And here goes, the last post for this blog for communications class. If you've been a commenter here, thanks!
Office gossip: the life and bane of many individuals. Those who’ve worked for some time in an organization will know what I’m talking about. Class this week brought informal communication in organizations up and mentioned that the informal grapevine often has more credible information than the formal sources; as it avoids the censorship that companies tend to employ in the mail one receives. The justification for this was the consideration that though still considered as gossip, office gossip tends to be kept to the original story more than other social circles – especially if it’s about your boss.
Personally, I feel that would be true to some extent. After all, many of us would certainly have heard of cases where someone, for example, knew of his or her retrenchment before the occurrence itself through the grapevine. Also, it is highly likely that any wrong information passed on by you can lead to your own head being on the chopping board in the office. Which is something that most of us (if not all) would try to avoid, yes?
However, I am of the opinion that the higher credibility of informal information compared to the formal networks may not be necessarily true. It would depend highly on the individual from whom the information is coming from, for one thing. Naturally, if the person from whom the gossip is coming from is known to be highly exaggerated, it would hardly be regarded in the same light as information from a person whose credibility is known to be recognized.
Furthermore, the lesson this week brought gossip up as a possible avenue from which an employer can tap into by swaying influential individuals within a particular social group to, for example, sway a certain amount of support for his decision in his direction. He probably does so by ignoring the mainstream, formalized tool of communication and disclosing information on a personal basis. Effective? Probably, or just maybe? Once again, I believe that the character of the employer and employee concerned would play a bigger role in the effectiveness of that tactic than just the general view expressed in class that it had a very very high possibility of working.
Gossip in any context is known more for the damage it causes than anything else. However, that aside, what view do you have on the credibility of office gossip? Or is gossip simply gossip, no more and no less? :)
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Yo! Whats up?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, gossip, for it to be juicy, has to be really biased and untrue. Or else it wouldnt spread like wildfire. Not only that, gossip can get really twisted. Played broken telephone pole before? Then you know what i mean.
Office gossip is worse, as working relationships are at stake here. Imagine the effects on the target of gossip, should he/she finally hear about it.Talk about a surefire way of burning bridges.
Then again, what fun is working life if there isnt some office drama?
peace out
farhanfranhafraahn
To be honest.. gossip tends to be most untrue although yes there are still small truths but it is buried under heaps of emotion, dissent and even more personal opinions..
ReplyDeleteIf gossip evolves from a credible source, not just knowing whether the person is of a certain animated character or not, it is more highly believable but as it is passed down, the gossip may lose it's 'focus' and turn into 'bitching' if we put it in Singaporean terms..
for example.. So and so is getting retrenched because He/She missed the date line.. others may start to add, the boss is so ungrateful and intolerant, he's sacking so and so.. and soon the gossip starts to take another form.. I tell you I hate this Boss he is so hypocritical.. and It leaves out the fact why He/She was retrenched in the 1st place..
I'd say that gossip gives you 'foresight' into what issues are revolving in the work place, but any decision trust the management to deliver.. I wouldn't totally trust gossip, but it's fun to 'steal' some knowledge.. XD
Oh yeah and I guess conspiracy theory adds a lot of colour into the boredom of working in an office cell?
ReplyDeletesry for the many grammatical errs kinda dozing off
Shalom!
In my case office gossip almost always leads to something bad happening, rumor spreading is what starts it, you see two people holding hands and so gossip starts that they are going out.
ReplyDeleteThis happened in the case of my friend April and my other friend Mel, they became room mates and so naturally spent allot of time together, quickly gossip spread about them being lesbians which lead to allot of problems for them with discrimination from the less open minded at my work, eventually they started fighting and quit.. it was very sad.
to Farhan franha, is Broken Telephone pole like the game we used to have in Australia called "chinese whispers" where you start with something and whisper it in a circle and at the end it is completely changed? I used to play that in highschool in class!
from my friend who doesn't have one of the necessary accounts to post a comment:
ReplyDeleteHey dear,
I agree that gossip is usually negative in nature. Gossip would have to contain an aspect that is not within the acceptable social norms to be interesting enough to be termed as gossip. If not, the gossip would not spread far.
Also, I see gossip as negative because positive news such as a promotion would not be termed as gossip but praise.
In view of its negative nature, gossip, in whatever form, would definitely have a targeted victim. However, I believe that no matter what form of gossip, the target of the gossip has a choice whether to become a victim due to it.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," this idiom from childhood has proved its worth over the years for me. Thus I feel that gossip will always be in any office, but ultimately it's your choice to be affected by it or not.
-Jacq Yeo
The definition of gossip is idle talk. In other words, there is no benefit gained in engaging in it. As such, I would think that information gathered from gossip, true or false would never be beneficial. Even if the contents of the gossip is true, I would consider it to be misrepresented facts, because it will be coloured by opinion.
ReplyDeleteTen times the word "gossip" appears in the Christian Bible. Nine times it's to warn of the ills of gossip, and one it shows a member of the early Church, Diotrephes, being expelled because of his "malicious gossiping" (3 John 1:9-10).
ReplyDeleteGossip, in the Bible, is portrayed as a source of dissention (Proverbs 26:20), a source of disharmony. It breaks relationships (Proverbs 16:28) because of its destructive nature. What's worse is that people have a craving for gossip (also seen in in the Bible in Proverbs 18:8), because we want to, have to know what's going on in other people's lives, even though if it does not benefit us at all.
Well it's true. Gossip is everywhere, as long as there are two people who are able to communicate with one another.. It's good to know what happens to others, just don't be the one spreading the gossip! Be careful not to fall into the ensnarements of what gossip brings..
(All references from the Bible were obtained online at http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=gossip&qs_version=31 )
Gossip can be an important source of intelligence... provided the informants are credible.
ReplyDeleteThere are often many informal 'spies' in the workplace - people who seek to gain an advantage over others by being privy to confidential information.
You can think of gossip as being akin to a double-edged sword - make sure you're found holding the handle; or risk getting diced to bits.
The intellignt ones will be able to make use of such information flows to chart a path for themselves devoid of entanglement in office politics, and yet stay at or near the top of the knowledge loop so as to position themselves advantageously.
This has to be approached with extreme caution as it is often difficult to ascertain the credibility of the sources.
Either way, people are likely to remain part of this informal way of exchanging and analyzing information by virtue of a strong desire to not be caught in the dark should something unexpected happen.
Gossip, to me, may be one of the most inaccurate and unreliable sources of information. It could be started by a malicious someone or a piece of information, taken out of context, overheard in the ladies. Usually the person spreading the "news" does not bother about the facts but rather has more interest in how interesting this might sound to somebody else. If you happen to hear some gossip i believe it better to take it with a fistful of salt. However, i think filing that piece of info away would be good (esp if it's a word of caution), after all no smoke with out fire!
ReplyDeleteOffice gossip are often bad and unreliable. Things can spread from something some to something big.
ReplyDeleteWhether they are good or not it all depends on how one view. In a nice word, they are changing informations within one another to enhance they life in the office.
Gossip are there depending on whether you believe it or not. One can hear and forget about it while other will spread making the matter bigger and bigger.
Gossip in this context is used as a political tool--like propaganda in a way.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion really shouldn't be about the moral implications of gossip but of the effectiveness in the context of power play in the office.
While there are some who feel that people shouldn't participate in idle chit-chat, it is quite essential at the workplace. Minimally to know that you're not in trouble and to get a better sense of who's who and what's what in the office.
I think Cowboycaleb shared a personal anecdote on effective use of gossip on his blog which you can check out.
Peace out!
Ling
I agree with gossip being misrepresented facts. Gossp brings no benefit to all sides involved or affected by it. Tantalizing as the act of gossip may be, it is prudent to steer clear away from it.
ReplyDeleteWell so many of you have said that gossip is not necessarily the truth of the matter. bUt have any of you realized that at times gossip might be more truth than anything else. This is due to the fact that gossip may be a way that a group of people voice their displeasures about how things are being run in anorganization.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in an organization that is undergoing changes, the displeasures of the employees generally come out through gossip and this could benefit the company if the top brass in ther organization take this form of feedback and modify certain of the changes, this could greatly improve producti vity and organizational dynamics
Gossip is untrustworthy at best because its usually based on personal feelings or emotions.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore gossip tends not to be first-hand information.
But yeah office gossip is often used... and I really hate that.
"Small minds talk about other people.
Average minds talk about events past.
Great minds speak of ideals."
I think you cant just take one source on its own, you have to comine them, because on one hand the formal sources will have credibility and reputation while on the other hand office gossip will have (like you pointed out) the uncensored version. So if both corroborate then it would be an even stronger indication of the worthiness of the news/info.
ReplyDeleteI guess what im trying to say is that it would not do to ACT on info gleaned from office gossip until it has been further supported by other sources.
office gossips, usually also termed as the grapevine, has been proven to be a rather reliable source of information on many occasions!
ReplyDeleteI have considered this dilemma within my thoughts many times, it usually tends towards bane or unnecessary, but having recently been working in a office, i realize that a lot of people look forward to gossips and stuff to take time out from their usual boring mundane work... so now, i think it could actually be beneficial to have office gossips and give life to these people! wouldn't it?