Is office gossip good or bad? Open channels of communication within a workplace are always best since gossip is so unreliable. However at a workplace in which information isn't disseminated through formal channels, the grapevine may be the only place to get company news. While you need to listen to the gossip, it is important to do so with a critical ear. Most of what you hear may be untrue but within some false rumors are grains of truth.
Gossip can run rampant in companies in which open communication isn't encouraged. Productivity can suffer as workers become distracted by rumors and spend more time attending to the grapevine than they spend working. Employee retention may also suffer as gossip promotes a stressful work environment. At least one employer recognized this and instituted a no-gossip policy according to an article in the New York Times (Workplace Gossip? Keep It to Yourself).
Shayla McKnight, the author of the article and an employee at that company, reports the policy makes a huge difference. "There's a greater sense of being part of a team here than in other jobs I've had," she says. McKnight explains how her employer handles communication: "Groups have daily meetings with their managers where they go over the orders and sales goals, so we always know how the company is doing. Our C.E.O., Andrew S. Field, explained that some of us might have to be let go. After the layoffs occurred, he held a meeting, reviewed the reasons again and identified those who were laid off. No one had to speculate about anything — we got the information from the source." This sounds like a policy more employers should put into place.