Psst . . . Didja Hear the Latest on How to Handle Office Gossip?

Just try to resist that juicy piece of gossip making the rounds at work. Sure, it might not be true, but many of us can’t resist passing it along. The best tidbits add spice to an otherwise ordinary day. Unfortunately, indulging in too much gossip is detrimental to your career--being known as the office rumormonger could give your co-workers the impression that you are as indiscreet about the company’s business as you are about theirs.

There is a positive side to office gossip, though. It can act as a social glue, binding us against a common enemy (the boss) and giving us the feeling of being in the know. So, are you gossiping too much or too little? Try this quiz and find out if you are spreading helpful information or harmful innuendo:

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1. You discover your boss is having an affair with someone in another department and it is affecting his work. Do you:

A) Tell everyone about it and then swear them to secrecy?

B) Discuss it with a trusted co-worker and ask for her opinion?

C) Send an anonymous letter to the boss’ wife?

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2. You’re being bullied by a colleague in your department. Do you:

A) Make up a harmful piece of gossip about him and tell a gossipy co-worker in “the strictest confidence”?

B) Check with trusted co-workers and see if anyone else is being bullied?

C) Write to the president of the company and demand that the bully be fired?

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3. You discover two male co-workers grabbing a quick kiss in the mail room. They ask you to keep it to yourself. Do you:

A. Run back to the work area and breathlessly blab to everyone who will listen?

B. Agree, but tell them you might not be able to keep quiet if it happens again?

C. Give them a signed statement that you don’t even know what a kiss is?

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4. A colleague tells you she is being sexually harassed by her boss, do you:

A. Tell her to go for it. After all, everyone knows he has the power to further her career.

B. Respect her confidence and encourage her to go to Employee Relations?

C. Suggest that she is making it up and should go see a sex therapist?

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5. A woman in the office, known for her provocative wardrobe and flirty manner, just received a promotion that you think you deserved. Do you:

A. Spread it around that she got the promotion only because she slept with the boss?

B. Let it be known that you are disappointed and stay out of her way for a while?

C. Buy a great big congratulatory card and make sure everyone signs it?

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6. Your boss calls you into her office and asks you to repeat the latest gossip. Do you:

A. Read her the notes you’ve made about who is doing what to whom?

B. Say you don’t know of any and instead offer up the story of all the devils that escaped from hell during the Northridge earthquake?

C. Report her to Employee Relations?

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7. One of your colleagues is using information gathered on the job for his personal financial gain even though it is against company policy. Do you:

A. Start all your conversations with the words: “‘I know something you don’t know I know?”

B. Discuss it with a trusted co-worker and keep it to yourselves?

C. Deny all knowledge of the situation?

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8. Annual salary increases have been given and you suspect others got a bigger raise than you did. Do you:

A. Take an e-mail poll and then raise holy hell when you confirm you did not receive as much as others within your work group?

B. Make an appointment with you supervisor and ask for assignments to make yourself more valuable?

C. Quit immediately, since this is obviously an incompetent company?

So how did you score?:

Mostly A: You are probably already known as the office gossip and are heading for serious trouble with your co-workers and boss if you don’t change your ways. Think about switching careers to tabloid journalist.

Mostly B: You understand that office gossip can be useful in developing relationships and tracking important information. You realize that hearing gossip is one thing, acting on it is another.

Mostly C: You have an unrealistic view of the workplace. You probably find it difficult to relate to co-workers and may miss important information. Here’s a news flash: Talent and hard work aren’t enough to get you ahead.