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Crystal wrote: Collapse

Total views: 4 (Your views: 1). While researching the concept of the grapevine, the thought of the childhood game referred to as “telephone” crossed my mind. The grapevine is a common communication system found in most organizations

(More, 2014). However, the system is usually not defined as an official form of communication amongst different organizations (More, 2014). The messages carried by the grapevine are mostly oral, but can be written word documents providing important information released by an agency (More, 2014).

With the system of the grapevine comes both positive and negative attributes (More, 2014). On the positive side, the grapevine is always working to spread messages to all members of an organization

(More, 2014). The grapevine does not discriminate between levels of rank throughout an organization (More, 2014). Also, “the grapevine is working constantly (More, 2014, p. 305).” This form of communication actually has been known to work faster than a formal communication system (More, 2014).

Often, the system is spreading large numbers of messages at one time (Admin, 2013). With a large number or detailed messages being spread through the grapevine, longer, more detailed messages can often get lost in translation (More, 2014). When this happens, negative outcomes are usually experienced by most organizations (More, 2014). Rumors can be one of these outcomes (Admin, 2013).

Rumors can be defined as “an unverified belief flowing freely through the grapevine (More, 2014, p. 305).” Usually if messages are very detailed and hard to spread throughout an organization, the grapevine often simplifies the meaning of the message (More, 2014). This idea is likely to lead to rumors starting around an organization (More, 2014). In order to avoid negative feedback in regards to the grapevine, organizations must have leaders assigned to monitoring and controlling what messages are being relayed to all employees (More, 2014).

A law enforcement manager should make sure that they are aware of what messages are being sent through the grapevine (More, 2014). In order to do this, it is important for managers to know who the leaders of the grapevine are and make sure that they have the correct information before sending the message around the office (More, 2014).

Managers can touch base with these employees regularly to make sure that they are educated on all information related to their organization (More, 2014). It is also necessary that managers alert everyone in the organization that messages can get misconstrued while passing through the grapevine (More, 2014). Employees should feel comfortable taking messages they have received to their management in order to verify if the message is providing correct information (More, 2014). If the management and employees of an organization work together, it is likely that the grapevine will be a significant communication tool.

References

Admin. (2013). Grapevine communication: Advantages and disadvantages. Retrieved from: http://hosbeg.com/grapevine-communication-advantages-and-disadvantages/

More, H., Vito, G., & Walsh, W. (2014). Organizational behavior and management in law enforcement (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.