3 ways to move forward when you get caught gossiping about a colleague

3 ways to move forward when you get caught gossiping about a colleague3 ways to move forward when you get caught gossiping about a colleagueGetting caught talking badly about a coworker in a conference room, in the hallway, or outside your office can make for a pretty sticky situation.Heres how to move forward when youve badmouthed someone at work and they find out about it.Explain to them that youll never be in this situation againFormer U.S. nachrichten World Report staff writer and editor Laura McMullen (now at NerdWallet) writes in U.S. News World Report about what to do when youre on your managers bad side for doingsomething like badmouthing company leadership, among other examples. The piece features commentary from leadership and workplace communication expert Skip Weisman. It will not happen again those are probably five of the most powerful words an employee can say to the boss, Weisman says, because the employee is taking real responsibility for his or her actions. Of co urse, he adds, its not enough to just say this. You must live up to your promise by not repeating the mistake.Dont react so quickly that you dont seem genuineAlex Wilson writes in Fairygodboss that when a coworker hears you badmouthing them at work, you actually shouldnt apologize immediately.While this sounds counterintuitive, immediately apologizing to your coworker can worsen the effect of getting caught gossiping. Not only would that apology sound disingenuous, it would sound like youre only sorry that you got caught - not that youre sorry for gossiping in the first place. Instead, as soon as somebody sees you gossiping, stop talking. Dont finish the sentence, dont make a joke, dont try to pretend like you were talking about something else - just stop.If the person youre speaking with tries to continue, convince them to stop as well. That doesnt mean you should whisper shut up or cover your colleagues mouth with your hand. Gently say lets have this discussion another time and q uickly segue to another topic.Tell them how youll handle it better in the futureJodi Glickman, a speaker, author andthe founder of Great on the Job, writes in the Harvard Business Review that when moving on from a personal WikiLeaks, you should commit to handling grievances differently next time.Once youve apologized, groveled and confronted the real issue at hand - you need to work to regain your friend or colleagues trust. Commit to handling conflict more productively going forward and make a pledge to air grievances up front. Promise to speak directly to your friend or colleague about problems instead of complaining to third parties.Glickman provides this sample script in the publication I welches wrong to talk to Carolyn and Steve instead of just confronting you and I do apologize. I promise to never do that again - next time I have an issue Ill come to you directly. Ive certainly learned my lesson.