The good old office grapevine has received such bad press that employees publicly make a huge show of distancing themselves from it. The reality is, of course, very different. Most people are plugged into ‘office news’ at some level or the other.

So, do you dismiss such informal communication as mere gossip? Do you go out of your way to cultivate sources of office information? Or do you just plod on at your job regardless of what is happening around you?

An ear for it

Spurning information would be the reaction of the very na?ve. Plugging into information sources and adding grist for the already-rumbling rumour mill would be foolhardy.

And fanning the flames of gossip with personal opinions would be suicidal. So whichever way you go, it’s best to look before you leap.

Use the grapevine effectively, and you will find that it can be a great career aid. The grapevine often provides you with useful information that could help you further your career.

Seize the moment

Says Dilip Cherian, consulting partner, Perfect Relations, “Spotting problems which are not very apparent and seizing existing opportunities are perhaps the most important ways in which employees can harness the grapevine to their advantage.

For example, if you had a particular division that was experiencing a series of failures, most savvy employees would, via the grapevine, use this information to create opportunities for themselves within that division; either by offering to help out with the problems or by other means.

Next, take another example. A company may be thinking of branching out in new, uncharted directions.

Efficient workers would take this as an indication of how they should alter their own plans of action. Or how they should re-skill themselves to adapt to the new situation better.”

Putting the message across

However, tapping the grapevine for information is only half the advantage. A smart employer can use it to percolate his message up and down the company hierarchy.

Says P.D. Hindwan, additional general manager, corporate communications, NTPC; “You can use the grapevine to pass information on to a cross-section of employees.

You could even use it to spread the good word about a particular project and its merits. This, in fact, acts as an inspirational tool for others, helping growth and creating a competitive edge among co-workers.”

The flip side

Undoubtedly, like everything else there is a flip side to working the office grapevine. Here are the pointers on what you should be wary of:

• First you cannot ? and should not ? listen to everyone and believe everything you hear.

• Second, you have to be able to distinguish between good and damaging or malicious information. So, before you act on something you hear, verify whether it is true.

• Pay attention to news that is passed on by people in the know.

• And finally, be aware of who has power and who would most likely be in the know.

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