Gossip In Our Gang Of Nine
Question:
I work with a group of 9 other women. We live in a community where everyone knows everyone. Gossip has increased in the work place a lot over the last few months. It has even come to the point that one person will come and ask a question, misinterpret the answer, and then go and tell everyone else, giving them information that was not true. It seams a lot of the employees take it personally when the supervisor comes in to talk to us and let us know it is getting out of hand. The atmosphere is quite uncomfortable. Some are ready to walk off the job. Is there anything we can do as management to help with restoring the harmony among the co-workers in our office?
Signed,
Want Harmony
Answer:
Dear Want Harmony:
From what you say, I assume you are a supervisor or manager of this group of nine. Can you stop gossip? No. Should you stop gossip? No. Can you help gossip be less hurtful? Perhaps. One way is to monitor what is said. Practically every call center includes the warning, “This call may be recorded.” You could mount listening devices and or video cameras to capture all that is said or nonverbally communicated. Then if there were something falsely interpreted and passed on, you as manager would have proof of it and could discipline the gossiper. Also in some places, police officers who stop a motorist, have what they do videotaped. Is surveillance a solution? Probably not.
Your workgroup of nine needs small talk and they enjoy passing on the good and especially the misdeeds of others. It is a way to feel connected. Gossip also passes on information about schedules and who is or is not doing what, when, where and why. It is difficult to separate personal from job-related information. Gossip helps pass the day when work is not all consuming or boring. So possibly, what is needed is some candid talk about talk—not reprimanding talk by a supervisor, but collaborative talk about workplace communication. Not a one-time fix-it session, but an ongoing conversation about what makes for dysfunctional and effective working relationships.
What might an agenda be for such an on-going conversation? Think of it as skull sessions led by a coach before and after a game. Think of it as what went well and what do we need to do to play more effectively together? The first step is to make skull sessions an expected part of the workweek. The primary focus, of course, is to get the job done and done effectively—to satisfy internal and external customers. The secondary focus is harmony of those doing the job. So here is a possible agenda for one session a week, week after week:
· What have we accomplished this past week that deserves applause?
· Have there been problems or things that could have gone better?
· Are there ways we might make anyone’s job easier? Things we might do to cut wasted supplies, time, energy? Ways to innovate?
· What has been our weather this week? Cool, cloudy, stormy, partially sunny, invigorating?
· What in our communicating has been going well?
· What do and don’t rules of communication can make for more harmonious working relationships?
· Are there things we might do to make our workplace more efficient, effective, and pleasant that are worth our time and energy?
· What might we do to be real partners in this organization?
A manager or facilitator can propose such an agenda and invite a workgroup to prioritize and modify it or openly engage a workgroup in creating its own agenda. Obviously, a half to one-hour skull session cannot address all the above items. Even one such item as What do and don’t rules of communication can make for more harmonious working relationships? might require two or three sessions. And follow up sessions to review how well the rules are being followed.
Helping a workgroup learn how to function effectively in such an on-going conversation also requires making and engaging in rules of effective communication—turn-taking, respecting, soliciting one another’s opinions, brainstorming, evaluating rigorously, cheering each other on, etc.
Does this make sense to you? Are you willing to take the time to make your own weather system—a microclimate that is sunny? Will you let me know what you elect to do and how is works for your gang of nine?
Working together with hands, head and hart takes and makes big WEGOS.
William Gorden