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Leadership Skills For Child Care Professionals

Workplace Gossip - Just Make It Stop
Julie Bartkus

“Just make it stop” is what a leader told her staff during a staff meeting.  Staff looked at each other and then looked around the room as if utter confusion had taken over. 

Some staff whispered to each other:  “Sure, it’ll stop.  It’s only been around for as long as our program has existed!”  While others thought to themselves: “Do I have to stop talking to my co-workers?  Is that what she means?” 

The process of eliminating workplace gossip can bring about much stress and confusion.  Stress for leaders in not understanding why gossip is still present in spite of their efforts to eliminate it.  Stress for staff in not really knowing why their co-workers gossip or what they can do about workplace gossip anyways.  These are challenges I’ve heard from child care professionals all over the world.  That’s right, gossip is a common problem. 

In this article, I’ll present some key strategies for creating a working and learning environment that’s free from workplace gossip.     

Now you might be saying to yourself:  Can workplace gossip really be eliminated?  My answer - absolutely.  However, it’s important to understand that telling staff not to gossip will not eliminate it nor will threatening staff eliminate it nor will writing a memo to your staff about gossip eliminate it.  And typically, creating a “gossip free zone” will not solve your gossip problems either.   

The first critical thing to understand is that workplace gossip is a powerful force that can roll through your organization like a gigantic snowball and drag unsuspecting people into it making it an even larger force to be reckoned with.  Therefore, in order to eliminate workplace gossip, a leader must create a working and learning environment where workplace gossip cannot survive.     

To create an environment where workplace gossip cannot survive, a necessary first step is to create a greater awareness about the negative impacts of workplace gossip.  Most teams I consult with don’t have the opportunity on a daily basis to take a step back and really understand the impacts of the words they speak to and about others.  They don’t focus on the fact that with every communication they have, they have the choice to communicate constructively or to communicate destructively.  Usually destructive communication starts off as a small interaction and then like a snowball the negative impacts grow and grow until they’re out of control.  Unlike the snowball, the negative cumulative effects of destructive communication can take you by total surprise. 

When increasing awareness about the negative impacts of workplace gossip, explore with your staff the far-reaching impacts of their positive and negative words.  This exploration should include how their professional reputations and opportunities for career advancement (regardless of the profession they ultimately want to be a part of) are impacted by the way they decide to communicate.  Help them discover that your program’s success is greatly dependent on them.  In many programs I’ve consulted with, staff members don’t realize how their energy levels, as well as the stress they feel is impacted by their positive and negative relationships with their co-workers.  Once staff members truly gain this insight, you’ll discover that they are now ready and excited to eliminate workplace gossip and strive towards more constructive ways of communicating. 

To continue the journey of eliminating workplace gossip, a clear concise definition of what workplace gossip is and what workplace gossip is not must be shared with staff.  Work with your staff to develop a definition of what workplace gossip is.  Now, you might be asking:  Isn’t there already a definition of workplace gossip we can use?  It’s true that gossip is defined in Webster’s Dictionary.  But it’s also true that gossip takes on many different forms.  There is also a big difference between workplace gossip and personal gossip.  There is or rather should be different boundaries in place with how we communicate in the workplace versus how we communicate in our personal lives.   

Gossip in its most basic form is just passing along information.  In the old days “a gossip” was considered a close companion or an informant.  With all the good that went with gossip, it didn’t take people long to realize that gossip also brings about negative impacts; impacts such as incorrect information being provided either intentionally or through misinterpretation.  People sharing information that no one needed to know brought about other negative impacts of gossip.  This information was shared out of boredom or people’s personal reactions to situations.  Yes, these impacts are still alive and kicking today.   

When you want your staff to stop gossiping, what is it that you really want them to do?  That’s the definition you should put into place.  Help your staff understand that the workplace gossip you are trying to eliminate is the destructive gossip that prevents staff members from doing their jobs effectively and working as a team.  In my work with organizations, I state that workplace gossip is passing along information that’s not relevant to anyone doing their job effectively or one’s professional relationship with their co-workers.  In regards to gossiping with parents, I state that gossip is passing along information that’s not relevant to the health, safety or education of one’s child or one’s professional relationship with them.  These definitions have proven to be very effective.          

Another important step in creating a gossip free working and learning environment is to help staff recognize why they participate in workplace gossip.  Some staff gossip because they want to fit in while others gossip because they want to find out information that they feel they need to do their jobs effectively.  Unfortunately with the latter reason, their intentions may be good but the way they go about trying to find out the information is destructive.   

Once staff members have a greater understanding of why they gossip, help them build skills to stop workplace gossip.  Skills include knowing how to constructively deal with gossipers so that workplace communication can remain (or become) constructive.  Skills that lead to a gossip free environment include knowing how to resolve issues and conflicts positively and directly as well as building the confidence to approach people one-on-one when there is an issue.  Another important professional development opportunity is to learn how to vent constructively so destructive venting becomes extinct. 

On your journey in eliminating workplace gossip, you’ll find that the steps I’ve recommended will not only help stop gossip but they will also help communication and relationships within your program become constructive. 

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