Michael was worried. Rumors that the current quarter would be even more difficult were spreading so rapidly that he couldn't see any way to deal with them. He turned to face Lou. "Unless we come up with a plausible story, we'll start to lose people in a couple of weeks."
The common metaphors
about rumors are misleading"It has to be more than just a plausible story," Lou replied. "It has to be true. If it isn't true, our credibility will be shot."
Lou is pointing out the First Rule of Rumor Management: Credibility Is Your Most Powerful Tool. If even one of your rumor-squelching stories proves wrong, squelching the next rumor becomes much more difficult.
Two common metaphors for rumor generation and propagation are the "rumor mill" and the "grapevine." Both are misleading.
- The rumor mill
-
The Boott Cotton Mills and Eastern Canal in the Lowell National Historical Park. Photo by Andrew Donovan courtesy the U.S. National Park Service.
- The grapevine
- This metaphor suggests that rumors propagate along a linear path. To listen to rumors, you just plug into the grapevine. The actual rumor propagation medium is a tightly connected network of personal relationships. Rumors propagate far more rapidly over this network than they would over any linear structure.
Cutting the grapevine or shutting down the rumor mill doesn't work, because there is no grapevine and there is no rumor mill. Rumors can pop up anywhere, and spread by hopping along personal relationships, fed mostly by anxiety and worry. Here are five strategies for managing organizational rumors.
- Credibility is your most powerful tool
- Credibility can't quell rumors or limit their formation. But it can launch the Truth. Be clear, be early, and be right.
- Repair your credibility when it gets tattered
- Repairing organizational credibility often requires replacing management or reorganizing responsibilities. If you choose neither, then publicly delegate responsibility to a new high-visibility subordinate of anyone you choose not to replace.
- Be judicious about openness
- Many believe that openness prevents rumors. While secrecy does stimulate rumors, openness limits them only if it reduces anxiety. Openness can even make things worse, if it adds to anxiety.
- Leave no voids
- When people worry, they make up what they don't know. When we say nothing about a topic people are worrying about, we leave a void to be filled by rumors.
- Anticipate anxiety
- If you know of a probable source of anxiety or worry, get out in front of it. Don't wait for rumors to form. Take mitigating actions early, and make those actions known.
Even if you do all this, remember that you're not in charge of what people worry about. People might still worry — it's their choice. They might not believe you, or they might not hear you. Listen for the rumors and use what you learn to adjust your actions. Top
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More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
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- Here's part one of a list of films and videos about project teams that weren't necessarily meant to
be about project teams. Most are available to borrow from the public library, and all are great fun.
Mitigating Outsourcing Risks: I
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creates a special class of risks that are peculiar to the outsourcing relationship. What are some of
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Seven Ways to Get Nowhere
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Management Debt: I
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See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Effective Communication at Work for more related articles.
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And on July 13: What Do We Actually Know?
- Precision in both writing and speech can be critical in determining the success of collaborations in the modern workplace. Precision is especially important when we distinguish between what we surmise or assume and what we actually know. Available here and by RSS on July 13.
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- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
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Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
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