The Best Ways to Deal With Office Gossip

By Nelson Berry

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According to recent studies, office gossip is not completely bad. It actually builds personal relationships inside the workplace. There's always something to look forward to. Sometimes a change in management or a person's personality for the better can be triggered by a gossip. It also helps if you gossip about something good, such as telling others how an employee tends to brighten your day.

In most cases, though, office gossip can be such a hassle and a headache for both the employees and the management. In fact, many companies are already implementing stringent measures including termination just to greatly reduce the chances of gossiping inside the office.

As much as possible, you want to minimize your involvement in it. To begin, here are some tips:

Share less. Avoid talking much about your personal life especially to people you really don't know much about. Make sure you can take time to get to know them before you start opening up. It's a lot better to be somewhat mysterious and sometimes aloof than to be so open and have your intimate secrets shared with others.

Don't talk about anyone. Learn to practice proper confrontation. If you have something against the management, make sure you can talk it over to the supervisor or management. If you are against a certain employee, talk things over privately, perhaps outside the office. Keep the number of people involved very few as much as possible. Most of all, don't discuss it to those who are not part of the story in the first place.

Avoid giving them a reason to talk about you. Whether you like it or not, someone is going to talk about you. But you want to lessen the possibility of that by not giving him any reason to do so. Come in the office in a decent attire. Make your way to the top with your personal efforts. Avoid collusion with other employees. Don't talk behind other people's backs.

Remain confident. Most of the vicious office gossipers are those who want to see you lose your confidence over false stories. Don't give them the chance to be happy. Remain confident even if you seem to be under fire.

You can use subliminal messages to help you with that. With subliminal messages, you can always put positive thoughts into your mind, so you don't have much time for negative ones. You can speak the subliminal messages before you go to the office or when you seem to be losing your control.

Some of the subliminal messages you can try are the following:

I won't let those gossips affect me.

I am not defined by other people's false perceptions.

I know myself better.

I know false stories don't last forever.

Make sure you have a strong support system. It's always a good feeling when you know you have the clear support of true friends and family members, especially if you're under intense scrutiny. Take the gossip as an opportunity to get to know the people who truly care so much about you.