Informal Communication

Informal Communication is a casual or non-official type of discussion that happened between two individuals at the workplace. These type of communications may happen verbally or in written but does not hold any official responsibility. The informal communication network is often known as the ‘grapevine’. Informal communications are not dependent on hierarchy and can also happen between a CEO and executive. These communications build a strong employee-employer relationship and boost employee’s confidence.

There are four common types of informal communications in an organization:

• Single strand: Communication that happens between two employees and gets transferred to another employee on a one-on-one basis.
• Gossip chain: Communication where a group of employees talk to each other informally.
• Probability chain: Communication where an employee tells another employee the same message.
• Cluster chain: Communication where one employee shares a piece of information with a group and later that is transferred to others via each individual.