Topics You Should Avoid Discussing At Work
A great way to get acquainted and build relationships that can serve you well both professionally and personally is through healthy conversations in a work environment. It is easy to start feeling comfortable or relaxed with your colleagues that you throw caution to the wind by engaging in conversations that are not work-friendly.
It is tempting to tell a detailed story of your life to your co-workers because you’re bored and want to talk, but it’s not advisable to hold unhealthy conversations in the workplace. Do not let your guard down. On a professional level, It’s important that you treat every conversation in your work environment with caution and professionalism.
Here are topics you should avoid discussing at work
- Political discussions: Politics is a very sensitive issue. Different people have varying opinions concerning politics. It is important that you avoid talking about your political preferences in the public, especially in a work environment. Political preferences can cause serious conflict. Keep your opinions on political candidates, and political parties to yourself.
- Religion: Religious beliefs are very personal and delicate. People have reasons why they practice their religions which is mostly backed up by family background or personal encounters.
- Organizational structure: A solid structure is the bedrock of any organization. If you are having any problem with the organizational structure as regards the work ethics, salary structure, and lack of motivation from your boss, discussing it with your co-worker is not appropriate. You can relate the problem to the persons concerned. It could be the hiring manager or the boss.
- Family problems: It can be very tempting to disclose your family problems with a co-worker as a result of the established relationship that you have with your co-worker but it’s not the right thing to do. Don’t let your co-worker know about the problems you are facing at home. You don’t want to come to work the next day only to be the topic of discussion in your workplace.
Sharing your family stories with people that are not family-related can have a negative impact on your career. Your hiring manager may get the impression that your family issues may affect your performance at work and decide to lay you off. To stay safe and to keep your families secret, do not disclose your family issues to your co-workers.
- Money: Discussing your financial problems with your co-workers can be risky. Your co-workers may assume that you are telling them your financial challenges as a way of soliciting funds from them indirectly, even though it’s not your intention or you have issues managing money. This may lead to a lack of trust as no one will like to entrust their monies to an individual that exhibits poor financial saving habits.
- Romantic relationship: It is really not your co-workers’ business to have details of your romantic relationship. You may be eager to talk about your dating life or your partner, your colleagues may not be comfortable with the conversation. It’s easier to manage your relationship when it has gone south compared to when you have made a public announcement about your relationship status to your co-workers.
- Health-related issues: It is important to apply caution while disclosing any health problems to your colleagues. If you need someone to talk to about your health challenges, it’s advisable to see a doctor. People will judge you based on your physical adequacy: it will affect how they view your competency. Oversharing your medical challenges could potentially have colleagues or your boss view you as incompetent and unsuitable.
There are health conditions that you can explain to your colleagues especially when it requires an emergency like applying first aid to an injury or incident that happened in the workplace.
Talking about your health challenges may lead to stigma and the loss of a job.
- Raising children: Humans are governed by different beliefs and ideologies. Everyone has their own ideas about raising kids. Don’t impose your own views on child-raising on your co-workers, you can give suggestions or provide solutions if needed.
- Salary: Salaries are a very crucial topic for every employee. Do not discuss your salary with your colleagues. If you are not satisfied with your salary package, you can direct your complaint or dissatisfaction to your hiring manager or boss.
- Resignation: Do not discuss your resignation plans with your co-workers. You can talk about it when you are certain that you are going to resign.
What To Discuss In A Work Environment
The time you spend at your workplace is crucial to your growth and that of the company that you are working for. Having discussions that are not geared towards promoting your productivity in a workplace can lead to mediocrity and unproductivity.
Here are tips to guide you to know the topics that are appropriate in a work environment.
- The task at hand: Rather than engaging in unhealthy conversations, use your time to carry out the task at hand and discuss ways you can generate revenue for the company with your co-worker.
- Technology: The advancement in technology has improved productivity in the work environment. You can talk about a new app that can help solve real-life issues, saves time, and improve productivity in the work environment.
- Local News: Talk about the latest local development that you heard of in the news. It could be a recreational center, shopping mall, or medical center that is new in town. In addition, you can talk about the benefits of the new places. While discussing, avoid talking about negative news.
- Events: Hold conversations around events that you are planning to attend or have attended in the past. You recently attended a concert or sports event, you can share your experience, how you felt and what you learned. You can also talk about an upcoming career/personal development event and invite your co-workers to attend the event with you.
- Movies: Weekends are the best time to spend at the cinema. You can invite your co-workers over the weekend to join you at the cinema to see good movies.
- Tv shows/ Music: If you have been keeping tabs on television shows or you heard a new song, you can discuss it with your co-workers and ask them to go and watch the show or listen to the music for themselves.
- Pets: During your free time or lunch break, you can discuss your pet.
It is important that you understand the consequences of bringing up controversial topics in the wrong place at the wrong time, to be specific, in a work environment. Knowing what to say, how to say it, when to say it and whom to say it, is very important in starting a conversation with a co-worker. Saying the right things in the work environment will save you from a lot of unfavorable dramas.
I hope that now you know what you can discuss in a work environment and what you should not discuss.