Grapevines and Communication

Fall 2007

Organizational Behavior

Grapevines and Communication

Communication is the key to success in every organization. In order to have good communication you must be able to understand and transfer the meanings effectively. In the organization communication is facilitated through formal networks, computer aided mechanisms, and the grapevine. All three are vital to the organization.

Formal small groups can be categorized into three networks. The chain is where one person starts the communication and the flow goes down through a formal chain of command. The wheel is when there is a strong leader present and he or she relays the information to the others. The all-channel allows all members to be active in the communicating. In computer aided communication employees communicate through

E-mail, instant messages, intranets, and videoconferences. The grapevine is an informal network, but is just as important as the rest. Most employees hear about issues through the grapevine first.

Grapevines satisfy the need of employees to know what is going on. They are informal and off the record so they can be used as a release from emotional anxiety.

Since there is no formal control over the direction of the information it can move upward, downward, diagonally, and even outside the company walls. The locations of grapevines take place all day and peak during breaks were there is almost no management. The reason for grapevines existing is explained when “Gordon Allport describes two conditions as controlling activeness of the grapevine; importance of the subject to the speaker and listener, and the ambiguousness of the facts.”(Mishra) The intensity of the rumor depends on its importance and the ambiguity of the facts. The common view of grapevines is that they are inaccurate. When in fact, “in normal business situations between 75 percent and 95 percent of the information is correct”. (Mishra) The reason why people believe that it is most likely incorrect is because when it is wrong the impact is more devastating. Rumors are usually spread when there is a lack of communication in the organization which increases anxiety and conflict. The word is spread within the organization by four different structures of grapevines. The single strand chain is when A tells B, who tells