Skillopedia – How to deal with office gossip?

 Another video from Skillopedia to develop your personality and soft skills. Now , workplaces are full of different people with different personalities . Almost every office has a gossip monger who enjoys gossiping , spreading rumors . If you find this person irritating and don’t know how to deal with such a gossipy person here are a few tips :

1. Distance yourself

This can be done in 2 ways depending on your personality. The first method involves being straight-up and direct, stating that you are not interested in gossip and would like to have a discussion that is productive. The second approach is for those who don’t want to hurt feelings. Be polite , ignore or just change the topic . In extreme cases , make an excuse and walk away .

2.Handle the rumors with ease

If the gossip monger is spreading rumors about you in the office , feel free to calmly confront the person .do not be agitated, look them in the eye and ask them for an explanation. Very likely , the person may deny or apologize and not repeat the action in future . But remember it’s important to remain unaffected by rumors and gossip . Continue to do your best at work every single day no matter what .

3)Bring it to the attention of your colleagues

Surely , you are not the only one who hates gossip at the place of work . When you find like minded colleagues who do not want to indulge in gossip ; bring the actions of the gossip monger to their . Make a common decision to avoid this person beyond the scope of work . That way the gossip monger will not have avenues to spread lies and gossip .

4) Have an intervention:

Enlist the support of your colleagues and as a group have an intervention where all of you openly tell the gossip monger to stop spreading gossip and rumors . Be sure that all of you are calm yet firm with the gossip monger . Give out an ultimatum asking for change . You will be surprised , but everyone is capable of changing for the better and this may just work out in your favor .

5) You’re here to work, not to make friends

It is important to jovial with your colleagues but make sure you are not providing gossip to a gossip monger through your casual conversations . Keep friendly talk impersonal and brief even if it offends the gossip monger . After all you are here to work not make friends !

We hope this Skillopedia video from the soft skills library has helped you learn some useful tips to deal with office gossip effectively.