When mentioning underground organizations, I will think of "Exodus" directed by Peng Haoxiang. In the movie, there is a secret organization composed of women that kills the unfaithful men by various magical methods invisibly; every time they will have their meeting at the toilet, that explains why every woman will take so long in their toilet time. I can say that the idea surprised me, unfortunately, the script and narrative is too ordinary, which made me leave the theatre with disappointment. But whenever I need to wait outside the women’s toilet for a long while, it reminds me of this underground organization.

If it is about the Underground organizations in the company, the impression may seem like some terrorists are doing something endanger to the company. But in fact, in every company, colleagues will gradually form small groups and these groups will exchange information internally. Departmental information, personal information, rumours between colleagues, or even conspiracy theories. To put it as an underground organization because the management does not know this information exchanged in between and cannot prohibit or correct the erroneous message circulating.

Corporate culture affects the company’s ecosystem. Although we cannot prevent having underground organizations, we can eliminate the negative impact via the corporate culture. Let me reiterate that employees are easy to follow and cooperate with, but they are not easy to be deceived, and they are probably only superficially being obedient.

According to the company announcements, colleagues will want to know more detailed information to ensure that they can gain a favorable position in the company. However, if the official information shared by the company is not comprehensive enough or fails to explain the doubts, colleagues will think that the company has hidden something in between. Generally speaking, it is difficult for colleagues to get satisfactory answers directly from the management. Therefore, colleagues will give up seeking an answer from them, instead of collecting information piece by piece from every individual’s sharing. An interpersonal network will be formed gradually. So, you can see, the less company's information officially shared in the office, the more active this kind of underground organization will be.

There may contain a few such kinds of networks in the company, depending on the size of the company. They draw different conclusions based on the information they could receive. And most of them are only might have possibilities to happen, Therefore, that will slowly fade because of lacking concrete evidence. However, occasionally, in case two different networks may have the opportunity to exchange information, the discussion will be activated again due to the added in information, and eventually a generate a conclusion that is agreed by all the underground organizations in the company,

Since the conclusions are drawn within the organization which will not be recognized by the management, and of cos do not want them to take part in it. Hence, even this kind of network is clearly visible in the company, the management has no clue to knowing the details. Therefore, the management also cannot judge whether the messages received by colleagues are consistent with them or not.

Over time, colleagues will think that underground information is more reliable which will gradually turn various unproven conspiracy theories into generally accepted facts. It is still acceptable if only affect the general small things that happen in the company, but if it has an impact on the major policies of the company due to underground interpretation, then the credibility of management must be affected. 

The solution is nothing more than speak with hearty. Every action of the company has its symbolic meaning. Don't underestimate the observation power of colleagues. There are always positive and negative messages in the company. We should not forcefully hide or obscure the negative messages but should neutralize the messages with rational analysis. The messages that the company has lightly brought along and those that are solemnly displayed are all seen by colleagues. To speak with hearty is to tell the true story behind a message, but not a fairy tale. As long as the content is credible and understandable, colleagues are willing to accept it.

If the content is too complicated, the company can use the middle-level supervisor to help convey it, but the direction of each supervisor must be aligned beforehand to ensure that it is consistent with the company's concerns. Supervisors can communicate directly with their team, answer their questions more effectively, greatly reduce colleagues' imagination, and greatly reduce the space for conspiracy theories. According to my experience, if colleagues are given room for rational discussion, they will naturally neutralize negative content.

After all, the company’s underground organization will not disappear by itself, but we also don’t need to eliminate it, just keep it at the level of gossiping without impact on the company’s policy will be very good enough.

Simon So Head of Digital Marketing