Week 7: Post 3

The concept that stuck out to me in chapter 8 was the section on informal structures of organizational communication. These are the structures that are not necessarily taught with the intention of people using them, they are the structures that happen just by human nature. The grapevine for example cannot be assigned as a structure of communication, it is something that just happens by doing what we do best, talking. The book says that the grapevine is put into use when “people have personal interests and needs that are not satisfied by formal channels. I think that most people automatically think of rumors when we hear that someone “heard it through the grapevine” but apparently the majority of information that travels by way of grape vine is actually information that is valid and useful, while only a small portion is actually rumors. I had never really thought of the grapevine as a useful way to pass information because it is usually associated with passing rumors so I’m glad they included that.