Chatting at work - distraction or social glue

How much chatting do you do at work? Are you someone who could yak for a living....or are you as quiet as a church mouse? Is it something that's frowned upon where you work - a distraction from what you're actually paid to do...or is it seen - and heard - as part of the social glue of the working environment? Our regular commentator Lucy Kellaway thinks trivial chatting is far from trivial