5 Secrets People Should Keep From Their Co-Workers - Erika Rawes

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How well do you know the people you work with? How well do they really know you?
According to data published on Fast Company, workers in the U.S. have a median tenure of around four and a half years. This means, a typical worker (who lives until the 2011 average life expectancy of 78.7) spends around 6 percent of the years of his life at a particular job. You could get to know a person pretty well during that time. Especially, a person you spend 40 hours each week with.
“Joe’s favorite food is chicken Alfredo” and “Jane doesn’t like it when people use trendy phrases like ‘cray-cray’ or ‘totes’.” You may have learned the types of things that irritate your co-workers, their individual strengths and weaknesses, their sense of humor, and a variety of superfluous information about them. Your co-workers may also have learned this type of information about you, as well.
But, do your co-workers know you as well as say, your roommate or a close friend does? Probably not. Even though you spend a great deal of time with the people you work with, it’s generally unwise to tell them personal information that doesn’t pertain to work. Think of it this way: If you wouldn’t want your boss and the rest of the office knowing something about you, it’s probably best to keep the information to yourself.
Here are five specific things you should not share with the people you work with. Even though No. 3 is more acceptable and legal than ever, you still need to be cautious.

1. Your personal and political beliefs

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Work is usually not the place to talk about your views on abortion, hot button topics, incompetent politicians, and politics in general really. You cannot assume that everyone has the same views as you do, because everyone sees things differently. When you share your views on political and societal issues –especially if you have extreme left or right-leaning views — people may not take your views on other topics — workplace topics — as seriously.
“You want to put some brakes on your conversation,” says author Anna Post in a Wall Street Journal publication. “People assume that others think what they think, that everyone wants to hear their opinion. But politics can really divide.”

2. Medications and certain medical conditions

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You may be comfortable telling you co-workers about a flu you had — you may even be comfortable telling them you’re diabetic (depending on how comfortable you are around the people you work with). But some medical conditions are not as common, some are embarrassing, and others have a stigma attached to them. Of course, you should follow any policies your company has on dealing with illnesses. But, in most cases, personal and private things about your medical history, like the prescriptions you take, is information you should refrain from sharing with your coworkers.
If you are in a situation where you have a serious illness and, to perform your job effectively, it’s necessary that you share your medical limitations with your co-workers, this still doesn’t mean you have to tell them your specific diagnosis or medications.
“This may mean that instead of telling co-workers you were recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia, you could say you have a disease that means you will periodically have debilitating fatigue that lasts for up to 48 hours and that you need to figure out a way to accommodate for that without getting in the way of the team’s productivity,” says Forbes.

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The goal is to focus on the task at hand, avoid having your illness be a distraction in the workplace, and do everything you can to promote having the office function normal, while still receiving any and all accommodations you need.

3. Alcohol or marijuana use

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Although medical marijuana is legal in nearly half of the country and recreational pot is legal in some places as well, unless you work at a place that deals in marijuana, it’s probably a good idea to keep your marijuana use to yourself.
People are still absorbing the whole marijuana legalization concept and it may come as a shock to your co-workers to find out that you get high on your downtime (if applicable).
If you go out to bars and drink alcohol on the weekends — or if you had a wild and crazy night partying last night — you should keep that to yourself while at work, too. This is a touchy subject for people as around 20 million Americans are affected by alcohol or drug dependency.

4. Salary information

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“How much do you make, Joe? What about you Jane? I make $10,000 less than both of you, that’s not fair.” Most career coaches advise against polling your co-workers about their pay.
“The risks include your co-worker becoming jealous of you (or you getting jealous of them when you realize you’re underpaid), your manager finding out you did this and punishing you..or your co-worker blabbing what you make all around the office,” says career coach Nicole Williams, the connection director for LinkedIn in a Forbes publication.
If you feel you are being unfairly treated or you are severely underpaid, you have the option to ask those around you but you have no real way of knowing whether or not they are telling you the truth. Also, what are you going to do with the information? If you want a raise, it’s probably best to show your employer you deserve more money because of your skills and work ethic, and not because Joe and Jane make more money than you do.

5. Financial or family problems

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“My house is being foreclosed on an I don’t know where I’m going to live. My wife and I are getting divorced, too, and she’s taking my dog, Snuffles with her. I’ve lost everything,” you hear one co-worker say to another.

It can be tough to get through each work day when you’re dealing with family or financial problems. Your mind may be focused on those issues, instead of on work and you may be tempted to talk about them with someone — anyone — so that you can get to feeling a bit better. Try to refrain, though, as you more than likely don’t want this personal information about you going around the office and once your troubles have passed, you may regret your decision to share.

Culled from Money & Career Sheet