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Informal groups are a group of employees who associate or work together without the influence or direction of management. Few employees usually compose informal groups. These few employees usually share physical proximity and interplay ideas, feeling or opinions about the workplace. Formal organization can be created or rescinded by management, but informal organization cannot be revoked because management did not inaugurate the organization. At the very epicenter of the informal group are people and their relationships with one another. Built upon the organizational structure and the delegation of authority formal groups contrast in difference the informal groups.

Small informal groups are the very building blocks of informal organization. Unless, an organization consists of a few individuals, informal originations exist. Informal originations may differ from formal originations, but they are functioning entities in an institution. When informal groups began to establish a set of norms and standards, they begin to create an informal organization. The informal group also invokes conformity and implements sanctions to ensure conformity to the norms of the group.

The informal leader, member of the primary group, members who have only fringe status, and members who have out status compose the four status positions of the informal group. The group leader is whom the primary members of the group closely associate with. The group that closely associates with the leader is considered the nucleus of the group. Newcomers to the group are usually new employees to the organization. Newcomers remain on the fringe on the group while their being evaluated. The newcomers are either accepted into the primary or fringe groups or moved into the...

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When the best interest of an institution is the interest of the informal leaders, they can be great assistance to management because of their ability to control the informal organizations. The informal leaders can take a tremendous burden from the manager and formal leaders in an organization when the interest of the organization and the interest of the informal leader coincide. To encourage a positive relationship with informal leaders, the supervisor can pass information on to that particular person before given it to anyone else.

A place of business will always have informal organization based on informal groups. The purpose of the informal organization is to satisfy the needs and desires of the group’s members. The supervisor should have a healthy working relationship with leaders of the informal group to ensure an effective working environment.