A new tool may be added to legal administrators’ skill set – managing gossip. Law firms are known for having active gossip mills. Most legal administrators simply view gossip as a natural phenomenon that can’t be controlled, but new research at Oklahoma State University points out some interesting conclusions about research. While acknowledging that men and women both participate in gossip, the study focuses on women in business organizations.

Big gossipers, the studies found, are seen “as significantly more powerful, more masculine and less feminine than low gossipers” and are more controlling and less emotionally warm, even with their friends. Although gossip is seen as a stereotypical feminine trait, women who are big gossipers are seen as more dominant, aggressive and overtly communicative and as having a greater need to exert influence. In fact, they are viewed as gatekeepers of information and people in the know; they use gossip to reaffirm their own power within the organization.

But for gossip to provide the image of power, it has to involve “insider” information about the firm. Gossip about personal items carries less status than information about firm decisions or even client activities. The research shows that, while there will invariably be some level of gossip, open organizations that routinely provide firm information have less active grapevines because there is less unannounced information to fuel the gossip and meet the status needs of major gossipers. And, there is a positive side of gossip. The research shows that an active grapevine provides a number of incredibly important functions including enforcing group norms, creating a sense of intimacy among those who share gossip, and signaling group boundaries. 

Bottom line, you don’t want to encourage or foster gossip but it should also not be written off as idle chatter. Managers who have learned to manage or direct elements of gossip appear to be able to sway organizational opinions and control cultural change more than those who do not.