I was a bit surprised to learn that the most viewed video on CuriosityBased’s YouTube channel is: “Proven strategies to stop gossip at work.”
Then, I realized it made sense because gossip has been coming up a lot in our team building work with organizations. I used to focus on how to stop it. But in recent client engagements, I’ve realized the need to first get curious about what causes gossip and what clues it can tell us about other challenges in that workplace.
If you see gossip happening, ask:
- Is gossip a coping mechanism for frustrations around unresolved issues? Maybe people have tried using the formal feedback channels to express their concerns, and nothing has been addressed.
- Is there a lack of clarity that leads people to gossip with each other to try to understand why things are the way they are? Maybe people lack information they feel is necessary to function in their jobs, so they come up with their own explanations.
- Are there structural issues that cause people to gossip? Sometimes an organization’s own policy creates conditions where gossip thrives.
- Are some leaders modeling gossip themselves? Sometimes people think it’s acceptable to gossip because they see examples of it happening with leadership.
In other words, is your organization inadvertently encouraging gossip? Gossip is usually a symptom. Instead of just blaming gossip on a few individuals’ inappropriate and unprofessional behavior, ask yourself these questions to help diagnose the root cause of the gossip.
Have you ever experienced gossip in your workplace? I’d love to hear what you think caused it.
Best,
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