How Gossip Fits within Workplace Communication

By: Robert F. Abbott

Yes, it's easy to condemn gossip at work, whether it's personal gossip or business oriented. However, it is also a part of workplace communication for a reason – it fills in the gaps.

As humans, we all want to understand what's happening and why. And since we rarely have all the facts, we speculate. In other words, we try to guess at both facts and motivations. It's as if we're staring at a jigsaw puzzle and trying to mentally fill in the picture. We can't help but try to guess what those missing pieces might show us.

Speculation means we're either extrapolating from the facts, or guessing at facts, so we're experiencing a fairly high level of uncertainty. After all, if we knew all the facts or all the motivations, we would be certain and confident of our knowledge.

Because we're uncertain, we compare our ideas with each other, and that's where gossip originates. "Here's what I think...." you say, and the person you're with counters, "No I think..." Or perhaps, the person with whom you're speaking has discussed this issue with someone else, and counters, "Jane told me...."

The latter brings us to the informal networking aspect of gossip within the context of employee communication. The speculative ideas of many people begin to circulate and interact with each other. Over time, the core ideas may begin to coalesce, giving us what might be called an ‘institutional' view on the issue.

So, let's learn to accept that gossip is not necessarily the musings of malicious people. Instead, let's come to see it as a natural inclination among all of us to try to understand the personal and organizational situations in which we find ourselves.

Still, if you'd like to curtail the gossip in your workplace, you'll need to start by eliminating information gaps. That's relatively easy for organizational matters: Normal workplace communication vehicles such as meetings, newsletters, and memos can provide information that either fills the information void or at least steers opinions in the right direction.

Dealing with personal gossip is a much greater challenge. After all, only the person who's the target of the gossip can provide the ‘facts' and most of us are hesitant to provide that information. After all, why should we be held hostage to misinformation, whether malicious or well intentioned?

In summary, gossip is a natural organizational communication phenomenon. It is more likely driven by a lack of information, a desire to fill information voids, and uncertainty than by maliciousness among coworkers.

Next, read 10 Reasons to Market with Postcards, go to the workplace communication page, or visit our home page Communication Skills .

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Gossip at Work, Copyright Robert F. Abbott 2009