Gossip at work will always be there. The million-dollar question is whether you should avoid gossip at work or indulge in it. Gossip within reasonable limits may be fine for a change but constantly indulging in gossip at work can harm you and others. There are some crucial reasons why you should avoid gossip at work. Let’s look at these more closely.
Reasons why you should avoid gossip at work
Hampers productivity
As per research, we spend about 52 minutes every day gossiping with our friends, family, or co-workers. While all may not be negative, it is counter-productive, as the same time can be utilized at work to complete our tasks. Not just that, at times we are stuck in the gossip even after having done it. Our minds keep thinking about the subject or the person about whom we gossiped. It leads to further loss of productivity as we take more time to come back to the task at hand.
Decreases focus
Another by-product of gossip at work is a loss of focus and determination. As mentioned above, sometimes we are still stuck in the gossip subject even if we are not doing it. Since our mind is still stuck, our focus is on gossip and not the task. Moreover, in most cases, gossip is definitely more entertaining than work. This leads to distractions and of course loss of focus.
Breeds negativity
Whether you are gossiping or you are being gossiped about, toxicity and negativity impact both parties. At times, it impacts everyone in the team or the organization when it is rampant across the company or a team. Constant or regular gossip fills our minds with toxic thoughts about people, policies, teams, and the organization as a whole.
Lowers morale
Excessive gossiping creates an unfriendly environment that can become unbearable at times. I remember once a colleague of mine got so frustrated with the office gossip about him that he decided to take a transfer to another location. It impacted his morale so much that his sales figures were at zero for two quarters. This is in the case of a star performer who was the best salesperson the previous year. When someone constantly hears gossip about themselves, it affects their morale, which in turn leads to higher turnover rates and potential loss of competitive advantage for the organization.
Creates trust deficit
When we learn about gossip at work about ourselves or when others learn about what we gossip about them, it only leads to the erosion of trust. It even affects our interpersonal relations. As a whole the team starts distrusting more. All of these put together ultimately affect the health dynamics and performance of a team.
Hinders teamwork
We don’t work in silos. We are always a part of a team either at the function level or the company level. In a team, if you are the victim of gossip, you will tend to avoid people who do it or your focus will be more on the disruptive actions of your co-workers than working together. This will lead to more toxicity and less collaboration thereby adversely affecting the team’s performance.
Legal or disciplinary implications
In the form of rumors or plain gossip, one might end up sharing information with people who shouldn’t be with them. As part of gossip, you could share sensitive information about people, products, policies, pricing, launches, etc. This information could be grabbed by people not belong to the team or the organization. In either case, it could potentially be a time bomb for the organization. In such situations, you could face legal or disciplinary actions within the company
No one is spared
As they say, what goes around, comes around. When we gossip about someone, others also gossip about us. This leads to a vicious circle of negativity and toxic feelings. One should avoid gossip at work because you too could be the subject of someone else’s gossip. In fact, most gossip is about workers who are found to be gossiping the most.
While it is up to individual discretion and wisdom, what is always advisable is to avoid gossip at work. However, we leave it to you to decide how much gossip at work is too much for you.