How to cope with co-workers’ gossip in the office
Whether it is your first few days in a new workplace environment, or a job you have worked at for years, it can be difficult to cope with your co-workers' gossiping, especially as a new employee. The reason it is difficult is because you want to bond with your fellow employees and work in a harmonious environment with them, but you also know that gossip can be a toxic ingredient to any workplace. Joining in to gossip with your co-workers can, in the long run, lead to damage to both your personal and professional reputation. You do not want that because you have worked too hard for your career. However, you do not want to alienate your fellow co-workers who enjoy gossiping.What do you do?
There are plenty of ways to be polite and work around this situation. It can be a struggle, either to not join in on the gossiping or to not alienate those co-workers who do it, but staying on the straight and narrow path is the right thing to do. In the end, it will be worth it when you are not pulled to anyone's side or shunned because your co-workers think you are king or queen of gossiping.
This first tip may sound obvious, but many people still gossip against their better judgment. While the majority of people want to fit in with their co-workers, no matter how long you have been at that employment, this should not mean you give in to gossip. If your co-workers are gossiping around you, let them do it, but do not engage. If your co-workers try to get you involved with their gossiping, just smile and nod, but do not join in.
An example of this would be if your co-worker John wants to gossip about how he thinks your co-worker Jane got her promotion through sketchy means. You do not know whether this is factual or not, and it does not matter. You do not want it to be known that this is what you think about Jane. You do not want to add to the gossip about Jane because it can come back to haunt you if Jane becomes your supervisor or decides to make the gossipers' lives miserable in return.
So what do you do with John? Change the subject. Either talk about something else regarding work, or talk about something non-work related like sports or your family or something interesting you saw on the internet. When in doubt, there are always funny cat memes you can show. Just make sure you do this subtly so John is not aware that you are purposely trying to change the subject away from Jane and her promotion.
It is your lunch time and your break room is filled with people who are gossiping about your other co-workers. Staying in the break room will only mean that sooner or later, someone in the group will try to bring you in and ask you about your opinion regarding the gossip. Do not do it. Grab your lunch, heat it up if you need to, and find somewhere else to eat. If you are not physically there, you do not have to cope with your co-workers gossiping.
Alternatively, you can stay in the break room, but use ways in order to ignore your gossiping co-workers. Bring a book or an ereader so you can focus on that instead of your co-workers. You can also bring headphones with some sort of device to listen to music or podcasts on. If you look like you want to be left alone, chances are that your gossiping co-workers will leave you alone.
If you find that the gossiping has turned towards you and you feel that it may be ruining your good reputation in the workplace, you can turn to your supervisor or manager in order to try and stop the rumors. Just because you are not willing to engage with the gossip does not mean you should let it affect your professional life. Your supervisor or manager can talk to your co-workers so they can adjust their behaviors or they can set up a meeting with the entire staff to talk about gossip and harassment in the workplace.
Gossip in the workplace can be a toxic ingredient to any work environment and it can be hard to stay away from it. But while it may be hard, there are ways to cope with your gossiping co-workers and to keep yourself out of their gossip.
