The informal group is a collection of individuals within an organization that are joined together by personal and professional connections. These connections result in relationships being built through social networking, areas of common interest, as well as common duties that they share within the organization. While informal groups have no authority within the organization, through the development of these relationships, they can and do have an impact on the organizations outcomes. The question is do informal groups emerge and have the same impact on public organizations as they do on business organizations. The emerging of informal groups in either organization is inevitable. As human beings we are naturally drawn together through our daily social interaction with others, regardless whether it is in an organization, our church, or some other social gathering. This leads to the question on whether or not they have the same impact on public organizations as they do on business organizations. In order to answer this question, I will evaluate the impacts on both organizations and the impacts that informal groups have on both.
Impact on an Organization
Informal groups can have a powerful influence on the effectiveness of an organization, and can even undermine the goals of the formal group within the organization. The informal group's role is not limited to resistance; it can also make the organization more effective. The impact depends on the norm that the informal group sets for itself.
Informal groups can benefit an organization in various ways. If managed correctly they are able to improve the effectiveness of an organization, by reducing the workload of the formal group. Because informal groups are socially connected, the...
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... of the mayor whereas the firemen felt they needed be more through in order to properly recover all of the remains of those that were lost. The firemen felt that the speed, in which the construction workers used in an effort to clear the site, jeopardized their recovery efforts. Because the firemen were such a close knit group and felt such a strong responsibility to those that were lost, this caused problems between the two groups. This created a challenge for the Joint Command Team, how to bring the two groups together and share the same goal, which was to accomplish the cleanup as quickly as possible while recovering those that were lost. This conflict between the two groups might have been avoided if the lines of communication were more open and the discussed their ideas on how to best accomplish the overall goal of cleanup and recovery as quickly as possible
...afety should have inspected the building prior to issuing permits for further renovation, especially knowing this structure was going to be housing 124 residents. It seems that lack of knowledge from prior owners and lack of responsibility of city officials are responsible for this collapse and sadly, the loss of 9 brave men in the line of duty. The Boston Fire Department could have worked closer with the owner/ construction crew at the Hotel Vendome, and the deficiencies would have been found, and they would have known the instability they were walking into on June 17. At that point, firefighting operations would have more than likely been defensive. The firefighters did not conduct pre-incident planning which would have let them know they were going to face the construction barriers while attempting to lay hose, maneuver hose, and get the hose to a water source.
The drought was near historic high levels for the time of year. In the moments before the entrapment on of the squads and the crew boss trainee were working with a fire engine and its three person crew when a spot fire erupted right next to the road. The seven Northwest Regular Crew number six and a engine crew got in there vehicles and drove south past the fire along the edge of the road. While driving they radioed the other 14 crewmembers who were working north further up the river about the dangerous situation. The 14 crewmembers and the incident commander and two Northwest Regular number six squad members were suppressing spot fires between the river and the road ¼ mile north of the first squad when they were informed of the situation that was threatening there es...
Assess how communication and collaboration, and power and politics influence group (i.e., the organization’s) dynamics.
Social Workers must be knowledgeable on how to facilitate and lead group sessions with clients. They must be cognizant on their responsibilities as a facilitator, and diligently work to meet the needs of all group members collectively and individually. According to Toseland, Ronald, & Rivas, Robert (2009) group work practice focuses on Social Work practice with a broad range of treatment and task groups and the group’s environment (pg. 2.). It is significant for Social Workers to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be able to properly assess and assist in group atmospheres. At my field placement which is at the Covenant House, a homeless shelter in Detroit that services youth from ages 18-24. I am responsible for co-facilitating along with the agency’s Social Worker, a
A community can be defined as a group of people, who live, learn, work and play in an environment at a given time. (Yiu, 2012, p.213) There are many factors that may influence the community’s development and health status. These can include resources available, accessibility, transportation, safety, community needs etc… These influences may combine together to form community strengths and as well as community challenges or weaknesses. As a community health care nurse, it is significant for us to assess and identify these strengths and challenges within the community in order for us to intervene and provide the appropriate needed health care services for the community members. This individual scholarly paper will explore and focus on one challenge issue identified from our group community assessment.
The size of a group is considered to be a restrictive condition on the quantity and quality of connection that can transpire amongst particular members. Kephart (1950) established that as group size increases the number of relationships that exist among member’s increases greatly. He suggests that as a result of this increase in relationships among members there will be an increased tendency towards divisions into subgroups in which participants relate to one another.
This week’s report deals with the concept of in and out-groups. As we begin, we will be looking into what exactly makes an in and out-group. We will also study the concepts of in and out-groups. Once we wrap up the first portion of the research we will immediately be going into our second section. The second portion will consist of describing a personal example in which I was part of an in-group situation. Once I divulge my personal example, I will be describing a situation in which a colleague of mine found himself in an out-group situation. Once we study these two situations, the report will navigate into the third portion in which we will be analyzing and explaining some of the differences between my in-group situation and my colleague’s out-group experience. As we move into the fourth section of the report, we will be looking into how in-groups and out-groups affect organizations and their employees. The fifth section of the report will explain how the out-group situation in which my colleague found himself was directly caused by an extend of a non-task related factors. Finally, as we reach the final section of the report, the report will describe some of the implications that can occur when leader’s develop a relationship with their followers.
Meyer , J. W. , and Rowan , B. “ Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth
... that areas of expertise can be exploited, different people are good at different things. Groups can discuss material, and that discussion can improve the quality of the decision. Groups are less likely to suffer from judgmental biases that individuals have when they make decisions. People are more likely to follow through on decisions made by groups that they are connected to. Also, more monumental decisions can be made in groups, because one member will not be singled out for blame, making the entire group responsible.
A group needs members who possess a diversity of skills. A company should have a workforce that has workers with different kinds of skills.... ... middle of paper ... ... I feel that the outcome of this analysis suggests that for an organisation to be successful, they need to identify when it is appropriate to use work groups and individuals to carry out the task.
Gibson, J.L., Ivancevich, J.M., Donnelly, J.H., & Konopaske, R. (2009). Organizations: Behaviors, structure, processes (13th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Organizations in today’s society are adopting a team based structure in their approach to tackle company’s challenges, problems and issues. Team based success stories include Hallmark who had a 200% reduction in design time, which allowed for the introduction of 23,000 new card lines in a single year (Janasz, Dowd, Schneider, 2006). But in saying all this there is a factor which causes the positive effect of team work and team cohesiveness to be affected and that is social loafing. Social loafing is more likely to occur in large teams from 3 members onwards, and is where members in the team apply less effort than when working as an individual. Social loafing appears within every team one way or another, even if it’s in a high functioning or dysfunctional environment (Murphy, Wayne Linden, Erdogan, 1992). Research has shown that a combined team performance required less effort by individuals than if they were to work alone, and therefore the social loafer in the team is able to profit from the work of the others without exerting any of their potential. “Loafers and free riders are allowed to benefit because, in each case, the outcome of the group performance…is shared equally by all group members, regardless of their input.” (Weldon and Mustari 1988, p.33)
“Informal groups have a powerful influence on the effectiveness of an organization, and can even subvert its formal groups. But, the informal group’s role is not limited to resistance. The impact of the informal group upon the larger formal group depends on the norms that the informal group sets. So the informal group can make the formal organization more effective, too.” Informal groups can either be a manager’s best friend or worst enemy. Group Development: The Formation of Informal Work Groups Informal work groups are part of any working environment; how they form, the leadership within the group and how these groups communicate, follow the same basic model. “Groups are particularly good at combining talents and providing innovate solutions to possible unfamiliar problems.” “There are five stages of group development. The first is forming,which is where the group first comes together. Everyone is usually polite. Conflict is seldom voiced directly. Individuals will be guarded in their own opinions and reserved.” The second form of developmentis “storming a chaotic vying for leadership and trailing of group operates.” The third is norming as the second stage evolves the rules of engagement for the group becomes established, and the scopes of the group’s task or responsibilities are clear and agreed. Fourth is performing,not all groups reach this point. Everyone knows each other well enough to be able to work together. And the fifth stage is adjourning; this is about the completion and disengagement of the tasks and group members. The formations of informal work groups are employed by an organization to perform specific functions. Informal groups almost always arise ...
...ne K. D., Sheats P., ‘Functional Roles of Group Members’ (Bill Staples, ICA Associates Inc. 2007)