The rumor mill at work can hurt everyone involved

The economic downturn with its accompanying layoffs, mergers and closures has made rumors and gossip in the workplace as contagious as the flu. An overactive rumor mill can take over a company and shift its employees’ energies from positive productivity to negative in fighting. Following are some effective techniques to combat unhealthy gossip, scuttlebutt and hearsay.

You may be forced to spend your week sharing an office space with a gossip, the co-worker who hangs over the edge of your cubicle partition letting you in on the latest version of a workplace drama. Sure, it’s distracting and annoying, but sometimes – admit it – office gossip can be fascinating as well. You find yourself sucked in to the latest report on who was out with whom on Saturday night, who is on the verge of getting fired, who is three months behind in their rent and facing eviction, who began taking antidepressants, or exactly what that closed-door session this morning between your boss and the company’s CEO was all about.

Although none of us is perfect, try to lead by example. When you find yourself tempted to spread a little unkind tidbit try this technique: Imagine that the people you are talking about are standing right beside you or that what you are saying will get back to them.

Accentuate the positive

One study found that when someone makes a negative remark about a co-worker who isn’t there, the conversation will turn more negative not only toward the original target, but will evolve into a negative discussion about other co-workers as well. However, if someone in the group quickly defends the target of the nasty comment, it stops the attacking behavior because, according to the research, people don’t want to appear petty and mean in comparison to someone who is being magnanimous.

As counterintuitive as it seems, sometimes probing a source for more detail can actually work to stop the gossip. For example, if the gossip says, “Kathy was late three times last week. I’m sure that she’s drinking again.” You could respond with, “Really? How do you know that? Did you see her?” If the gossip counters with, “Well, no. I heard it from Mike,” you can shut down the negative talk with, “You know, it sounds like a rumor to me. I’m not sure that we should be spreading rumors that could harm someone’s career or reputation.”

The Boomerang Effect

Remember the old schoolyard taunt, “I am rubber, you are glue. Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you.” Well, it turns out that it’s true. The American Psychological Association in its Journal of Personality and Social Psychology calls this phenomenon Spontaneous Trait Transference or “the boomerang effect.” When you repeat negative rumors, others associate you with the characteristics that you are describing. In other words, those characteristics become transferred to you.

Not participating in the rumor mill may be challenging in the short term (workers are often afraid that they will not come across as team players), but in the long term, it will be better for your career. By taking the high road, you will be viewed as a capable, competent employee.

Story by DEBORA DRAGSETH