Managers of a large American company were sent to Finland to supervise operations. Sailing through her software presentation to new employees, Andrea noticed a stony gaze on the eyes of some listeners. She then slowed down, reviewed the main points, and paused to encourage questions. The grapevine can be used by management to transmit official news. Heavy reliance on the grapevine suggests that management is not keeping employees sufficiently informed through formal channels.
Management can learn valuable information about employee morale from the grapevine.
The grapevine is usually faster and more effective than formal lines of communication. Our company's brand is selling better than the competitor's because of our lower price. People are buying our product because of our excellent advertising. Our sales have increased 15 percent since we lowered the price of our product. People like the new features of the product and have been buying more of it.