Group activities and work have always formed a crucial part in the various workings at educational and professional spaces. In a group, people come together to build a particular idea. Group activities pave the way for better results. Indulging in group work not only enables the free flow of ideas, but also ensures proper channelization of thoughts in a social set-up. It also clears the way for proper social interaction amongst the participating candidates. The growing tendency of engagement in group work has given birth to the idea of ‘Social Loafing’. This refers to the manner in which the efforts of the individuals are reduced drastically when they work in a group (Zhu & Wang, 2018).
Recent studies have found that some organizations are facing the problem of social loafing where people participating in group activities reduce their personal contribution (O’Leary et al., 2015). Social loafing enables participants to remain aloof from contributing to the group endeavor. On the other hand, participants work in an effective manner when they are assigned a task that needs to be executed on an individual level and outside the group.
Many factors contribute to the phenomenon of social loafing. Social loafing takes place when the group members fail to comprehend the necessity or purpose of individual contribution. Lack of proper public recognition of individual efforts also accentuates social loafing on the part of the participants (Haugen et al., 2016). Without any concrete recognition of personal efforts, the people involved in group endeavors often lose the required motivation to contribute to the desired goal.
Social loafing also occurs when the number of group members rises to a considerable level. It is an accepted fact that when the number of group members rises, it directly affects the performance of the individuals because the participants think that their personal contributions cannot be gauged or measured. Further, large groups fail to perform in a proper manner because of the sheer lack of cohesion amongst the members. Recent studies have depicted the fact that smaller group ensures greater accountability on the part of the participants (Haugen et al., 2016). Smaller groups ensure greater cohesion and greater participation of each interested members.
In order to reduce social loafing in a positive manner, certain measures have to be incorporated at schools. In order to erase the cases of social loafing, there was a division into four groups in the tutorial. We were asked to prepare separate contracts to mitigate social loafing. We had to mention the various points that can contribute in the eradication of the problem of social loafing. We had to mention about our viewpoints on the respective sheets of paper. The ideas mentioned by the groups were discussed to comprehend the steps that are to be taken to reduce the growth of social loafing.
First Group
Second Group
Third Group
Fourth Group
Taking into consideration all the points that were discussed by the four teams, I could classify their concerns into certain broad areas. According to my perception, the members of the groups tried to voice their opinion. If the points are scrutinized, it can be seen that most of the participating members harped upon the importance of keeping a track of the contributions of each members in a group. In order to achieve this, most of the group members discussed about Google Docs. This is a very important tool in measuring the contributions (Suwantarathip & Wichadee 2014). Recognition of individual efforts accentuates the confidence and motivates the participants (Simms & Nichols, 2014). This will help in reducing the cases of social loafing because the idea of being rewarded can act as a motivational force and propel the participants to perform to the fullest (Schippers, 2014). The groups also agreed upon the fact that proper recognition can only be achieved by equal distribution of work to group members at the beginning. In my opinion, the moment there is substantial and equal distribution of work, each participating member feel the responsibility that has been assigned to them. In addition to this, the activity and contribution of each member must be evaluated and analyzed to enable proper functioning.
The second most important idea that was brought up by the groups pointed towards the inculcation of discipline. The presence of every group member at every meeting and presentation mitigates social loafing. With technological advancements, it is easier to communicate in Whatsapp groups. Therefore, each member should regularly contribute in these groups. The groups also agreed to include peer-review. The other members of the group must scrutinize the activities and contribution of each member. This can ensure participation of each member because peer-review brings the idea of being subjected to criticism. Peer review reduces the chances of mistakes. Peer review also ensures proper transparency in each work related activity. Greater transparency motivates the participating individuals in contributing towards the desired goal (Huang & Fu, 2013). Further, this can also ensure that no particular participant is being burdened by work pressure. People who rarely participate in social loafing easily get burdened by the over-load of work (Voyles, Bailley & Durik, 2015). The groups also discussed about the necessity of incorporating the idea of self-evaluation. This is an important tool in analyzing the personal contributions because it can assist a person in analyzing their personal contribution to the group work.
The fourth group agreed on the importance of lesser members. Higher number of participants not only creates confusion, but it also compels the members to think that their contribution would not matter. Large groups also face the dilemma of motivating each member to participate and contribute (Cummings et al., 2013). A group that has higher number of people hampers the inherent sense of responsibility of each member. The participants do not feel the need to be responsible towards the greater goal. The groups discussed the idea that group cohesion and discipline among the members is a necessary aspect in maintaining proper unity and erasing the occurrence of social loafing (Hall & Buzwell, 2013). In order to avoid internal conflicts, it is important to internal conflicts, it is important for members to understand the criticisms. Accordingly, if the group is reduced to a few members, greater cohesion and peace can easily be maintained throughout the time-period.
In my opinion, our division into four groups helped in identifying and analyzing the various manner in which social loafing can be prevented. I could voice my opinion through the group. The ideas propagated by each group was recorded and analyzed in a proper and coherent manner. The members of each group could verbalize their own standpoints. Further, this exercise was conducted before the commencement of our group presentations. Needless to say, this helped me in identifying the areas that I need to inculcate to prevent myself from propagating social loafing. According to my perception, the action design could have been improved by incorporating certain real-life activities. In order to comprehend and analyze the cases of social loafing, the groups should have been assigned some tasks. According to my opinion, after taking into consideration the various ideas proposed by the groups, the groups should have been asked to inculcate the discussed points in their group endeavors. However, this exercise acted as a yardstick for the students to understand the presence of social loafing and the ways to mitigate it.
References
Cummings, J. N., Kiesler, S., Bosagh Zadeh, R., & Balakrishnan, A. D. (2013). Group heterogeneity increases the risks of large group size: A longitudinal study of productivity in research groups. Psychological science, 24(6), 880-890.
Hall, D., & Buzwell, S. (2013). The problem of free-riding in group projects: Looking beyond social loafing as reason for non-contribution. Active Learning in Higher Education, 14(1), 37-49.
Haugen, T., Reinboth, M., Hetlelid, K. J., Peters, D. M., & Høigaard, R. (2016). Mental Toughness Moderates Social Loafing in Cycle Time-Trial Performance. Research quarterly for exercise and sport, 87(3), 305-310.
Huang, S. W., & Fu, W. T. (2013, April). Don’t hide in the crowd!: increasing social transparency between peer workers improves crowdsourcing outcomes. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(pp. 621-630). ACM.
New Pieces of the Jigsaw Classroom: Increasing Accountability to Reduce Social Loafing in Student Group Projects Elora C. Voyles Northern Illinois University Sarah F. Bailey Amanda M. Durik University of Wisconsin-Madison Northern Illinois University
O’Leary, K., O’Reilly, P., Feller, J., Gleasure, R., Li, S., & Cristoforo, J. (2017, August). Exploring the Application of Blockchain Technology to Combat the Effects of Social Loafing in Cross Functional Group Projects. In Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Open Collaboration (p. 13). ACM.
Schippers, M. C. (2014). Social loafing tendencies and team performance: The compensating effect of agreeableness and conscientiousness. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(1), 62-81.
Social Loafing: A Review of the Literature Ashley Simms Texas Wesleyan University Tommy Nichols Texas Wesleyan University
Suwantarathip, O., & Wichadee, S. (2014). The Effects of Collaborative Writing Activity Using Google Docs on Students’ Writing Abilities. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 13(2), 148-156.
Zhu, M., & Wang, H. (2018). A Literature Review of Social Loafing and Teams with Group Development.
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