Operations Management Case Incident

Whether or not gossip benefits organizations has become a gray area. Gossip, in some contexts,

may be good. Some leaders, such as Aviva Leebow Wolmer (CEO of Pacesetter), believe that
gossip can be harnessed by managers to make a positive impact on the organization. While
Wolmer generally believes gossip has a negative influence, she also thinks that gossip can be
used to bond with coworkers and to create a sense of excitement in the office. In addition, when
employees gossip with clients, clients may feel more valued by the company because they were
given the “inside scoop.”
What about when gossip alienates an employee? According to anthropologists, humans gained
the ability to gossip through evolution. Gossip allowed our tribal ancestors to form bonds, while
also learning who to avoid. According to recent research, negative gossip may have been used to
identify individuals who had broken norms (see Chapter 9) about sharing with tribe. By
ostracizing the individual who did not act in the best interest of the tribe, the group as a whole
benefitted. Unfortunately, in the modern-day workplace, office gossip may serve to exclude
others. And unlike our tribal ancestors, gossip is often not directed towards employees who have
acted against a group. Instead, gossip about a specific individual is often a means of incivility
(see Chapter 9).
There are several ways for an employee to deal with being the target of malicious office gossip.
Dr. Berit Brogaard of University of Miami suggests not confronting the person spreading rumors
through the grapevine. Instead, reaching out to a supervisor (if they are not also part of the rumor
mill) or HR may beneficial. Alternatively, openly talking about gossip in a blasé manner may
take away the gossiper’s motivation. Like many bullying behaviors, gossip is often meant to
harm the target emotionally. When the gossiper realizes that they aren’t achieving this goal, they
will sometimes stop.
Gossip can also harm individuals besides the target. Gossip that targets an individual may
splinter an office as people “take sides.” This can lead to low job satisfaction, lower trust, and a
decrease in work productivity as people fail to cooperate with each other. And once the office
culture takes a turn for the worse, talented employees may choose to leave for a company with a more positive environment. Managers can try to avoid this situation by meeting with the team and discussing the problem, or creating official policies regarding workplace gossip.

Sources: M. Schwantes, “Head Off Harmful Office Gossip,” Chicago Tribune, January 30, 2017,
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/success/inc/tca-head-off-harmful-office-gossip-20170130-story.html, accessed April 14, 2017; A. L.
Wolmer, “Five Ways to Transform Work Gossip into Positive Communication,” Entrepreneur, April 7, 2017,
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/290522, accessed April 14, 2017; L. Dodgson, “Four Ways to Deal With a Coworker Who’s Spreading
Gossip About You,” Business Insider, March 22, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-deal-with-gossip-at-work-2017-3?r=UK&IR=T,
accessed April 14, 2017; and B. Brogaard, “How to Deal With the Gossipmonger at Your Workplace,” Psychology Today, October 2016,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201610/how-deal-the-gossipmonger-your-workplace, accessed April 14, 2016…
Questions

1) What are some tactics employees can use to avoid being the target of office gossip?

2) As discussed in the chapter, there are positive benefits to gossip. How can managers create
policies that target gossip that has negative consequences while also preserving the benefits of
positive gossip?