Remember the Three Monkeys

When it comes to office gossip, you are best off hearing, speaking, and seeing no evil. The faster everyone moves on, the better

by Liz Ryan

Dear Liz,

Doran

Dear Doran,

What topic is that again? You went on a trip, you studied, you came home. That's it. If you heard some idle gossip about that business trip, I would advise you to forget it, and encourage other people to do the same. If the topic comes up at a group meeting (for instance, when one of the partyers from the business trip leaves the room), I suggest you become busy with your BlackBerry or straighten your socks. Don't engage in a smearfest.

Gossip is never good for a team, and the sooner the buzz dies down, the better. If there are issues of professionalism to be handled, your manager will do that if he or she decides it's appropriate. It's not your place to talk about it with the group involved. If you're asked about it—by anyone—tell them you don't know anything about it because you used your spare time on the trip for studying.

Remember the three monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil? You're all three monkeys combined. And you're the person who aces his or her tests while other people are carousing and who doesn't get dragged into silly office dramas.

Cheers,

Liz

Liz Ryan is an expert on the new-millennium workplace and a former Fortune 500 HR executive. She can be reached at liz@asklizryan.com.