Grapevine (gossip)

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To hear something through the grapevine is to learn of something informally and unofficially by means of gossip and rumour.

The usual implication is that the information was passed person to person by word of mouth, perhaps in a confidential manner among friends or colleagues. It can also imply an overheard conversation or anonymous sources of information. For instance "I heard through the grapevine that Brad was getting fired."

A study quoted in Forbes magazine concludes that 75 percent of employees hear about matters first through rumors on the grapevine. Robbins states that rumors flourish in an organization because of three elements. They are a response to situations that are important to employees, where there is some ambiguity, and under conditions that arouse anxiety. From a management perspective, the grapevine acts as a filter and a feedback mechanism to identify issues that employees consider important and relevant.

According to Robbins, the grapevine in an organization has three significant characteristics.

It is not controlled by formal management.
Most employees perceive it to be more believable and reliable than formal communication issued by top management.
It is largely used for the self-interests of the people within the organization.

Managers can use the grapevine to:^[1]

get a feel for the morale of the organization
understand the anxieties of the work force
evaluate formal communication efforts and see if they are working.

[edit] Origin of the term

In the autobiography of Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, Washington says that slaves in the South kept up-to-date on current events by "what was termed the 'grape-vine' telegraph." He said,

“

Often the slaves got knowledge of the results of great battles before the white people received it. This news was usually gotten from the coloured man who was sent to the post office for the mail... The man who was sent to the post office would linger about the place long enough to get the drift of the conversation from the group of white people who naturally congregated there, after receiving their mail, to discuss the latest news. The mail carrier on his way back to our master's house would as naturally retail the news that he had secured among the slaves, and in this way they often heard of important events before the white people at the 'big house,' as the master's house was called.

”

According to Jitendra Mishra:^[2]

“

The term grapevine can be traced to Civil War days when vinelike telegraph wires were strung from tree to tree across battlefields and used by Army Intelligence.[4] The messages that came over these lines were often so confusing or inaccurate that soon any rumor was said to come from the grapevine. Usually, grapevines flow around water coolers, down hallways, through lunch rooms, and wherever people get together in groups.[5] The lines of communication seem to be haphazard and easily disrupted as the telegraph wires were, however, they transmit information rapidly and in many cases faster and with a stronger impact than the formal system allows.

”

The term gained a boost in popularity through its use in the Motown song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", a major hit single for both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips in the late 1960s.

[edit] See also

"Heard It Through the Grapevine". (February 10, 1997). Forbes, pp. 22
Robbins, Stephen; Essentials of Organizational Behavior (8th ed.) New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-144571-5.