Tell it to the grapevine: to get the word out, no other medium communicates news more quickly

Communication World, June-July, 2002 by Lorenzo Sierra

The corporate grapevine is an invisible flow of rumor, innuendo and speculation. It weaves its way through all levels of an organization. The grapevine is amply fertilized and fed by a corps of eager gardeners. It grows faster than weeds after a monsoon rain. And like the weeds that grow in our yards, the grapevine can suffocate the things we want to grow.

The grapevine is the one communication device in an organization that will never lack subscribers or contributors. And to the dismay of many an executive, it is the one medium that can't be fully controlled. Properly nurtured, the corporate grapevine can be a valuable asset. It can help you:

* get a feel for the morale of your organization

* understand the anxieties of your work force

* evaluate your formal communication efforts and see if they are working. Ignore the grapevine or try to kill it, and it will inevitably lead to:

* low morale

* lower productivity

* misinformation and misunderstanding.

BETTER LEFT UNSAID?

Nachie Marquez, communication and public affairs director for the city of Chandler, Ariz., has been in organizational communication for 15 years. During that time she has seen her share of grapevine successes and missteps.

"I've found that you have to be complete with your information," Marquez says. "If not, employees will fill in the gaps. Then the story takes on a life of its own."

The things that aren't said often feed the grapevine. For example, Marquez has found that when someone leaves a job with the city, she must let people know that the person has moved on--even if it's a generic announcement.

"If employees notice one day that a person is gone, they begin to wonder what happened," she says. "It may have been as innocent as that person taking a job closer to home. But if it's not communicated, people may begin to wonder if there are organizational changes. If employees don't get the information they want, they go straight to the grapevine."

MEASURING THE GRAPEVINE

Paul Barton, ABC, has been in the employee communication and newspaper fields for more than 20 years. Since 1996, Barton has worked in the communication departments of some of his region's largest and most recognizable publicly traded companies. He has always kept close watch on his organizations' grapevines.

"It's another form of feedback," Barton says. "It [the grapevine] lets you know if your messages are being perceived as they were intended."

At one of his companies, Barton and his staff conducted a comprehensive employee communication audit. Their goal was to see how effective their communication vehicles were and if their messages were getting through. One of the items Barton included in the survey was the grapevine.

Results showed that 43 percent of employees surveyed always or often relied on the grapevine for information. When asked if the grapevine was their preferred source of information, only 28 percent answered favorably.

"We found that people want to know what's going on and how it affects them personally in their jobs," Barton says. "They said their preferred method was hearing news from their manager or supervisor."

WATERING THE GRAPEVINE

As communicators, Marquez and Barton say that it is imperative that they monitor their organization's grapevine.

"You can get a pulse of the organization," Marquez says. "You can find out employees' anxieties and concerns."

"You may think your message is as clear as a bell," Barton says. "But the grapevine will let you know if people didn't understand it. You then have the opportunity to restate it."

Barton monitors various online message boards, noting that the Internet is fertile ground for rumors and misinformation.

"It's amazing how high up [in the organization] some of these rumors go," Barton says.

Marquez says her best grapevine sources are administrative assistants. "They are dealing with the entire organization," she notes.

MANAGING YOUR GRAPEVINE

The best way to keep the rumor mill from spinning out of control is to be up front with as much information as possible. "Be open and honest with employees," suggests Marquez.

Another recommendation is to find the people in your organization who tend to be the instigators of unauthorized information (i.e., rumor mongers). These folks are not necessarily ill-willed, they just capitalize on their skill of starting conversations with "I heard that...."

"They want to be in the know," Marquez points out. "It's best to work with them."

You also can ask your employees how they use the grapevine. When Barton gathered his information, he held focus groups and conducted formal surveys to obtain statistically valid qualitative and quantitative data.

FINE WINE OR VINEGAR?

Every organization has a grapevine. Not every organization uses it effectively.

If you provide comprehensive, honest information to your employees in a manner that is easily understood, it is likely that your grapevine is filling in small information gaps. This type of grapevine is easy to manage and turns business leaders into caring gardeners. If the grapevine is your organization's lone source of information, you run the risk of being out of touch with your employees. You also stand the chance of running into the same fate as Marvin Gaye in his famous song "I Heard it Through the Grapevine -- you'll lose your lover [employees] to another. And like Marvin Gaye, you'll be caught by surprise and it will be too late to save the relationship.