Should you tell lie at work? When? How?

While probity is entirely suitable for some situations, in others telling an unvarnished truth only harm your career indeed. You might think this is just nothing except sophism but we tell lies for many positive reasons like to spare others’ feelings or to lubricate social relationship, because of unspoken rules of behavior, some workplace etiquettes or they only ask you to expect a certain response, which just leads to a lie.

So, what are the questions at the workplace you should never answer honestly?

1. How are you?

It is nothing more than a random sentence. When they ask you, they just need a one-word answer, not your pathetic story about your life. So if you are fine, say so, if you are not, say you are fine. If you are at a very bad mood, say you are OK. People are not very interested anyway. Expressing your real emotion and you will be notorious for being a bore, a moaner or both.

The Most common lie in the world - "I'm Fine"

Apply this on your life too. For most of the people who just an acquaintance asking how your weekend or something like that, they only try to be polite and they are not interested in how you end up with a dark circle under your eyes

2. What do you think about your colleague?

 Backbite your peers is fraught with pitfalls, even they are good or bad. Think of their positions and performance at your workplace. If they are subordinate, it makes you look mean. If they are at a higher position, it makes you look bitter or enthusiasm. A reply without directly judging anyone sounds good, pick out his or her good points to say. Sometimes you may be asked straightly about their weakness or a bad performance but even here, there is much to be said in an ingenious way. Therefore, you might damn them with faint compliments or leave it blanks for others to fill in. Trying, “Well, you know, he certainly makes the sales...” allows everyone in the room to add or understand without you ever having to say it.

3. What do you think about me as a boss?

If you have a great boss, it’s easy, just be honest. But if he is totally not, I assume he won’t listen to anything you say anyway so the idea of giving them the honest answer will only get their back up. Instead, bring out some good points you can think of but don’t make up. If in a sensitive situation, the truths should be couched in very careful way, like “Actually I have had something that I concerned about the meetings and was wondering if you had any advice” is much better than “I’m sick of the way you dominate every meeting or your employees and the way you assign the mission”.

To hide those white lies, Vietnam Manpower can tell you some tricks as follow:

To be not caught in the act of lying, you should be careful in these signs which are reveal your true face.

- Are your face giving it away: you may be able to spot a liar by their red cheeks since anxiety can cause people to blush. Other liar’s expression? Flared nostrils, lip nibbling, deep breathing, and rapid blinking, which hint that the brain is working overtime.

- Watch out for your body language: Liars often shove their hands behind their back because they are afraid of those fidgety digits might give them away.

- The way you smile: A real smile can see in people’s lips and eyes. Otherwise, a fake smile only stops in their lip.

- Which words you are using: In general, people who tell a lie have tendency to use fewer personal pronouns and exclusionary words like “but,” “nor,” “except,” and “whereas”