While you want to be a part of the meeting after the meeting, it's not always advisable to attend the "gossip after the meeting". There is a difference.

Gossip is usually associated with talk about another person or people, often with details that aren't true or are negative in some way. I'd like to think we can all agree backstabbing and undermining behavior are totally inappropriate and unacceptable and should not be encouraged in any way.

Gossip is also considered the informal channels of company communication. It might also be called the rumor mill, grapevine, and so on, and it can be valuable every once in a while.

Thinking we can eliminate the grapevine of conversation is naïve. I'd suggest that, instead of spending energy to eradicate gossip, learn how to leverage it. That's right. Use it to your advantage. Again, I'm not talking about spreading nasty comments here. If people make mean-spirited remarks about their co-workers, then you deal with it by holding...