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Unfortunately, wherever a group of people is forced to spend a majority of their waking
hours together, there will exist a certain level of tension. Some companies have methods
of dealing with this, from sensitivity training to recreational trips. The vast majority,
however, leaves office gossip to be dealt with by the individual employees. While it may
be very tempting to get involved in the chatter, its best for your character and job security
that you steer clear as much as possible. While the girl in the office next door or the guy
across the hall may be driving you crazy with music, loud phone conversations, or hundreds of
other things, you must resist the temptation to start telling everyone you know at the
company about it, for several reasons.
First, you know it’s wrong to gossip, so that should be enough motivation to stop. If that
doesn’t work, think about the opinions people are forming of you when you gossip about others.
Often, they’re thinking that you’ve got nothing more important to do than to meddle with other
people’s business. You may even lose the trust of your co-workers, who will fear that you’ll
be blabbing their problems and dilemmas around the office within 5 minutes of hearing them.
Worst of all, your boss will get a negative impression of you, and you may not be too happy
when promotions and raises are handed out. With the downsizing that’s occurring nowadays, you
shouldn’t be surprised to be one of the first out the door. During times of high stress,
supervisors want employees that can be relied upon, and the king or queen of office gossip
isn’t usually high on that list.
If you have gotten yourself into a jam with office gossip, your best bet is to attempt some
form of damage control. Your options include keeping to yourself and stopping talking
altogether—both of which will help you regain the trust of your co-workers. Go to the person
or persons you’ve been talking about and confess—while they may not be instantly forgiving
of you, they will realize that you’re making an effort to change your ways.
If you still find yourself caught up in gossip, you probably should find some new friends
at work—ones who don’t talk about each other behind their backs. The bottom line is that
office gossip is harmful to others and to yourself. Do whatever is necessary to stop it—your
career will thank you.
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