No matter how positive a spin you try to put on it, change is scary because it spawns ambiguity, inconsistency, and uncertainty, all of which raise the level of dysfunction.

During periods of transition, management frequently gets blamed for failing to provide adequate, timely, helpful, and accurate information. However, when challenged, employees admit that even if management were to hold more meetings, send more memos, or gave more information, they’d still rely on the juicy tidbits that come from rumors.

It’s human nature to ruminate and speculate about other people and the events in their lives. It’s also understandable that employees are curious about each other and about how coworkers are reacting to change. The fear of personal loss forms the basis of most rumors. This explains why, during periods of transition, everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, hot buttons, and personal problems quickly become grist for the rumor mill.

Being in on things is an important motivator. Knowing what others know helps people feel important and useful. Sharing information is a key factor in keeping good people. Your best people aren’t threatened by change—in fact, they tend to thrive on it. They do, however, need to know a lot about the change if they’re to stick around. That’s why getting a firm grip on the spread of misinformation is so critical.

It’s up to you to minimize the negative effect of rumors by creating an accurate feedback loop. Next time the mill starts grinding out false information, try following these simple guidelines:

Provide official clarification on any rumors.

Ignoring a rumor is the worse thing you can do. Be open with people. Unless you are bound by some legal restriction, when you hear a rumor, regardless of the content, tell everyone everything you know about the facts of the matter.  Don’t wait until you have all the details—just get the truth out there, fast. If some of what you say turns out to be inaccurate, then retell it the right way as soon as you get a chance. You may have to do this several times.

Seek out reliable sources of information among employees.

Accurate information travels best with those you know to be reliable. Find out who is trustworthy and talk to them personally. Tell them you want to know the truth about what they’re hearing. Ask them not to embellish upon what they tell you. Let them know that if you find out they can’t be trusted, that you won’t rely on them again. Everyone wants to be trusted with the truth.

Pass along what you know in a non-judgmental manner.

This may sound harsh, but others don’t care what you think, nor do they want your opinion. They just want to know what you know. Keep your attitude and feelings to yourself. Avoid comments about the wisdom of change. Report only the facts that you know first hand. If employees have opinions to share with you, acknowledge them without comment.

People take in information in three ways: they see it, hear it, or feel it. Research by neurolinguists concludes that about sixty percent of us are visual processors—we believe or act on what we can see. Even those who use the other modalities (touch and hearing) will form an image of what they hear or feel in their mind. Whoever said, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” understood this process very well. The challenge of communicating during a period of change, then, is to keep putting your vision out there until everyone can  “see” what you mean and picture themselves in a new role.