Article for Grapevine
How to deal with rumors on the grapevine
By Kim Harrison,
Consultant, Author and Principal of www.cuttingedgepr.com
If managers and supervisors don’t attend to the communication needs of their staff, there is no vacuum of information. Instead, the informal avenue of rumors grows, frequently putting a destructive slant on organizational happenings when employees are uncertain. Some people say that up to 70% of the information employees receive is via the grapevine.
Information via the grapevine invariably moves much faster than through formal communication channels. This is its greatest attribute. Emails have now joined the grapevine communication channels, making it even faster.
The 'grapevine' is the informal communication network found in every organization. The term can be traced back to the United States Civil War in the 1860s. Since battlefronts moved frequently, army telegraph wires were strung loosely from tree to tree across battlefields, somewhat like wires used to support grapevines. The wires were used to carry telegraph messages created in Morse code (the electronic alphabet, invented in 1844) because the telephone wasn’t invented until 1876. Since the lines often were strung hastily during battle, and messages were composed in a hurry, the resulting communication tended to be garbled and confusing. Soon, any rumor was said to have been heard 'on the grapevine'.
There are four types of grapevine rumors:
Wish fulfillment - identifying the wishes and hopes of employees.
'Bogey rumors' - exaggerating employees' fears and concerns.
'Wedge-drivers' - aggressive, unfriendly and damaging. They split groups and dissolve allegiances.
'Home-stretchers' - anticipating final decisions or announcements. They tend to fill the gap during times of ambiguity.
Research shows that grapevine information tends to be about 80% accurate. Since many rumors start from someone's account of an actual event, there are strong elements
By Kim Harrison,
Consultant, Author and Principal of www.cuttingedgepr.com
If managers and supervisors don’t attend to the communication needs of their staff, there is no vacuum of information. Instead, the informal avenue of rumors grows, frequently putting a destructive slant on organizational happenings when employees are uncertain. Some people say that up to 70% of the information employees receive is via the grapevine.
Information via the grapevine invariably moves much faster than through formal communication channels. This is its greatest attribute. Emails have now joined the grapevine communication channels, making it even faster.
The 'grapevine' is the informal communication network found in every organization. The term can be traced back to the United States Civil War in the 1860s. Since battlefronts moved frequently, army telegraph wires were strung loosely from tree to tree across battlefields, somewhat like wires used to support grapevines. The wires were used to carry telegraph messages created in Morse code (the electronic alphabet, invented in 1844) because the telephone wasn’t invented until 1876. Since the lines often were strung hastily during battle, and messages were composed in a hurry, the resulting communication tended to be garbled and confusing. Soon, any rumor was said to have been heard 'on the grapevine'.
There are four types of grapevine rumors:
Wish fulfillment - identifying the wishes and hopes of employees.
'Bogey rumors' - exaggerating employees' fears and concerns.
'Wedge-drivers' - aggressive, unfriendly and damaging. They split groups and dissolve allegiances.
'Home-stretchers' - anticipating final decisions or announcements. They tend to fill the gap during times of ambiguity.
Research shows that grapevine information tends to be about 80% accurate. Since many rumors start from someone's account of an actual event, there are strong elements