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Dealing With Rumors in the Workplace:
Despite all the optimistic talk and promising signs, the economic recovery has yet to arrive. And perhaps the only thing worse than having to deliver bad news to your employees is dealing with rumors that you are going to have to.
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Paul B. Brown on the changing world of small business and the colorful characters who inhabit it.Paul B. Brown’s Columns »
How should you handle them? Experts offer the following advice, beginning with an explanation of why rumors start.
RUMOR BREEDING GROUND “Uncertainty in organizations is a given in environments that are unstable and complex, and uncertainty serves as a precursor to rumor generation,” said Jamie McIntosh, describing the business environment we find ourselves in on Suite101.com.
“During the rumor generation stage, people develop a susceptibility to rumors, based on an optimum combination of uncertainty and anxiety.”
DEAL WITH IT A common theme in all the advice is that you need to address the rumors. You shouldn’t pretend they are not there.
“In the absence of information, employees will make up their own information and that information soon snowballs into a full-blown rumor,” Zoey Day said on Helium.com, which describes itself as “a knowledge cooperative.”
In other words, ignoring the rumors is simply going to increase employee concerns, distract them from doing their jobs and make the situation worse.
Read entire article: Dealing With Rumors in the Workplace
Despite all the optimistic talk and promising signs, the economic recovery has yet to arrive. And perhaps the only thing worse than having to deliver bad news to your employees is dealing with rumors that you are going to have to.
Skip to next paragraph
Tool Kit
Paul B. Brown on the changing world of small business and the colorful characters who inhabit it.Paul B. Brown’s Columns »
How should you handle them? Experts offer the following advice, beginning with an explanation of why rumors start.
RUMOR BREEDING GROUND “Uncertainty in organizations is a given in environments that are unstable and complex, and uncertainty serves as a precursor to rumor generation,” said Jamie McIntosh, describing the business environment we find ourselves in on Suite101.com.
“During the rumor generation stage, people develop a susceptibility to rumors, based on an optimum combination of uncertainty and anxiety.”
DEAL WITH IT A common theme in all the advice is that you need to address the rumors. You shouldn’t pretend they are not there.
“In the absence of information, employees will make up their own information and that information soon snowballs into a full-blown rumor,” Zoey Day said on Helium.com, which describes itself as “a knowledge cooperative.”
In other words, ignoring the rumors is simply going to increase employee concerns, distract them from doing their jobs and make the situation worse.
Read entire article: Dealing With Rumors in the Workplace
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