advantages of gossiping in the work place

Communication structure in most work places tend to be formal which is why tying to think of something positive to say about gossip in the work place may be frowned upon. But let’s be real, advantages of gossiping do exist. You just have to ask yourself when did people start gossiping and if it’s such a bad thing then how comes it still exists in the current century. Truth is, just like any form of communication, it’s a matter of how you use it.

THE THING ABOUT GOSSIP OR GRAPEVINE

This is an informal type of communication that follows no set lines, nor any definite rules, but spreads, like the grapevine, in any direction, anywhere and spreads fast!

The one thing you always have to remember is that in any organization, its quite natural for a group of people to be interested in one another and talk about, well, appointments, promotions, retrenchments or even domestic affairs like romantic involvement of another.

The truth is gossip is more of a product of the situation than it is of the person.

SO WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF GOSSIPING IN THE WORK PLACE?

It provides a safety valve for employees

Anxiety experienced by workers as a result of things like promotion and retrenchment tend to become an obsession. While talking about such matters may not alleviate their fears but the one thing it does is provide emotional relief.

Therefore, gossiping in the workplace acts as a kind of safety valve for pent up emotions of the subordinates.

Proves organizational solidarity and cohesion

The existence of the grapevine tells you that workers in that organization are interested in their associates. As to what it is about the associate they are interested in, well that’s another thing.

The very fact that workers talk among themselves help to promote organizational solidarity and cohesion. If properly used grapevine may even raise the morale of the workers.

It supplements other channels  

While management may try their best to get information to workers through the approved communication channels, the reality is, all information cannot be transmitted to the employees through the official channels.

If there is some useful information unsuitable for being transmitted through official channels, it can be transmitted through grapevine

Provision of feedback

The grapevine provides feedback to the management. It enables them to know what the subordinates think about the organization and its various activities.

CONCLUSION

It is true that which there are advantages of gossiping in the workplace, there are just as well disadvantages.  The damage created by false information, character assassination and all these should not be ignore.

Management should however note that, gossip can neither wither nor die. Instead they should learn to use it effectively, basically control it to their advantage.

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