"Have you heard...?"

COMMUNICATION: “Have you heard that Anna got promoted?” “Yes, I have! Strange — she’s the youngest and has almost no experience…”

Does this sound familiar? Office gossip is common and experts say it can even be good for your career, if used wisely. According to a recent study by University College London, gossip is a kind of informal communication that helps create social bonds.

“Every organization needs an informal grapevine so information can pass through,” business educator and speaker Candy Tymson told The Sydney Morning Herald. Tymson says office gossip is a form of networking, especially when the talk is about information that could help you get promotions or other benefits.

US communications coach and author Susan RoAne supports this view. “If it [gossip] is used properly, it can be a powerful career aid. It can provide you with a great deal of useful information, including rumours, many of which become fact.”

"Gossip can be a powerful career aid." Susan RoAne

RoAne says the grapevine should not be used to start or spread gossip, though. “Never repeat information that is of a personal nature about another person,” she says. Instead, the grapevine should be used to cultivate sources of information.

Learn how to listen and listen carefully, she advises. “Listen to conversations of subordinates and supervisors,” RoAne says, suggesting you pay attention to every conversation, whether in staff rooms, meetings or even in the toilet.

Grant Michelson, an author and research director at Audencia Nantes Business School in France, had a closer look at the effect of gossip on managers and believes that those who use the grapevine effectively can prevent fear and negativity in the workplace. “Finding out things on the grapevine is very important to management in trying to anticipate problems,” Michelson says.