Within weeks of starting a new job downtown, Annie Monoscalco felt like she was in high school again when she heard people in the office talking behind her back.
She had innocently befriended a male co-worker, she said, but what Monoscalco saw as casual conversation spread through the office grapevine as heavy flirting and the start of a romance–all within two weeks of her June 1 arrival at the insurance brokerage where she works.
“I don’t acknowledge it,” the 24-year-old from Morton Grove said. “I’ll let it roll off my back, be nice to everyone. But it’s hard, especially because it’s not true.”
Monoscalco had become the victim of office gossip.
Chitchat in lunchrooms, on smoke breaks or across cubicles can range from rumors about the secretary who’s sleeping with the boss to speculation that the guy two desks down might be getting fired. It can ruin reputations, spread false information and leak bad news that isn’t supposed to go public.
But while gossip’s negative attributes are well known, some research shows there are good things about gabbing. A new survey from California-based specialized staffing company OfficeTeam said 40 percent of workers think office gossip encourages staff bonding and can help increase productivity on the job. While just 21 percent of managers agree, other experts say talking about your co-workers–or, more importantly, to your co-workers–may have hidden benefits for employees and the company.
Gossip is not always about damaging information. Jack Levin, who studies gossip at Boston’s Northeastern University, said people gab about promotions, pregnancies and other positive topics just as much as they talk about the ways co-workers have erred. While this kind of chatter is rarely labeled as gossip, Levin said it fits the profile.
“Individuals in everyday life say very nice things about each other,” Levin said. “We don’t typically see that as gossip, but it is.”
The upside of gossip, Levin said, is that it creates alliances that make co-workers closer and can provide key information for getting ahead. He said new employees know they’ve been accepted into the office culture when they are trusted with juicy information.
University of Chicago professor Ron Burt, who has studied the effects of office gossip, said gossip also encourages slackers to pick up the pace. If rumors begin to spread about one person’s lack of dedication or poor production, Burt said, that individual may put in extra hours just to prove the gossips wrong.
“Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the list,” Burt said. “If that means staying late, coming in on the weekends, working extra so your reputation reflects that, it’s what you do to fit into the social structure.”
The obvious risk is that gossip–whether true or untrue–can release damaging information. Burt said that even if it is good for the gossips, it is often destructive for its targets.
Katie Gilfillan, a 30-year-old from Forest Park, said she thinks gossip hurts offices more than it helps. While brief chitchat about celebrity news or TV shows can help workers relax, she said, gabbing about co-workers is dangerous.
“If I have frustrations at work, I try to take it home, talk to my husband about it,” said Gilfillan, who works at a downtown Chicago insurance company. “You put yourself in a bad position if you vent at work because you don’t know who’s on your side.”
It is important to note, Burt said, that gossip rarely benefits the person whose reputation is at stake and becomes a problem when an us-versus-them mentality develops. For the overall company to benefit, gossip must be contained enough that isolated mistakes at work don’t ruin workers’ reputations.
“If people misstep and make an error, negative gossip about their reputations can kick in. You’ll never escape that,” Burt said. “Once you become the vehicle for relationships, for your co-workers bonding, you are out of the circle, and you’ll never get back in.”
Mike Furr, a 28-year-old Lincoln Park resident, said he thinks people gossip to learn more about the people they work with–but that what they learn is often false or frivolous.
When people in the large commercial real estate company where Furr works chat about their co-workers, it’s usually about people they don’t know personally or who work in other departments.
“You have to get information some way, and you get that information through gossip,” Furr said. “But gossip gives people the wrong ideas.”
Furr said that if managers establish good communication in the company and set an example by not gabbing themselves, gossip is less likely to overtake the office.
“I think it’s not productive,” Furr said. “If you’re gossiping, you’re not doing work, and if you get labeled as someone who spreads gossip, people will be wary of what they tell you because they know you’ll talk.”
Levin said gossip is good or bad depending on what it is about, who is spreading it and whether or not it’s true. If it is not vengeful, he said, it is less likely to cause harm.
“A little dirt doesn’t hurt your reputation at the office. We like people to be imperfect; it makes them more human,” Levin said. “But when dirt becomes a mudslide and you are caught in a major violation, that’s when things turn sour.”
CHITCHAT ATTACK
There are simple things that can make a big difference when it seems like office chitchat is getting out of control:
– Change the topic when gossip starts, or simply let co-workers know if a conversation makes you uncomfortable, said OfficeTeam Regional Vice President Carlene Cline.
– If bad-mouthing continues, excuse yourself from the conversation by saying you need to get back to work. It’s an easy out, Cline said.
– Should the situation continue, don’t be afraid to approach a manager about it. Cline said a supervisor may be better equipped to handle the problem anyway, or can get in touch with Human Resources.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
While doses of gossip can be good for the office environment, OfficeTeam Regional Vice President Carlene Cline warns it is important to keep the chitchat in check. She offers bosses advice for containing gossip and promoting other forms of staff bonding:
– Keep an open door. Cline recommends scheduling at least an hour per week of drop-in time when workers know you’ll be available for casual conversations and to answer questions.
– Be upfront about changes in the company. A big source of negative gossip is rumors about officewide changes, Cline said. She recommends holding all-staff meetings to make big announcements and making sure all employees feel like they’re in the loop about work news.
– Offer year-round feedback, rather than relying on annual reviews to let employees know how they’re performing. Cline said keeping employees up-to-date on what they’re doing right and what could be better helps squelch fears about firing.
– Establish a safe-to-fail environment in which workers know small mistakes are not grounds for termination. This will encourage employees to approach you directly when things go wrong, Cline said.
– Provide alternative ways for staffers to get to know one another. Cline said mentoring and cross-training programs let people from different departments get to know one another and encourage productive interaction.
– Be hands-on with your staff. The most effective bosses “roll up their sleeves and get involved with their workers,” so people trust them and feel comfortable approaching them, Cline said.
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clinehan@tribune.com
