A rumor, according to Dictionary.com is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin usually spread by word of mouth. Rumors are also known as heresay because they are pieces of information received from another person, not directly from the source.
There are people who receive joy from the practice of spreading rumors. They are known as rumormongers. Rumors are quick moving, they spread like wildfire from person to person. The story also grows and shifts as its spread, further altering the rumor until its tiny grain of truth it started with is forever altered into something else. Rumors can be extremely destructive to the person being maligned and even more destructive the those participating in their spread.
If you are going through some type of change that effects a group of people, there will inevitibly be rumors. Take them as a sign you aren't doing your job as a manager effectively. If you have a rumor on your hands, you dropped the communication ball. Rumors are spread when there is a lack of communication. The best way to squelch rumors is to provide information up front, before a rumor chain is started.
Tom Salter, The School Administrator Web Addition, writes about rumormongering. IVillage.com has a nifty little quiz on
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