And then she said..
Office gossip is everywhere. And you just want to avoid the workplace gossip,
plus the drama that goes with it.
If you want to know how to deal with workplace gossip,
stay tuned for seven strategies to deal with office gossip.
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Is it just me or do few things make you feel less
like an adult than having to deal with office gossip?
Before I jump into how to handle office gossip,
there's one thing I wanted to be clear on first,
and that is the difference between good gossip and bad gossip at work.
The good gossip is about the company and it keeps you in the know on.
It's part of being effective at politics at work.
This video though is about the bad office gossip.
This is toxic workplace gossip.
You need to stay away from as though it was radioactive waste - because it is.
If you're ready to learn how to deal with office gossip,
click that like button and let's get right into it.
Tip one is to stay out of it. You've probably heard me say this one before,
but if you want to stay out of the office gossip,
then don't be part of the office gossip.
If you do not want people talking about you,
you cannot talk about other people.
And you're probably not someone who's participating in it,
but it happens around you. You just so happened to be sitting in the break room,
or in your office, minding your own business when all of your coworkers
around you start talking about someone else.
Stay silent.
Someone asks you your opinion. You don't have one.
Even if your company does not formally have a no office gossip policy,
you personally should,
because this type of gossip has absolutely nothing to do with work.
And not only is it going to help you avoid the time-waster that it really is,
it's going to save you a whole world of headaches and possible drama down the
road.
My second tip to dealing with office politics is is maintaining boundaries.
At work. I spoke about this in another video,
which I'll link in the description below,
but maintaining appropriate work-life boundaries
is going to help you stay out of the workplace. Gossip,
dealing with office gossip.
It's a million times more difficult when you were actually the subject of it.
If you're going through any sort of personal turmoil,
the last thing that you need is your coworkers talking about it,
speculating about it.
And judging you about it.
And I'm not saying to not talk about yourself at all,
because building a personal connection with your coworkers is important,
but knowing the line between friends and colleagues is essential
to staying out of any office drama at the simplest level.
If you don't want your annoying colleague Barb chatting with Rachel about your
personal life, don't tell Barb or Rachel about it.
People cannot talk about what they don't know.
Tip three is to flip the gossip and say something good.
Now this is really pertaining to when the office gossip is about
someone else and you're overhearing,
I'm maybe someone's trying to drag you into the conversation.
Have you ever been in that awkward position?
Let me know in the comments down below.
If your colleagues are in a hardcore office gossip session about someone,
sometimes the easiest way to stop it in its tracks is to say
something good about the person they are gossiping about.
For example, let's say that Barb is talking about how Rachel
only got the promotion because she was flirting with her boss,
but you know that Rachel was promoted because she's awesome. Say it.
Workplace gossip festers when it goes unchallenged.
When you say something good to counter it,
not only are you being a good ally and a good friend to your coworker,
it is going to stop office gossip fast.
Someone drawing from that in dealing with office gossip is
tip four and that is to make yourself gossip teflon.
The absolute best way you could do this is by being positive at work.
Be the person that no one wants to say anything bad about or to.
If you haven't watched my video about how to be positive at work,
I definitely recommend that you check it out after this one.
When you're positive and you brighten the day of others,
they're going to have a positive impression of you and I mean,
whoever says anything bad about someone who lifts them up,
not only does this make people less likely to say anything bad about you,
it also makes them more likely to say something counter.
If the office gossip is saying something about you.
Another huge advantage of this tip is when people know that
you're a positive person and you're not willing to sit in their horrible misery
with them.
They're not even going to come to you with a workplace gossip about other
people. They're going to know that that's not welcome here. Basically,
this tip is triple protection and if you only do one thing,
I highly recommend that you focus on this one.
Tip five is to spot the gossiper and avoid them like the plague.
This one cannot be understated, especially if you're in a new job,
or you've recently moved to a new location or to a new team.
Office Gossips are everywhere.
Your job is to spot them and to manage your amount of interactions with them.
The more that you avoid them in nonessential circumstances the better off you
are.
Knowing who the office gossip is is also going to allow you to know
who you need to exercise extra caution around.
Sometimes spotting them is really easy. For example, one company I worked with,
I was on my very first day and the queen of office gossip of that company
actually followed me out on my first day to "warn" me
about who I should speak to and not speak to. It was absolutely ridiculous,
and completely transparent to who she was. Strangely,
she didn't name herself in that list - and she really should have because.
Have you ever met one of those?
If you have tap that like button to show other people that if they have that
they're not alone.
Not all office gossips came on strongly as the one that I just told you about.
Pay attention for the people who ask overly personal questions,
who probe matters, either professional or personal,
that really don't have anything to do with them,
or who began casually solicit your opinion of colleagues.
Those are the people that are going to ramp it up over time
if you play their game and drag you into the office gossip
that you so desperately want to avoid.
My sixth tip is to confront it in a way that doesn't inspire
the llama dramas sitting around you. This one does take a bit of caution.
It can actually make you the topic of office gossip on subject to workplace
bullying. For some reason the bullies at work always seem to go hand in
hand with the office gossip and no matter what,
what you want to avoid is creating unnecessary attentions
that are going to have an adverse effect on your career advancement
opportunities.
But when it is appropriate and you feel like it's not going to create any
overwhelming conflict,
then you can and should confront office gossip because the truth is sometimes
people don't realize that they are participating in office gossip.
They think they're just making conversation,
saying something non-confrontational,
like I don't feel comfortable talking about Rachel's personal life.
When Barb begins probing can actually bring Barb's attention to the fact
that she is engaging in workplace gossip. And if that wasn't her intention,
she's going to drop it. However, if the office gossip is really bad,
you're not going to be able to stop it on your own.
And if it's particularly bad, that can be a sign of a toxic workplace.
If it is bigger than what you can deal with on your own,
do check to see if there is a no gossip policy,
and get the advice and guidance from someone that you trust at work such as your
manager. But when you do that, be really careful,
because you also don't want to be the tattletale who's causing problems.
And that brings us to tip seven,
which is to rise above it and take advantage.
When you're not being distracted by the office drama,
you're going to be better positioned to focus on creating an impact
that actually makes a positive impact on your career.
By avoiding the unproductive office gossip,
you are going to be able to focus on creating your
uningnorable impact that help you stand out for all of the right reasons.
Plus, it's going to open up the space for you to focus on navigating the company
politics. If you are lost when it comes to office politics,
I highly recommend that you check out this video right here. Next,
I'll see you over there, but before you jump, do remember to subscribe.
I'll see you in the next video. Bye for now. [Bloopers]