I am constantly amazed at the power and efficiency of the grapevine. It is not managed by anyone, it doesn’t require a budget and it doesn’t utilize any IT support. Yet, it is one of the most powerful tools an organization has when it comes to communicating new ideas, especially those that help to cultivate a culture. How often do hallway conversations, coffee breaks and water cooler discussions serve as the main mechanism for information flow throughout an organization? It is the most basic form of social networking and is probably the most efficient and proven of all channels.

Clearly some teams understand this power and use it to their advantage, whether they are actually conscious of it or not. I remember working with a group where morning coffee breaks were borderline mandatory attendance. I thought it was odd at first but then I realized that these short little team interactions served as an excellent source of information. The discussions were casual but 90% of the time, they were work-related. You could watch consensus building occurring naturally with each session. No one managed the discussion, it just happened. Over the course of a week, you could get a really clear picture of what was going on and how individuals truly felt about it.

Informal mechanisms enable respondents to react naturally to a concept, often providing a gut-level, unfiltered response. (careful what you ask for!). In some cases this response is indicative of the undercurrent you might hear through more formal communication channels. Informal mechanisms are less threatening, and can be used to gain momentum behind an idea or to garner support before formally introducing an idea. The grapevine is a great contributor to culture – you can learn what excites and energizes people, what angers people and what is inconsequential pretty quickly.

If you want to test drive an idea or concept before formally launching it, consider the channel you use to introduce it. You can get plenty of qualitative and quantitative feedback, maybe even get some momentum behind your idea – and its free!