8 Steps to Stop Gossip at Work as a Manager
How to Stop Gossip at Work as a Manager
1. Lead by example
Be the change that you want to see.
Unsurprisingly, employees emulate their managers. Junior workers want to get ahead, so they observe their supervisors to understand what it will take. This means that as a manager, you play a key role in shaping workplace culture. Your actions and words have weight.
If you gossip, then employees will think that it is okay for them to gossip too. The office can quickly become a toxic rumor mill if you’re not careful.
As a manager, you need to be mindful of the way you carry yourself. Get rid of bad habits and adopt better ones. Hire an assistant if you need help doing so.
2. Use reason
Employees are more likely to take specific actions if they understand why taking those actions is necessary. Therefore, let them know why you are against gossiping. Elaborate on the effects of gossiping at work.
Gossiping at work is a terrible idea because it destroys trust among colleagues. People do not like being the subject of unpleasant conversations, especially if they are not there to defend themselves.
Eventually, employees will start resenting each other. Team dynamics will fall apart as productivity declines. Ultimately, all of this means that customers will not receive the best service possible. The entire business might fail as customers stop showing up. Then, employees get laid off.
Make sure employees understand this worst-case scenario if they decide to gossip. Gossiping is not cute. It is dangerous.
3. Hire the right people
Hiring the right people is one of the best ways to prevent gossip. New hires should not only be technically competent but also emotionally intelligent. In other words, they need to be good human beings.
Considerate people understand the negative ramifications of gossip. It’s common sense. Gossiping goes hand in hand with bullying and backstabbing. Most people do not want to be victims of such things.
To increase your chances of hiring good people, try tapping into your personal and professional networks. Use recommendations, especially from people you trust.
You can also subject new hires to a trial period. Some job candidates may be able to fake their personality and/or qualifications during the interview process, but the truth will eventually come out. Just give them time. This is what a trial period is for.
4. Encourage open communication
If you don’t want workers to talk about others behind their backs, then you must cultivate a culture where everyone is open about their feelings and concerns. Tell workers to speak up immediately when there is something worrisome on their minds.
No one should be afraid of having difficult conversations. Enduring tough moments is often necessary for a company to become successful.
Give workers ample avenues to express themselves. Besides in-person conversations, workers should be able to communicate via group chats, email chains, suggestion boxes, and surveys. Make it easy for employees to voice their opinions. The amount of gossip should go down if there is transparency at work.
5. Call out bad actors
Do all of your employees gossip? I doubt it. Chances are, there are one or two employees who make everyone else’s lives more difficult. They enjoy “spilling the tea.” It’s fun for them.
Tell these employees to cut it out. At work, gossiping about others belongs in the same bucket as talking about politics. It is not an appropriate subject for conversations. Stick to safe topics, such as upcoming deadlines, hobbies, and weekend plans.
If the usual gossiping suspects do not stop, then maybe they are no longer a good fit for the company. Maybe it is time to terminate their employment since they are disturbing other employees.
6. Do team-building activities
To stop gossip at work, we can analyze close personal relationships.
Would you bad-mouth someone you love? Probably not. You want people that you care about to be happy. Why would you do anything that gets in the way of that?
How can we create this same dynamic at work? It is still possible, although trickier.
You must dedicate some time to team building. Give employees ample opportunities to get to know each other. For example, you can adopt a “work hard, play hard” mentality.
After surpassing quarterly sales quotas, everyone can go out for celebratory drinks. You can all enjoy a nice dinner, go bowling, and do other fun activities.
Naturally, people will socialize at these events. Hopefully, genuine friendships form. This should help decrease the amount of gossip and tension at work.
7. Be a transparent manager
There might be gossip at work because of managerial decisions. For example, maybe the management team is being too secretive. People will start speculating if communication does not easily flow from the top of the corporate hierarchy to everywhere else within the organization.
People want to know what is going on. They are curious. As people start gossiping, only some of the things that they say will be true.
To combat inaccurate information, managers should aim to be as transparent as possible. Let lower-level employees know about new policies as early as possible. Better yet, allow them to get involved during the brainstorming stage. Their unique perspectives as frontline workers will help managers confirm whether an idea is valuable or ridiculous.
Overall, if managers are transparent, then they will squash gossip and rumors. There will be nothing to speculate about since everything is out in the open.
8. Reward good behavior
As a manager, you can use positive reinforcement to stop gossip at work. Instead of punishing employees who gossip, you can reward those employees who either stop or do not participate in the first place.
You can let these workers get first dips on raises, bonuses, and promotions. You can also give them unique opportunities, such as being able to go on a business trip with the management team.
If the other employees see this positive reinforcement in action, then they will voluntarily stop gossiping. They want to be given similar perks and opportunities.