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Need Help Handling Office Politics?
You hear it through the grapevine. Everyone does. No matter how wonderful
your workplace is, there is always office politics. How do you, as a manager, handle it?
You could sit down with the source of the rumor and say the grapevine is
dead - all information comes from only you. But let's be realistic. This won't work. Gossip usually reflects employees' concerns and fears.
So use it to your advantage by tapping into the talk. Smart supervisors
can use the grapevine to get their messages across to the workforce. This will keep the employees informed and fearless, thus happy and productive.
Here are some tips from GeoWork.com, an online resource of invaluable
workplace information, on how to communicate through the grapevine:
Listen to whatever is being said without getting too emotional or losing
your temper. Remember you don't know what message will get sent back through the grapevine that could undermine your efforts by making employees disrespect you.
If the information is accurate, don't go on a witch hunt to find the leak.
You can't whack the grapevine down, but you can put a kink in it.
If the information is totally false, don't make a
public announcement. Noth- ing cuts a grapevine like a completely false
story.
Pump as much accurate information into the grapevine as you can. Prevent
rumors by leveling with employees consistently.
Correct false rumors immediately by communicating in person with employees
individually. Memos, e-mails and comments that get passed through numerous people are usually open to wide interpretation, which keeps the grapevine growing.
Don't try to kill the grapevine. It's human nature for people to exchange
"inside information" about what's happening in the office. Too many attempts to manage the flow of information will make employees suspect you are covering something up.
To learn more about how to handle office politics, or to get other work
tips, log on www.GeoWork.com. GeoWork is an indispensable guide to office and workplace informational aids, tools and resources for employees and employers. Find Intranet service, Web publishing and
video conferencing, plus links to human resources, telecommuting and public relations information and services. GeoWork is part of the GeoPortals.com family of Web sites..
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