Everything seemed to work fine until Rebecca began informing the work units of her decisions.  According to Jeremy, Rebecca’s decisions ignored many of his work unit’s recommendations with no explanation why.  When he went to his unit manager to find out on what basis Rebecca was making her decisions, his manager replied “I don’t know”.  People in Jeremy’s unit were perplexed, confused, and upset.  They felt betrayed and there was a substantial increase in gossiping and complaining about Rebecca.  Some people even quit their jobs.

Change leaders like Rebecca have to make tough decisions and are accountable for those decisions.  But Rebecca could have reduced the damage both to her reputation and the future receptivity of people to change if she had engaged in understanding conversations with people prior to her decisions and closure conversations after.

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Toxic Talk impacts workplace productivity. Complaining, blaming and gossiping damage relationships and impact productivity. Jeffrey offers ways to reduce its occurrence in your organization and convert it into a positive action.

A second kind of talk is what we call “unproductive talk”. Unproductive talk is the social sharing we tend to do with each other, such as “how is the weather”, “where are you going on vacation”, or “who won the game?”. Unproductive talk is a very important way for people to experience being related to each other. But there are some types of unproductive talk that can have a negative impact on getting things done. We identify three types of unproductive talk: blaming, gossiping, and complaining. The most damaging is gossip.

Gossip is defined as “talking about someone behind their back in a way that does damage to them or their reputation.” When we talk about someone in a way that has other people think less of them, or have a negative opinion of them, or have less affinity toward them, we have gossiped. When we say things about another that we would not say if they were present, that’s gossip.

Gossip, along with blaming and complaining, is a key contributor to poor morale in organizations. People who are interested in being productive in their organization know that some types of unproductive talk are not your friend, as shown by this poem from The Wall Street Journal:

Nobody’s Friend

My name is Gossip. I have no respect for justice.
I maim without killing. I break hearts and ruin lives.
I am cunning and malicious and gather strength with age.
The more I am quoted, the more I am believed.
My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me, because I have no name and no face.
To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become.
I am nobody’s friend.
Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same.
I topple governments and wreck marriages.
I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heartaches and indigestion.
I make innocent people cry in their pillows.
Even my name hisses. I am called Gossip, I make headlines and headaches.
Before you repeat a story, ask yourself:
Is it true? Is it harmless? Is it necessary?
If it isn’t, don’t repeat it.

Complaints are prevalent in organizations.  People complain about the weather, about their work, about their coworkers, and about their boss(es).  Although some complaints may seem innocuous, complaining contributes to a culture of negativism, lowers morale and satisfaction, gets people upset or angry, and adds to resignation and cynicism.  Complaints act like depressants, particularly when they are expressed to people who really can’t do anything about them.

But some complaints can be productive if they are directed to the right people.  Properly directed complaints can improve processes, products, and customer service.  They can lead to and support change and be a source of innovation.

If you want to increase the number of productive complaints (and reduce the number of unproductive ones), create a policy where you ask people to direct their complaints to someone who can do something about it.  If you are the someone, then listen up.  However, if you aren’t, then let them know immediately they have the wrong person and then either direct them to the right person or ask them to find out who the right person is.  This will reduce the number of complaints you listen to and train people to being accountable for their complaints.