How to Free Your Office from Unwanted Gossip

Today’s issue is:

How to Free Your Office from Unwanted Gossip

How do we tell a co-worker that gossiping is unprofessional without her getting defensive?

We have overheard her gossip (unkind words and negative comments) about anyone and almost everyone who leaves after she has worked on them. She almost always has something negative to say about others. I personally feel that if she says this about her clients, then she is saying the same thing about me when I leave. It is impossible to communicate with this person.

Any advice as to how to approach her to get “through” to her would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, good job on trying to be positive and helpful and not trying to offend your co-worker!

Here are some ideas for you to ponder and hopefully you will figure out what method would work best for your situation:

1) Stand your ground: Decide you will not participate in gossip. Be courteous and polite, but be firm. When just one person takes a stand, others may too.

2) Change the subject: In a casual way, tell an unrelated, humorous story when harmful gossip comes up. Something like this should shift the conversation to a more neutral subject.

3) Ignore the mean comments: If you don't respond, the gossiping worker will eventually realize that no one is listening and move on to more constructive talk.

4) Lead by example: Be positive and helpful without being over-cheerful or insincere. This shift in tone may cause other co-workers to follow suit and keep the topics beneficial.

5) Suggest a solution: Ask her if she has talked to that person about what she finds negative. This puts a proactive approach to the gossip and will hopefully help her see that she has control over what bothers her.

Tailor these suggestions to your situation and you’ll be sure to see an improvement in no time! Good luck and stay positive!

P.S. If you don’t feel comfortable with any of the above, feel free to send an anonymous message!