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<\/a>One way to create more grief and less productivity is to have employees consistently hang around the \u201cGossip Cooler\u201d at your place of employment. As evidenced by the many gossip column blogs and magazines, some people have an innate interest in learning about and discussing the shortcomings of others. It seems as Earl Nightingale once said, \u201cthey seem to get a feeling of importance by putting other people down.\u201d<\/p>\nAnother way of looking at it, \u201cwhen you throw dirt, you lose ground.\u201d Not only do you lose ground, you lose the very essence of life \u2013 your time. If you find yourself caught in this kind of office situation, make sure you have a plan to make a clean and prompt exit.<\/p>\n
If you sense that the discussion you or your employees are engaged in is headed towards a name bashing of employees or managers, try this strategy:<\/p>\n
Wait for a pause in the discussion when you can interrupt yourself and then change the topic of the conversation.<\/p>\n
Your comment could sound something like this: \u201cI wasn\u2019t aware of that happening\u2026 Oh, by the way I was going through my notes for the ACME project and here is what I suggest\u2026<\/p>\n
By having a plan you can avoid much of the office politics that wastes so much of you and your employees time.<\/p>\n