On being talkative in the workplace

Ferdie is a talkative department manager. He talks and shares with his subordinates anything that he wants to share, even topics of no importance. What he doesn’t know is that his subordinates are not interested in hearing what he shares because it distracts them from their work.

Many managers, and even ordinary workers, are talkative in the workplace. They share topics that are no longer meant to be shared, and topics of no importance. For example, family matters—should these be shared in the workplace? Of course not!

What should be shared or talked about in the workplace are work-related topics, no more, no less. This simply means that there should be less talk and more work in the workplace. Many of us are talkative at work for the simple reason that we want to impress our subordinates and colleagues with what we know, but it ends with the talk. We don't actually do what we say we will do; we don't put action into our words. Talk is cheap.

We also want to project power, knowledge, and influence by being talkative. However, the more we talk, the more we expose ourselves—even our hidden ignorance and incompetence.

We have to remember that the less we talk, the fewer mistakes we commit, and the less we talk, the more powerful, admirable, and mysterious we appear.

Are you talkative in your workplace? – Marino J. Dasmarinas