) and let's them know what is being said about them. It would probably be impossible to find out who the original rumor starter was, but at least it would be stopped.

A good rule of thumb- if you hear something about someone else at work, don't believe it. If you see something at work, don't form an opinion and tell someone else. If everyone adheres to these rules the rumors would quickly cease to exist.

Learn more about this author, Elyse Williams.
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