Social Loafing
On many education and learning blogs, you can find students and instructors complaining about one of the most dreaded assignments of all time: the group project. At first glance, doesn’t it seem that group projects should be easier than working solo? There are more minds with whom to try out ideas and share in the work. But what we all dread is having group members who don’t pull their own weight. The fact is, in a group, people may become prone to social loafing—failing to invest the same level of effort in the group that they’d put in if they were working alone or with one other person (Karau & Williams, 1993). In almost every group situation, from your high school yearbook committee to cut-throat competitions like Survivor, there are always a few individuals who manage to make it through to the end simply by keeping their heads low and letting their teammates do most of the work. Clearly, social loafing affects both participation and communication in groups (Comer, 1998; Shultz, 1999).
Despite the negative connotation of the word loafing, it’s not always due to laziness. When a person fails to speak up because he or she feels shy around a lot of people, the person is engaging in social loafing. Social loafing also results from the feelings of anonymity that can occur in larger groups, where it is more difficult for an individual member’s contributions to be evaluated. Thus a member may put in less effort, believing that nobody will notice that he or she is slacking or, conversely, that he or she is working hard. If group members perceive an inequality in individual effort, conflict can and often does emerge, harming team morale. Social loafing even occurs in online groups and teams (Piezon & Ferree, 2008): members of an online discussion group, for example, may post messages or photos that are unrelated to the group’s topic or they may not respond at all to a request for everyone’s opinion on an idea.
Scholars argue that there are several practices that can help to manage your group’s productivity and prevent or reduce social loafing (Cox & Brobrowski, 2000; Latane, Williams, & Harkins, 1979; Van Dick, Tissington, & Hertel, 2009):
- Establish objectives and performance goals. Make the schedule clear to all team members so everyone is aware of deadlines. Clarify what each member’s individual responsibility is. You may even consider putting everything in writing, akin to a contract, so that there’s no confusion about who should be taking care of what.
- Establish individual accountability. At the beginning of a project, be sure that all team members understand that they are expected to carry out their duties responsibly. This will establish the importance of each person’s future performance. Also discuss how members will be evaluated and the consequences of social loafing or poor performance (Cox & Brobrowski, 2000).
- Encourage team identity and ownership. Early on in the process, promote team unity by coming up with a group name or symbol. Take the time to get to know each other and build social bonds and trust. This will help foster more team loyalty. Encourage team members to take pride and ownership in their work—which will also promote dedication to the cause.
- Stay in contact. If a miscommunication occurs between members, be sure to discuss it right away. Ambiguity and confusion will only encourage members to become less connected with the group and more likely to engage in social loafing.
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