A few years ago I had the opportunity to interview all of the members of a professional department and recruiting department. The team was struggling, with some members just not working well with others. I still recall one member of the team arriving for the interview and immediately blurting out, “If I receive one more e-mail marked ‘Gossip,’ I think I’ll quit.”

 

Despite many managers’ efforts to create no-gossip zones, employees tend to talk about each other and their workplace. According to sociologists from Indiana University and Albright College, most office gossip is negative, though insults tend to be subtle.

 

If you find yourself in the middle of a conversation in which one employee begins to speak less than favorably about another, you may be able to pre-empt the attack simply by saying something positive about that person who is the focus of the gossip. If the gossip continues, you may wish to ask the speaker, “What causes you to say that?” And perhaps the easiest way to end gossip is to simply say, “Maybe we should just stay focused on our work.”