Quick Tip – Open the Door to Potentially Tense Conversations

People on your team or in your office hate to be kept in the dark. Secrecy on the part of managers is the number one cause of office gossip and employee discontent. Where there is an information vacuum, people will supply their own – anxiety driven – suspicions. To combat this cancer of the attitude, schedule a monthly employee update meeting where you can discuss the company vision, announce or clarify new policies, and ask for employee input. Some managers are afraid to try this because they think such meetings will degenerate into gripe sessions that only make things worse. Even if there are some tense moments, it is better than a continuing undercurrent of anger poisoning the water cooler. Once employees see that you are trying to be open and honest – and that you provide a timely, constructive response to their input – they will usually relax and go back to talking about office romances again.