Which informal communication channel involves

Somebody among the employees within the company puts some imagination to it and tells others that the company is going to offer bonus to the employees on the basis of profit earned. Due to delay in supply and shortage of raw materials the work in a factory has been stopped for a few days. The workers made it a rumor that the management authority is going to retrench a large number of employees soon.

The informal communication is a part and parcel of the organisational process. Proper analysis and suitable clarification of informal communication will be helpful in making its use towards organisational efficiency. The purpose of informal communication includes sharing of information, establishing personal contacts, making friendship, influencing and motivating others, resolving conflicts, supplementing official channels, getting relaxation, searching escape from monotony of work, etc.

Informal Communication is conveyed through verbal and gestural means in all directions with the help of the following media:. Since grapevine works through informal channels, it does not follow any scheduled path or operate by specific rules. Like a grapevine it spreads fast in any direction.

In this type of grapevine communication the information passes through a number of persons like a chain. A tells something to B, who tells it to C, who tells it to D and so on. It is generally a long chain. The longer the chain the greater is the possibility of distortion of the information.

In Gossip Chain one person actively conveys information to other persons around him. A circle or wheel-like figure is formed in this communication. Here, in this picture. Gossip Chain is generally used when information to be communicated is non-job oriented in nature. It is a random process in which information may move from one person to any other person or persons according to law of probability. Naturally, in this type of communication, some people of the organisation will be informed and some others will remain outside the arena of the communication.

Here, in the illustration, E, F, G and K are outside the communication chain. This chain is used when information is interesting but less important. Cluster chain is mostly used and the dominant pattern of grapevine communication. In this type one person tells something to some selected trust worthy persons.

Some of these persons may inform a few selected other individuals. Here in the picture, A tells some selected and trustworthy persons, B, C and D. C again relays it to his selected persons, G, H and I. D tells J, a person of his choice.

E and F remain outside The cluster. Informal or Grapevine communication is an indispensable part of entire communication system.

Formal communication is compared to arteries of a living being, whereas, grapevine or informal communication are like veins. The later is a supplement to the former. Where formal communication fails to operate, grapevine or informal communication is used.

Using such tools, employees can create actionable tasks in one click. A calendar view allows employees to schedule tasks in advance and to see upcoming deadlines at a glance. Even though project management solutions have revolutionized the way employee collaboration and project management work, they are certainly not a replacement for internal communications solutions.

Project management tools are simply not designed to keep employees informed about the happenings within the organization, neither they ensure easy access to company-wide information.

Therefore, one should not use them as the primary internal communication channel. Employee newsletters, if done right, can be a great way to inform your employees about what is going on within the company. Employee newsletters, with a little bit of creativity, can be a great way to engage your employees and keep them up-to-date with information that is relevant to them and their interests. However, newsletters are usually sent through emails. As mentioned earlier, emails can be pretty inefficient way to communicate with employees as they are hard to prioritize.

What's more, communicating with your employees through email newsletters doesn't allow you to personalize the information you share with them. With standardized newsletters, you can't tailor the information you share with your employees based on their roles within the organization, their location and the languages they speak. Private messaging software solutions became extremely popular and they are now used in most organizations. Indeed, they enable team discussions all while making it easy for employees to have private discussions with their colleagues on a daily basis.

Private messaging apps are great for team chats, but they won't help you communicate company-wide information with your entire workforce. Not able to immediately find important documents that you need to complete your tasks or the project you're working on?

Besides causing frustration among employees, employers are still not aware of the real cost of extensive information search. This is exactly the reason why document sharing tools have been developed; to structure and organize important documents so that employees can access them in seconds.

However, implementing this type of software is just the first step toward great internal comms. These software allow you to store key documents, but they don't help you share specific documents or information with the right employees when they need it.

After the implementation, information still needs to be grouped, organized and segmented in a way that makes sense to your employees. If the search process is not intuitive to employees, they will be unlikely to use it. Every company today has a video conferencing software in place. Video conferencing software solutions enable us to connect our remote employees on a more personal level than just via messaging apps.

In addition, they are one of the most popular ways to reduce travel times and other related business costs. Video conferencing solutions, however, are made to ease conversations among teams, not to drive ongoing company conversations, share updates and drive engagement at the company-wide level.

Therefore, they are never used as the primary communication channel to keep all employees informed and up-to-date. When done right, employers can leverage the rise of podcasts to effectively communicate with their employees. With podcasts, however, it is important to recognize that this type of communication is largely one-way. We see many organizations starting an internal company blog. This is a great idea to encourage both employees and leaders to generate content employees want to read.

These blogs can cover a variety of topics related to internal or external company happenings. Some of the topics include company-wide event announcements, big changes such as digital transformation projects or mergers and acquisitions , employee stories, company achievements, milestones and many others.

Even though the company's internal blog may be a form of creating interesting content to employees, we need to make sure that the content is actually consumed by employees. It is normal that some employees engage more with your content than others. Some will actually go to your internal blog and read what is up there. Some, however, are not so engaged and will expect YOU to deliver relevant information right to their fingertips.

Annual reports, press releases, product promotions, financial reports are all examples of external communication. Now everyone who sees his customers driving their new car will know where they bought it.

He hopes this sale will generate more business for himself and the dealership, so along with the keys to the car, he gives them several business cards and a coupon for a free oil change. At , Frances waves good-bye to his customers as they drive their new Sonata off the lot. By now you know that business communication can take different forms and flow between different kinds of senders and receivers. Another way to classify communication is by network.

In other words, the formal network follows reporting relationships. In the past, many organizations considered informal communication generally associated with interpersonal, horizontal communication a hindrance to effective organizational performance and tried to stamp it out.

This is no longer the case. The maintenance of personal networks and social relationships through information communication is understood to be a key factor in how people get work done. While informal communication is important to an organization, it also may have disadvantages.

Casual conversations are often spontaneous, and participants may make incorrect statements or promulgate inaccurate information. Less accountability is expected from informal communications, which can cause people to be indiscreet, careless in their choice of words, or disclose sensitive information.

Answer the question s below to see how well you understand the topics covered above. This short quiz does not count toward your grade in the class, and you can retake it an unlimited number of times. Use this quiz to check your understanding and decide whether to 1 study the previous section further or 2 move on to the next section.

Skip to main content. Chapter Teamwork and Communication. Search for:. Communication Channels, Flows, Networks. Learning Outcomes Differentiate between face-to-face, written, oral, Web-based, and other common channels of business communication Differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate uses of different communication channels Differentiate between downward, upward, horizontal, diagonal, and external communication flows Differentiate between formal and informal communication networks.

Licenses and Attributions. CC licensed content, Original. Some factors that foster Informal Communication in a typical office environment are:. Despite the pitfalls mentioned above, Grapevines can be used in an effective manner if appropriate measures are taken by the Top Management. It is wise to understand that Grapevines are indispensable, hence the management must take appropriate measures to exert some control over the information spread through grapevines. To put it in a nutshell, Grapevines can be used to spread information that the management wants to be spread in an unofficial manner from time to time.

Tips for using Grapevines in an effective manner. Overview Notes Projects Ebooks Contact. Formal and Informal Communication Channels.