No Gossip Zone

We heard from one of our clients the other day who was quite excited about something.  He wanted to implement a “no gossip zone” within his organization.  His enthusiasm resulted from a book that he read by Sam Chapman – The No-Gossip Zone.

Needless to say, he got my attention!

From our experience, nothing can sink a team faster than the disrespectful communication of gossip, zingers, and whining!  We define these practices as:

Gossip is going behind someone’s back and saying something about him/her that you wouldn’t want him/her to know you said.

Zingers are quick-witted jokes made at someone else’s expense. It is a way of criticizing others under the cover of a joke.

Whining is repeated complaining and venting of frustrations without any attention given to potential solutions.

Perhaps we’ve all gossiped, zinged or whined from time to time, and maybe we’ve been a victim of one or more as well.

So, how can we do away with these destructive behaviors and create a work environment of acceptance, fun, and empowerment that is focused on authentic and respectful communication?  Here are three action items to get you started:

1. Start with you. Be the change. Remove gossip, zingers and whining from your communication repertoire. Think of it as a cleansing process. No longer participate in conversations about others who are not present. Articulate your new commitment to your co-workers. It’s likely they will respect you for it.
2. Open a dialogue with team members about the destructive communication of gossip, zingers and whining. Call out each individual’s responsibility to communicate authentically and respectfully. Check out how Madd-Steiny can help you teach skills that give employees alternative behaviors to gossip, zingers and whining.
3. Establish clear performance expectations that define the behaviors of authentic and respectful communication. Address and deal with the destructive communication behaviors of gossip, zingers and whining as a performance issue. Coach employees to higher levels of performance and support their development to grow and improve.

Most sincerely,

Georgine