Keep It to Yourself, Sometimes
—Kate Traynor
BETHESDA, MD, 08 June 2001 — Knowing when
to discuss your personal life and when to remain
silent is an essential part of mastering the art
of office politics.
When something happening outside of work affects
your ability to do your job, your supervisor needs
to know about the issue. But how much you need to
reveal—and when to bring up the issue—depends
on your individual circumstance. The advice given
below, most of which comes from About.com
Inc. and
Careerbuilder Inc., addresses a few of the ins and
outs of discussing personal issues with coworkers.
Financial troubles. In-depth discussions with your
colleagues about your credit-card debt or loan-repayment
problems are not appropriate at work. But if your
wages are about to be garnisheed for child-support
payments or other debts, let your human resources
department hear about the situation from you first.
Divorce. Since the stress of a divorce can affect
your job performance, it is a good idea to tell your
colleagues about this personal issue. Giving coworkers
the details, though, is usually unnecessary.
Pregnancy. It may be in your best interest to keep
a pregnancy under wraps as long as you can. The pressure
to commit to a specific work-return date can be enormous,
and your decision about how long to stay home may
change as the pregnancy progresses. But if you have
or expect to have a difficult pregnancy, it's better
to be open about the issue as soon as you suspect
trouble.
Illness. In the case of a serious illness, an employee
may need to weigh the personal benefit of openly
airing information against the fear of other employees
or the employer using that information in a detrimental
way. If the illness prevents you from coming to work
or fulfilling your job duties, it may be helpful
to you to discuss the problem with your supervisor.
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