Formal or informal, communication channels play vital role in developing as well as hampering the reputation and change management process. When we say formal communication networking, we basically think of any emails, brochures, reports that we intentionally or mandatorily put out for public view and access. This is the data which we need the public to see, analyse and respond to. However, there is also another informal communication mode or way, which is known as grapevine. Grapevine is what the internal or external stakeholders talk, discuss and spread throughout he organization and its relevant external environment.
How informal communication impacts your organization?
- Grapevine does not need any point of authority or validity for communication: Higher management usually tries to retain more information with themselves and give out little to the concerned stakeholders. This induces them to fill in the blank (in terms of information and time taken for information transfer) by spreading rumors or self-made opinions.
- Informal communication settles in faster: Therefore, you need to put out information in different ways through different channels, which will just then stick in.
- Uses fastest way of bilateral or unilateral communication – conversation: Grapevine does not gets spread through email or letter or memo or any other formal ways of communication. Instead it uses most powerful technique of person to person communication, which makes it fastest as response time is much higher and ensured.
How can you stop grapevine from damaging your organization?
- Accept and adapt your organization change strategy accordingly: If you accept the existence of rumors or any other informal communication, then half the battle is won. Accepting that grapevine flows through the organization and its immediate environment, makes the management understand how to initiate or induce healthy informal communication.
- Devising optimistic communication network and trust them: Proceeding through, you will need to create your communication network which will include almost all the concerned stakeholders. This will automatically direct the flow of relevant information to those people who will start spreading rumors in absence of full or no information. Even if there is nothing to communicate, you cannot be passive, rather you should communicate that there is nothing to communicate as of now.
- Active communication is the key: Most of the times, you can find out that the root of any informal communication is deep inside most casual and unintentional discussions, for e.g. at canteen, at coffee machine etc. As already mentioned, conversation is most expressive and effective way of communication. Rather than any written formal communication, which involves single direction of communication at a time, conversation is bilateral or even unilateral. So, if you wish to boost the positive informal communication, then it is very necessary that you should converse more directly to your managers, employees etc. than send out memos or emails.
