Dr Zsuzsanna Szvetelszky: “Winning over mid-level managers can positively influence informal corporate communication” – Trade magazin’s Business Podcast continues

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/8-9

– Rumour is a word with an essentially pejorative connotation, as it refers to the passing on of malicious gossip. I already know that rumour isn’t necessarily malicious gossip. What can you research about this?

– It is negative because we don’t know what gossip is and we often confuse it with slander, hearsay, mobbing, and bullying. In the modern sense of the word, gossip was born about five hundred years ago in Europe, at the same time as the printing press. Since the Bible was the first thing to be printed in large volumes, what was in print was already thought of as holy scripture, and the opposite of this was defined as gossip. Back in those days rumour and news were not as separated as they are today. It was in the last five hundred years that rumour turned into hearsay or chatter to a certain extent. Actually, we think of it as negative, when it isn’t, because we are passing on information about each other and that is something that the community needs.

Dr. Zsuzsanna Szvetelszky, communication expert, researcher, and university professor

– Is gossip good for a community?

– It is certainly necessary, because there is no community without gossip. The spreading of gossip basically controls who is worth cooperating with. If word gets out that someone is usually late or does a hasty work, I calculate with this information when it comes to collaborating. Gossip doesn’t have a negative influence on the group, only on the person who feels that they have been somehow relegated to a lower position.

– If someone is said to be a gossiper, is that a good or a bad thing?

-It depends on who it is. Some people are proud of it and in several organisational studies I have come across people who are happy to be considered a gossiper by many, to be thought of as in important stage in the flow of information within the organisation. People tend to shut out those who do harm to the community. If someone brings and takes information in a neutral, balanced way, it isn’t bad for the group.

„You have to behave in a way that if anything comes out, it won’t be a problem” – Szilvia Krizsó and dr. Zsuzsanna Szvetelszky communication trainers agreed in the studio

– How can a leader influence the strongest voices in an organisation to spread information or “rumours” that will have a positive impact on the company’s operations?

– You have to behave in a way that if anything comes to light, it doesn’t cause problems. It is very difficult to control the spread of gossip, but it is possible to influence the content that is put in the communication space. Research around the world proves that a large part of companies are in fact run by middle managers who speak two languages: they translate from the bottom up and the top down, and they play a key role in how information from the top will be coded by subordinates. You could even call these people direct managers. It is winning them over that can positively influence informal communication in the company. //