What Can a Manager Do to Discourage Social Loafing in a Group?

Sometimes when we work together on a team, things just seem to click. Our squad tin reach new goals, come upwards with artistic plans, and invent new devices. On the other mitt, there are times when a team we're on just fizzles. Members don't become their work done, and the team doesn't reach its goal. These latter teams create very frustrating team experiences for students and professionals akin.

The problem often results from a state of affairs where one or more of the team members doesn't pull their weight, similar the person in the picture who is watching soccer rather than working. This is called social loafing and/or free riding (the terms are slightly unlike, but both result in meaningfully reduced efforts by one or more than teammates). Social loafing may take different forms. Sometimes it refers to members non engaging in the group process, missing meetings, avoiding assignments, and not responding to messages. Other times it refers to group members who find ways to distract themselves when they should exist working on team projects

Nosotros regularly hear people ask nearly how to improve teamwork, and one of the best means is to reduce or, if possible, eliminate social loafing. To help yous deal with this issue, we provide four tips for helping squad members to stay engaged and on track so that you'll have less social loafing on your team projects.

1.Use Pocket-sized Teams. First, keep your teams small if yous can. The larger the team, the more likely it is that someone volition coast on the efforts of others. In small teams, members cannot hibernate in the crowd so easily.

2.Set up Team Standards. Second, brand sure to include a norm or standard-setting process for your team, such as a team charter or Workplace Covenant. When possible, fix bated time for the team to decide on the "rules" that will govern their behavior at the outset of a team projection.

3.Increase Member Visibility. Be sure that you, every bit the instructor or team leader, are actively participating in at least some of the team meetings so y'all tin can run across the contributions of each of the team members. When team members successfully complete ane of their tasks, make certain to publicly reinforce those efforts, enhancing the visibility of the piece of work that they did.

4.Concord Members Accountable. Just as creating visibility can improve teamwork, making sure members know when they are not accomplishing their work can reduce social loafing. Improved accountability tin can include peer evaluations as well, a topic nosotros addressed in an before post.

We recommend that you endeavor at least one or ii of these ideas, if non all four. We are confident that you will find these strategies volition arrive so that individual members tin can no longer hibernate inside their team. Efforts will improve, your squad will be more successful, and members volition want to be a function of the team projects. And, let readers know if you take other ideas nigh how to reduce social loafing!

Tim Franz is a Psychology Professor at St. John Fisher College. He is co-author with Lauren Vicker of Making Squad Projects Work: A Resources for High School and College Educators. For more resources, check out their website: https://teambuildingprocess.com/making-team-projects-work/

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