Compare and Contrast Essay on Water Cooler and Grapevine Communication

Introduction

Water cooler and grapevine concepts plays are very influential in the communication that takes place in an organization. Despite most of the organizations putting so much emphasis on formal communication, water coolers and grapevines methods have been used to pass information from one person to another in a company. Water cooler communications entail the passing of information that is not work-related from one employee to another. In this, employees may discuss their life interests, hobbies and other things that may be affecting them directly (Lin, & Kwantes, 2015). On the other hand, the grapevine is an informal communication that facilitates the spread of information to various people in an organization without considering the official position one holds (Khanna, 2017). It spreads depending on the personal relationships between the people in an organization. For instance, it may give room for the communication between a junior employee and senior management. The two concepts are very influential in the communication that takes place in an organization.

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Grapevine makes an emerging topic to spread very fast from one person to another (Enuoh, & Inyang, 2016). The process work similar to the spread of rumors where an individual may pass information to another person secretly without noting that he or she may also inform another person. Therefore, within a very short time, the message may have reached everyone in an organization. The message may reach the management even before it gets to all the employees and thus if a managerial intervention is needed, then the leaders in the company may come out and address the issue (Wagner, Bezuidenhout, & Roos, 2015). For instance, if false information concerning the company is spreading, it may reach the manager within a short time and thus addressed accordingly. The management may reject the information and clarify the issue. Therefore, it is evident that grapevines may facilitate the fast spread of information and thus the management may solve an issue before it has extreme consequences (Sethi, & Seth, 2016).

Water Cooler is influential in the communication taking place in a company. It gives room for close interaction between people with the same goals and ensures that they have a chance to share their ideas with one another (Newton, Wait, & Angus, 2017). Although some of the ideas that may be discussed in the water cooler talks may not be directly involved in the issues of an organization, the employees may state their interest and how they feel the organization should be managed to enhance productivity (Carr, & Zube, 2015). The talks may take place during work-breaks and thus everyone may feel free to air his or her ideas without fear of the management (Shelton, & Polus, 2017). For instance, during tea time, an employee may suggest that the company should come up with strategies that the firm should organize team building events. Managers may be present and hence may propose an immediate organization of the event. The message reaches the management fast contrary to when the formal channel could have been used. Additionally, some of the people in the formal communication line may fail to pass a message from the junior employees to those above him or her by seeing it as unnecessary (McAlpine, 2018).

Conclusion

Both the grapevine and water cooler communication have played a major role in the passing of messages in the organization informally. They facilitate a quick pass of a message from the people in the lower ranks to those in the high ones (Nwogbaga, Nwankwo, & Onwa, 2015). Although formal channels are the ones that are mainly advocated, some messages may be passed to the managers during some informal gatherings that can make them note the wishes of the employees and hence ensure that they are implemented within a short period.

References

Carr, C. T., & Zube, P. (2015). Network autocorrelation of task performance via informal communication within a virtual world. Journal of Media Psychology.

Enuoh, R. O., & Inyang, B. J. (2016). Appropriating the Grapevine Communication Channel in the Organization. Sustainable Human Development Review, 2(2).

Khanna, S. (2017). Effective Communication Skills-A Road Map for Success.

Lin, I. Y., & Kwantes, C. T. (2015). Potential Job Facilitation Benefits of "Water Cooler" Conversations: The Importance of Social Interactions in the Workplace. The Journal of Psychology, 149(3), 239-262.

McAlpine, K. L. (2018, July). Flexible Work and the Effect of Informal Communication on Idea Generation and Innovation. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2018, No. 1, p. 15092). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.

Newton, J., Wait, A., & Angus, S. D. (2017). Watercooler chat, organizational structure, and corporate culture.

Nwogbaga, D. M., Nwankwo, O. U., & Onwa, D. O. (2015). Avoiding School Management Conflicts and Crisis through Formal Communication. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(4), 33-36.

Sethi, D., & Seth, M. (2016). Can Organizational Grapevine be Beneficial? An Exploratory Study in Indian Context.

Shelton, C., & Polus, B. (2017). The Application of SEAM in Remote Organizations (Doctoral dissertation, The College of St. Scholastica).

Wagner, J. D., Bezuidenhout, M. C., & Roos, J. H. (2015). Communication satisfaction of professional nurses working in public hospitals. Journal of nursing management, 23(8), 974-982.