Career News 24/7: The Cynical Girl: Office Gossip

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Cynical Girl: Office Gossip

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 06:45 AM PDT

A reader writes that she is the victim of office gossip.

In an unfortunate twist of fate, she gossiped about someone and was called out when someone gossiped about her gossiping.

“What should I do?”

Schwoo. Awkward. It’s one thing if people are gossiping about you and it’s a lie. It’s another thing if your gossiping becomes the gossip — and you get called out for flapping you gums.

You should do two things.

1. Own up to it.
2. Apologize if an apology is needed.

Studies show that gossip brings offices together. Other studies show that gossiping can rip a company apart. Often times, office gossip can just be lazy. I’m a big fan of being responsible for everything I say. Whether it is brilliant or stupid, those words are mine. There are times in my life when I’ve been misquoted at work — or a kernel of what I’ve said has been taken and turned into something stupid. I’ve had to go back, retrace my steps and have some honest conversations.

If that’s happened to you, you can always do what I did when I worked at my last job — set the record straight.

“If you ever have a question about anything I did or didn’t say, you can ask me. Nobody speaks for me. Unless you’ve heard it from me directly, I didn’t actually say it.”

I feel for all of you who work in gossipy environments.

This is why I prefer to work with my cats.