職場雙語:職場生存法則之沉默是金

We chat with our colleagues all the time: when we have lunch, gossip in the tearoom, or leave work together.

我們每時每刻都在與同事聊天：午飯時，茶水間八卦時間，抑或是一起下班時。

Sharing your personal life brings you closer to your co-workers and builds trust within your team. But revealing too much about yourself to colleagues, managers or human resources staff can cause difficulties and even endanger your work.

分享私人生活可以增進你和同事間的關係，在團隊中建立信任。然而，在同事、經理、人事面前過多地暴露自己會引起麻煩，甚至會危機到你的工作。

It's crucial to strike the right balance between getting along with colleagues and maintaining your privacy.

在協調同事關係與保護個人隱私之間保持完美平衡，這點至關重要。

"Communication in the office is tricky. You can neither spread chatter, nor be too silent and shut yourself off from others," said Yang Yudan, deputy HR director at P&G.

"辦公室中的交流很複雜。你既不能過於長舌，也不能太沉默，拒人於千里之外。"寶潔中國人力資源副總監楊宇丹表示。

According to her, there are several safe topics to talk about with colleagues during the break, such as the weather or movies. Women like to talk about makeup and clothing, while men are fond of sports and online games.

她表示，休息時可以和同事聊些比較保險的話題，比如天氣或者電影。女士們喜歡談論化妝品和服飾，而男士們則鍾愛運動和網遊。

But discussing your private life, such as relationship, habits or health conditions, is a potential minefield.

但是討論感情，嗜好或健康狀況這類的個人私生活，這會成爲一個潛在的雷區。

Cui Xiaxia, 21, who has been working for an IT company for only two months, learned this the hard way when she found out that everyone knew she had broken up with her boyfriend.

21歲的崔霞霞（音譯）在一家IT公司工作了僅僅兩個月時間。她通過個人的慘痛教訓學到了這點，當時她發現所有人都知道了她與男友分手的事情。

"I spoke about it with two colleagues in the tearoom and told my clients via phone, and then the news spread."

"我在茶水間和兩個同事說了這事，又在電話裏告訴了我的客戶。然後，消息就傳開了。"

Her boss finally heard about it and asked her not to let it affect her work performance.

最終，她的老闆也聽說了這事，提醒她不能讓私事影響到工作。

Xu Peng, a human resources director at Gree Electric Appliances Inc in Zhuhai, says that it is improper to talk about private matters on formal occasions, for instance when your boss is assigning work.

珠海格力電器人力資源部部長許鵬表示，在正式場合談論私事有欠穩妥，比如老闆正在分配工作時。

"On Monday we had our weekly meeting to discuss work. Two female colleagues were talking about how they spent the weekend traveling with their boyfriends and buying new clothes," Xu said. "It was inappropriate."

"週一我們在週會上討論工作，有兩個女同事卻一直在說週末與男友出遊、買新衣服的事，"許鵬說。"這就是不合時宜的。"

Sometimes revealing private matters in an indiscreet manner can result in disastrous consequences.

有時，輕率地泄露隱私會導致災難性的後果。

Liang Kun, 26, had to resign from his job at a trading company in Guangzhou last week after discussing her income with colleagues during a lunch break. "I didn't realize it was such a serious issue until a senior member of staff went to find the boss, asking why I got a higher salary than her," said Liang.

26歲的樑坤（音譯）供職於廣州一家貿易公司。一次午餐時間，他與同事討論了自己的收入情況；然而就在上週，他不得不辭掉這份工作。"直到一位老員工去找老闆，詢問爲什麼我的工資比她高時，我才意識到事情的嚴重性。"樑坤說。

"Then our HR told me that according to the employee handbook it is forbidden to talk about remuneration in the office."

"之後，人事告訴我，公司員工手冊規定，禁止在辦公室談論報酬。"

HR expert Yang also reminds us that paychecks are your own business. It is unwise to share this information with others, no matter how close you are.

人力資源專家楊宇丹也提醒我們，薪水是你的私事。不管你與同事們多親密，分享這方面的信息絕非明智之舉。

"Before you start working for a new company, you should ask about its privacy policy," she suggested. "Some companies explain this in their contracts or employee handbooks, and you should strictly obey the rules."

"在進入一家新公司工作之前，你應該先詢問它的隱私政策，"她建議道。"有些公司在合同或員工手冊中會對此進行說明，而你應該嚴格地遵守這些規定。"

To summarize, Yang advises office workers to be more aware of the image they project when talking to colleagues. "When you share your personal life, it will be recorded on your invisible resume and may slow down your career progression."

簡而言之，楊宇丹建議，職場人士在與同事聊天時應該多注意自身形象。"當你分享私人生活時，這些都會被記錄在無形的簡歷上，也許會妨礙你日後升遷。"