Pssst! Want to read something about rumour and innuendo?
Gossip in the workplace
Gossip is everywhere. On one estimate, from Megan Robbins and Alexander Karan of University of California, Riverside, people spend 52 minutes a day on average talking about other people. Gossip pervades the workplace. You hear it in conversations among colleagues; you know who to go to for the latest round of it. You can tell when gossip is imminent: voices suddenly lower and there may well be some theatrical looking around to check that the target is not in earshot. Sometimes it is offered up explicitly, like a vol-au-vent at a drinks party: “Do you want to hear a bit of gossip?” And yes, you almost certainly do.
Managers have grapevines, too. Scholars of gossip (what happens when these people all get together at a conference is a subject for future research) tend to describe it as informal exchanges of evaluative information about people who aren’t there. Those exchanges can be complimentary as well as critical. By that definition, bosses who do not gossip about employees may not be doing their job properly.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Gossip in the workplace"
Business April 27th 2024
- How to build a global business empire in the 21st century
- Can anyone pull Boeing out of its nosedive?
- Will war snuff out the Gulf’s global business ambitions?
- Pssst! Want to read something about rumour and innuendo?
- Congress tells China: sell TikTok or we’ll ban it
- Tesla faces an identity crisis: carmaker or tech firm?
More from Business
Big tech’s great AI power grab
Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are on the hunt for new energy sources
Does Perplexity’s “answer engine” threaten Google?
Taking aim at one of the best business models of all time
How not to work on a plane
Hours without interruption and work to do. What could go wrong?