Grapevine/Informal Communication
The grapevine communication existed in Civil War to World War 1. It was coined this term because of the nature of networking and reaching several at one time.
In regards to the popular song and lyrics," hearing it through the grape vine," refers to the Highway 5 that goes North from Los Angeles to Bakersfield CA. People used to refer to the news as though they just heard it coming from the city to the country, and they would say, "Oh I just heard it through the grape vine," - referring to hearing new news from the Big City, coming off of the physical 5 Highway from LA to Bakersfield.
The term grapevine communication is often used interchangeably with the term informal communication. The term originated in the 1860s during the American Civil War. It was used as a term that described the telegraph lines that were strung through the trees in a manner that resembled grapevines. It also came to mean informal communication that was not very effective because the telegraph system was not a reliable source of communication at the time. Almost a century later, it was discovered that the path of grapevine communication does resemble a cluster of grapes.
It has been shown that informal communication or grapevine communication occurs when formal communication is not sufficient. Research and studies have concluded that informal communication occurs either when insufficient of ambiguous information is transmitted through formal communication. Some organizational theorists feel that some informal or grapevine communication is needed in organizational life.
The way grapevine communication works is one person, Person 1, sends a message to Person 2 and Person 3. Then, Person 2 tells Person 4 and Person 5. And Person 3 tells Person 6. Not all participants within the grapevine send messages. Some participants are just receivers. Liaisons within an organization usually help facilitate grapevine communication. The use of this type of communication is common among managers as well as subdivision employees.
The types of rumors that are spread through grapevine communication can be classified into two groups, spontaneous and premeditated. Spontaneous rumors are spread when people are stressed or in an untrustworthy environment. Premeditated rumors spread within highly competitive environments. These two groups can be broken down into four classifications: wish fulfillment, anxiety, wedge drivers, and home stretchers. These types of rumors can also be spread through other types of informal network structures such as the single strand chain, the cluster chain, the probability chain, and the gossip chain.
Jitendra Mishra derived 8 reasons Grapevine communication Exists. Some of the reasons include the need for faster communication, useful messages transmitted, outlets for imagination and apprehension, and helps build teamwork and corporate identity. Surprisingly, 75% of all organizations’ practices, policies, and procedures are shared through grapevine communication. Though there is a negative thought about grapevine communication, studies have shown the employees find informal communication such as grapevine communication to be more effective than formal channels of communication because it coexists with the formal communication system.
Read more about this topic: Grapevine (gossip)
Famous quotes containing the word informal:
“We as a nation need to be reeducated about the necessary and sufficient conditions for making human beings human. We need to be reeducated not as parents—but as workers, neighbors, and friends; and as members of the organizations, committees, boards—and, especially, the informal networks that control our social institutions and thereby determine the conditions of life for our families and their children.”
—Urie Bronfenbrenner (b. 1917)