Why stopping sport talk would kill off office life

But while water coolers across the land are abuzz with praise for Town’s efforts in holding Liverpool to a 2-2 draw on Sunday, some people would rather we didn’t talk about it at all – at work at least.

Chat and banter are as common as printer jams in Britain’s offices, and help improve productivity, boost morale and encourage team bonding.

So this week’s comments from Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, suggesting that one topic of discussion should be stamped out, caused outrage.

Bosses, she said, should discourage employees from discussing football, cricket and rugby because it could exclude women and lead to “laddish” behaviour such as boasting about sexual conquests.

“A lot of women in particular don’t follow those sports and they don’t like either being forced to talk about them or not being included in the conversation,” she told Today on Radio 4, going on to claim that the topic of VAR – video assistant referees – in particular could lead to women feeling excluded and could be the start of a downward spiral.

“It’s very easy for it to escalate from VAR talk and chat to slapping each other on the back and talking about their conquests at the weekend,” she continued.

“It’s a gateway to more laddish behaviour and – if it just goes unchecked – it’s a signal of a more laddish culture.”

'Divisive'

Wolverhampton-born journalist Jacqui Oatley, a fellow guest on the show, believes a crackdown is a “terrible idea”, adding: “If you ban football chat or banter, then all you’re going to do is alienate people who actually want to communicate with each other.

“It would be so, so negative to tell people not to talk about sport because girls don’t like it or women don’t like it, that’s far more divisive.”

Skye Stewart, chairwoman of Black Country Fusion FC, describes Ms Francke’s views as “outdated” saying they perpetuate negative stereotypes.

“In 2020, there are sometimes as many women who enjoy discussing sports, especially football, as there are men,” she says.

“We have seen the popularity of women’s football increase with the success of the Lionesses. This is not to say that all women football fans watch it, but it has provided a gateway for more women to watch both men’s and women’s.

“Stereotyping men by saying all male football fans go out on the weekend and then come into their place of work and discuss their conquests, I find this quite offensive.

“Sport often acts of a conversation starter in many different ways. For example, the likes of a shared common team or even if a person personally does not like football but a family member, a partner or friend is a passionate fan, the conversation evolves from there.”

Amy Mitchell, who owns Walsall-based telecoms company TinCan Comms, believes office chat has its role in the workplace and it would be wrong of managers to dictate topics up for discussion.

'Undermining'

“We’ve got a mixed team and I would hate to be telling them what they could and couldn’t talk about. The world would be a bit of a dull place and a miserable place if I did.

“I don’t think Ann has been into an office lately as it has been all about Love Island in mine recently.

“As I’ve been trying to grow the business and I’ve gone out and visited companies, I’ve found sport a good common ground and a conversation starter.

“By saying that talking about sport alienates women, aren’t we going backwards and undermining our great female sport idols?

“I don’t think you can tell people what they can and can’t talk about it. It opens your mind to other interests and widens your knowledge.

“As long as it’s not abusive and they aren’t talking all day – we’ve still got a job to do after all – then I can’t see the problem,” she says.

Bridgnorth office worker, Stuart Morris, who works in the IT industry, believes imposing rules on office chat could eventually lead to silent workplaces and unhappy staff.

“People would be too scared to open their mouths because they would feel like everything they were saying was being monitored. The idea of banning staff from talking about sport because it might upset women is crazy and more than a little sexist.

“I know plenty of women who enjoy playing and watching sport and are happy to talk about it but even if they don’t that doesn’t mean they would want others to stop talking about it altogether. Even my wife, who hates football, will join in a conservation about it if she’s seen something in the news or is wondering why I’ve started shouting at the TV during a match.

“I agree there needs to be a level of professionalism in an office – no one wants to hear about their colleague’s drunken antics – but this is going far too far in my opinion,” he adds.