The grapevine is infamous for the rapidity with which communication is spread, but it suffers from distortion in much the same way that the formal channels do. The main reason information spreads so quickly on the grapevine is because only spectacular pieces of gossip are used, and thus the motivation of each individual both to hear and pass on the information is high.
Because the distortion of information found in this method of communication may be harmful or threatening to management, they may be most anxious to prevent its operation. One of the most effective means of doing this is to keep the employees fully informed about all the decisions likely to affect them. One the other hand, it has been known for managements, unwilling to make a formal announcement on a very sensitive subject, to drop a hint to a central figure in the informal communications network, so that the initial employee reactions may be observed with management still preserving their apparent neutrality.
An organisation with an informal structure does not have the formal arrangement of reporting relationships, It may be the case that there is a political structure within the organisation, and messages are passed through unofficial channels. An example of a political structure might be a college. If a college were to re-structure, the politics behind the re-structuring would be rife. Members of he organisation would seek to find out as much information as possible about the re-structuring, their concerns would be for themselves and the safety of their jobs. In a political situation like this, the members would be trying to find out as much as possible, and some might even be friends with the principal's assistant whom they might try to get some (privileged) information out of her. The informal politics within an organisation can be an unscrupulous environment, where backstabbing and personal vendettas come into play between members and factions.
