Advertisement
U.S. Markets closed
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow 30

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Russell 2000

    2,124.55
    +10.20 (+0.48%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Silver

    25.10
    +0.18 (+0.74%)
     
  • EUR/USD

    1.0797
    +0.0003 (+0.0324%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • Vix

    13.01
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2625
    +0.0002 (+0.0189%)
     
  • USD/JPY

    151.3030
    -0.0690 (-0.0456%)
     
  • BTC-USD

    69,945.59
    -821.33 (-1.16%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Nikkei 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     

Why you should start 'gossiping' at the office

Why you should start 'gossiping' at the office

From an early age, we’re taught by finger-wagging grown-ups that it’s immoral -- cruel even -- to whisper behind others’ backs and feed the rumor mill.  But once you’ve left the playground and entered the modern day workplace, the positive power of gossip can often be woefully underestimated.  

Humans have been gossiping since our caveman days, back when there was no Snapchatting or texting and gabbing around the watering hole was the best way to promote social order and community. If you think about it, gossip was almost as important to our evolution and survival as it was for us to learn how to make fire and handle a spear. If you were out of the loop, it might have meant missing out on news about the best hunting grounds, finding a good partner to mate with, or having pals around to help defend you against predators

In the workplace, you won’t necessarily wind up on the dinner menu if you ignore your coworkers at the office happy hour, but it could mean missing out on the kind of key information that could actually help you move up in your career.

“It’s essential to know what’s going on,” says Lynne Eisaguirre, an employment law expert and workplace consultant.

The key, Eisaguirre says, is avoiding petty gossip, like “Did you hear the IT guy dumped his girlfriend?” and instead focus on the kind of information gathering that can help you — “I hear they’re looking for someone to replace so-and-so in your department” or “Here’s how to work the printer.”

The good news is that that this doesn’t mean you have to spend 20 minutes chatting up every person at your company holiday party this month. Be strategic. Find the person in your group who seems to always know what’s going on (every group has one, Eisaguirre says) and befriend them early on. Start small (“Do you know where they keep the coffee?”) and then set up a casual coffee or lunch date once every few weeks or so to maintain that relationship. The last thing you want is to come across as too opportunistic. It’s an easy way to turn people off.

“That could be hard for people who are perhaps introverted and don’t have those skills,” Eisaguirre acknowledges. “But it’s just like learning a new computer program. Treat it like a skill you have to learn.”

Gossip and ostracism

Nobody likes office politics and, let’s face it, socializing after a long day of work can be draining. You may even think that you’re being professional and diplomatic by keeping your head down and focusing solely on your work. What you may not realize is your coworkers may interpret your behavior in a negative way and punish you by ostracizing you from their miniature “community.”

A study  published early this year by Stanford University researchers found that groups tend to reject individuals who only care about their own self interests.  

“We found that if you knew you were about to interact with someone who had a certain reputation [for being a loner] based on what you’d heard, you’d be more likely to ostracize them,” says Matthew Feinberg, a Stanford University researcher and professor of organizational behavior.

Their findings are supported by other research as well. In October, a pair of University of Amsterdam researchers published a study that found that the threat of gossip could dissuade selfish behavior in groups. A group of people were told they had been selected to distribute 100 lottery tickets among themselves and to their group as a whole. People who thought their decisions were private were more likely to act selfishly (keeping a bigger share of the tickets for themselves) than when they were told their choices would be made public to the group.

“The threat of gossip can increase fairness and hold selfishness in check,” the authors write.

Beware the pitfalls

There’s no denying the power of information-gathering at work, but there are potential pitfalls you should be aware of before engaging in gossip.

You especially don’t want to get caught spilling the beans about internal goings-on that violate any company privacy policies. Negative news like company downsizing or colleagues who are facing termination are good examples of the kind of gossip that warrants a fact check. Misinformation can run rampant at large companies where news is constantly being passed from one level of management to the next. Like a game of telephone, some of that information can be heavily distorted by the time it gets to you.

And technology has made the office rumor mill even more treacherous to navigate. Earlier this week, all hell broke loose at Sony when a team of anonymous hackers published a bundle of internal emails written by the company’s executives, including rants about a number of celebrities.

Even if you think you’re sending a harmless note to your coworker about another colleague or your manager or even the company itself, it’s not a good idea to do so in writing -- online or off.

Eisaguirre has one piece of advice for her clients:  “I always tell people that the ‘e’ in email stands for ‘evidence’.”

More from Mandi:

5 benefits you can ask for if you don't get a raise

How I get the best deals online no matter what day it is

Awesome new student debt calculator is what every college kid needs

Advertisement