Teachers and everybody else associated with the functioning of a school need to be extra careful with what they do and say. Children are learning all the time from what they see, hear and experience. Often, the unintended learning that children acquire from their experiences at school leaves a more profound and lasting impression on them than their structured and formal classroom learning. Gossiping and backbiting sometimes come naturally to many teachers. The tender and impressionable minds of young children should be protected from these poisons. Schools must be strictly maintained as “No Gossiping” and “No Backbiting” zones. Speaking ill of people in their absence is bad enough; having to see its hideous influence on small children is something that no real teacher can have on his/her conscience!

1. BACKBITING AND GOSSIPING
BANE OF
TEAMWORK AND SUCCESS
IN
SCHOOLS
Payam Shoghi
http://payamshoghi.com/

2. TEAMWORK AT SCHOOL
Development and progress of
any school depends on the
people who run it. A more
effective teamwork among its
people will ensure unforeseen
successes.

3. TEAMWORK

5. TEAM DEFINITION
 A team is a small number of people with
complimentary skills who are committed to a
common purpose, and a set of performance
goals, and for which they hold themselves
mutually accountable.

6. TEAMWORK
 What is team?
 Why are teams essential?
 How is a team developed?
 What contributes to the strength of a team?
 What are the threats to a team?
 How does a team function?
 What is the relationship between the team and
success?
 How is synergy ensured in a team?
 What is the nature of communication in a team?
 How is performance assessed in a team without
criticism?
 How is morale and motivation kept high in a team?

7. TEAMWORK
 Together
 Everyone
 Accomplishes
 More
 With
 Organization
 Responsibility, and
 Knowledge

8. INGREDIENTS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL TEAM
 Common Goals and Objectives
 High level of Commitment
 Synergy by leveraging Diversity of Skills
 High level of Interdependence
 Highly level of Enthusiasm and
Motivation
 Mutual Support and Assistance
 Joy from each others’ successes
 All are well-wishers of one another

9.  Lack of understanding of roles
 Undefined chain of authority
 Improper planning
 No timely evaluation of progress
 Domination by one team member
 Unresolved disagreements and
differences
 Disengaged attitude by team members
 Gossiping and backbiting within the
team
THREATS TO SUCCESSFUL TEAMS

10.  Gossiping and backbiting within the
team
THREATS TO SUCCESSFUL TEAMS

11. TheThe
MurderousMurderous
TongueTongue
Gossiping and Backbiting-The PoisonGossiping and Backbiting-The Poison thatthat
KillsKills Teamwork andTeamwork and SpoilsSpoils RelationshipsRelationships

12. Gossip: Idle talk or rumor, especially
about the personal or private affairs of
others; sharing unproven facts and
views about others.

13. Backbiting:Backbiting: Speaking ill ofSpeaking ill of
someone in his absence. To determinesomeone in his absence. To determine
if backbiting has occurred, considerif backbiting has occurred, consider
whether the absent person would feelwhether the absent person would feel
bad about what was mentioned behindbad about what was mentioned behind
his back or not. If yes, it is backbiting.his back or not. If yes, it is backbiting.

14. GossipingGossiping
andand
BackbitingBackbiting
Condemned by all major religions of theCondemned by all major religions of the
world.world.

15. Let him abstain from . . . gambling, idle
disputes, backbiting, and lying, from looking
at and touching women, and from hurting
others. (Laws of
Manu)
Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwellLord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell
in Your holy hill?in Your holy hill?
He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, AndHe who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And
speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbitespeaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite
with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takeswith his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes
up a reproach against his friend.up a reproach against his friend. (Psalm 15:1-(Psalm 15:1-
3)3)
O you who believe! Avoid suspicion. . . and spy not on
each other, nor speak ill of each other behind their backs.
Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother?
No, you would abhor it ... But fear Allah, for Allah is Oft-
Returning, Most Merciful." (Holy Quran,

16. For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where
there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases
(Proverbs 26:20)
You shall not go around as a slanderer among
your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of
your neighbor: I am the Lord. (Leviticus
19:16)
. . . backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and
extinguisheth the life of the soul.” (Baha’i Writings)
O Son of Being!
How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself
with the faults of others? Whoso doeth this is accursed of
Me." (Baha’i
Writings)

17. Why, then,Why, then,
do peopledo people
GossipGossip
andand
Backbite?Backbite?

18. Basic reasons why people gossip
about each other and backbite are:
• To alleviate hatred
• Desire to fit in; yielding to peer pressure
• Perception of injustice involving the person concerned
• The desire to show off and boast
• Jealousy
• In jest and humor
• Mocking, ridicule, and contempt.
All Negative Characteristics!

19. We can cause greatWe can cause great
harm by gossipingharm by gossiping
and backbiting. . .and backbiting. . .
to individual reputationsto individual reputations
and more importantlyand more importantly
to organizational progressto organizational progress

20. •We do not always know all the facts
•What we see and hear can actually by
deceptive resulting in misunderstandings
•Ignorance provides credence

21. If notIf not
careful,careful,
thisthis
problemproblem
can getcan get
really bigreally big

22. •Gossiping and backbiting are socially
permissible, and so no external inhibition
•People who backbite and gossip actually
enjoy doing so, and this drives them on
•Shared information, even though not
factual, gives an impression of importance
•We often don’t even realize that we are
backbiting

23. ConsequencesConsequences
of gossipingof gossiping
and backbitingand backbiting
in anin an
organizationorganization

24. •Basic relationships break down affecting
bonds of unity and harmony
•Trust and credibility get undermined
•Groupism within the organization ensues
•Plotting and intrigue follow
•Independent thinking ability undermined
•Organizational time and effort spent in fire-
fighting and crisis management
•Attention gets diverted away from main
aims and objectives

25. How can weHow can we
protectprotect
ourselves fromourselves from
the malice ofthe malice of
gossiping andgossiping and
backbiting?backbiting?

26. •Be guided by the maxim: “if you can’t say
anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
•Reinforce your sense of loyalty towards
the institution: with time we will all be
gone, but the institution will remain. We
have a serious responsibility towards it.
•This basically calls for inner discipline:
don’t gossip and backbite, don’t listen to
gossip and backbiting, remind one
another in a positive way when this happens.

27. Let us do what Socrates used to do:
When approach with news about a
certain person, Socrates would
employ the “Three Filter Test”
Before listening to what the person had to
say, Socrates would ask him the following
three questions:
• Have you made sure that what you are telling
me is absolutely true?
• Is what you are going to tell me something
good?
• Is what you are going to tell me useful to
me?

28. Imagine what happens when we
constantly talk about each other, with
each other, when what is being said -
is something bad, and we are not
even sure whether it is true or not,
and which is a completely useless
piece of information to us!
Please don’t lend a hearing ear to such idle talk.
The responsibility to stop gossiping and
backbiting is as much the listeners’ as the
speakers’.

29. RESOLUTION
 Try and root out the evil vices of
Gossiping and Backbiting from
every school for ever.
 Help build stronger bonds of
trust, unity and
interdependence.
 Strive to build an institution
that others will envy.