Avoiding entanglements in the office grapevine

Highlights from the Chronicle Herald article:

Teenagers can really be rude to other teenagers who are different, one way is by creating and spreading rumours. However, adults are not any different; rumours are also a part of the workplace. That is why it is important for managers to keep up with workplace gossip and not ignore it. Rumours can have either a positive or negative impact on a culture.

"The grapevine is informal and accessible to all employees who are listening. The information on it often includes universal themes (e.g., the managers here are terrible), rumours (Did you hear what John did?), and stories that may or may not be true about why something happened."

"The grapevine is fuelled by facts and assumptions. One important fact all managers must remember is that the grapevine is efficient and fast at distributing information throughout an organization -- often faster and listened to with more interest and attention than official, formal communications."

Managers should pay attention to negative gossip because it is never harmless, may violate an individual’s confidentiality, and has no benefit to the organization or people in it. Negative gossip can also make people become less trusting and cause anxiety. If left alone, it can get out of control.

A manager can control untrue gossip by adding facts to the grapevine.

"Managers need to keep in mind that while gossip is just talk, it can be a form of bullying and can damage some employees’ self-esteem, morale and loyalty. "

Grapevine test: To see whether the current gossip in your workplace has more negative or positive information, evaluate your workplace for five workdays -- without judging or correcting -- the percentage of information that’s positive and negative.

A general rule of thumb is 70% to 90% of conversations in organizations are negative. In such cultures there’s more complaining, frustration, stress and disengagement than in those where this same percentage of conversation is positive.

There is a relationship between workplace gossip and the attitudes of employees.

What managers can do to facilitate a positive grapevine:

• Managers need to be role models. Talking negatively about employees in front of other employees is not acceptable. A manager should be objective and not judge people.
• Track the grapevine by recording its common themes and messages. This will provide a frame of reference to confront gossip when appropriate.
• Take a stand on gossip, promote the negatives about gossip and how it is destructive to the workplace climate, employees’ health, and productivity. Encourage employees to pay attention to how much negative gossip they are getting caught up in and to disengage from it.
• Teach how gossip works. For example, human behaviour research suggests that what people complain most often about is another person’s greatest weakness.
• State the expectation: Inform employees that engaging in negative gossip is contradictory of the organization’s values. Begin the process of using progressive discipline with serious offenders; starting with a verbal warning and then, if need be, a written warning.
• When appropriate, discuss the grapevine in staff meetings and provide employees ways they can deal with their concerns other than through negative gossip. Teach that it’s important to address concerns directly with the people they have a problem with, or bring their concerns to management, so a peaceful resolution can be found.
• Share positive gossip. Celebrate and talk about the good. Employees get more acknowledgment and recognition when good news is shared.

Some people may think that engaging in gossip is fun and that it will elevate their social status in the workplace. People may think that when they talk about gossip they portray themselves as interesting and entertaining. All these assumptions are untrue.

In the long run fellow employees will start to think that you are a loose cannon and cannot be trusted because of your gossiping. Negative gossip will only damage your relationships with co-workers and prevent you from creating new relationships.

Read more here

Posted by: suhujitha on 2009-06-10 10:53:10

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