In any team there are several groups of like-minded people, which in the language of psychologists are called informal groups.
Why do informal groups emerge?
In the labor collective there are leaders and subordinates, whose activities are regulated by orders and orders. On paper, everything is simple: duties and responsibilities are defined, you just need to fulfill what is written. But in reality, personality traits are little taken into account when appointing to a position. Experience, past merits, natural data, preferences are also partially ignored.
So people flock to meet their basic needs.
An informal group is a kind of club of interests in which people get what they cannot get with another way of communication.
What do people look for in an informal group?
The need for recognition is basic, a person must be needed by someone. It doesn’t matter what exactly a person can do better than others: dance, knit, cook, fix a car or fish. It is important that people you know turn to him for advice and help. Around a person who has some useful skill, it is easy to formnice social circle.
An informal group is, in fact, the recognition of a person's talents by a social group.
Ideally, a person should do what he loves in life. But it doesn't always work out that way. People doing routine work - on the assembly line, for example - would very quickly lose their psychological stability if they did not have the opportunity to discuss burning news with mechanically repetitive actions.
Mutual Aid
This is another important sign of a formed microsocial group. An informal group is a community in which people support each other by definition.
A good microclimate at work most often occurs between people with approximately equal experience and knowledge. Someone knows the intricacies of work better, someone worse. Ideally, the leader should know and understand the content of the work assignment best of all. But not all managers meet this criterion, and not everyone knows how to create an atmosphere of openness. Therefore, employees often prefer to find out difficult issues together than to address the issue to the manager.
Sometimes good working relationships turn into long-term friendships.
Mutual protection
A well-coordinated team is both a help and a problem for the management. Such a team can be entrusted with a task of any complexity, and it will be successfully completed. But to infringe on the rights of workers does not work. An informal group is a very stable entity that can defend its rights. Zoom Out Zonethe influence of the existing team or trying to cheat when paying is impossible, since the actions of the administration instantly stumble upon fierce opposition.
In protecting their interests, informal groups are much more effective than trade unions. The members of the informal group clearly understand that "one for all and all for one" is the best way to survive in difficult conditions.
Rumors and gossip
This phenomenon is most often generated by inept or clumsy actions of the administration, when the true state of affairs or the motives for official movements are not voiced, but hidden. People of any social status do not want to feel like a dumb controlled herd.
In cases where there is no normal awareness of the processes taking place at the enterprise, informal channels of information become in demand - rumors and gossip. These social phenomena fill an information vacuum that ideally should not exist.
A new leader always creates around him the informal groups he needs. Examples can be seen in every major organization.
General ideology
Interest groups are formed not only at work. By and large, each person is part of some such group. These are neighbors, a company of fishermen or hunters, knitters, lovers of garage collecting, fans and fans, even regulars of a beer bar.
Researchers call informal groups small,since their number usually does not exceed 15 people, occasionally this number reaches 30. But more often there are groups that do not exceed 7.
In the teenage environment, informal groups are more common than others. Examples can be seen in any courtyard of a multi-storey building. Teenagers crave self-affirmation, sometimes they even need outward signs of belonging to the community. It could be a piece of clothing, a tattoo, a headscarf or a bandanna, a special greeting.
Teen groups can be dangerous if they are led by a teenager with criminal tendencies. Such groups are always based on physical force, reprisals are applied to objectionable.
Types of informal groups
Scientists identify several varieties of small groups, here they are:
- Communication club - a huge variety of them can be found in social networks.
- Study groups - classes, studios and the like.
- Fan club - fans of one creative person or ensemble, football, hockey or other sports team.
- The action group is most often informal groups in the organization: individual employees of the accounting department, the production team.
- Reactive group - opposition, opponents of the new boss, supporters of conservatism and the like.
Control within the group
An informal social group is good because it sets its own "rules of the game". This does not require any orders or special efforts. It's simple: mancan only become a member of the group if it meets certain internal criteria.
For example, a fan of another team will never be able to get into the fan group of St. Petersburg "Zenith", since they face diametrically opposed tasks. At the same time, there are no taboo topics for “their own”, the details of the life, successes and failures of the players are discussed in detail. If a member of the group shows disrespect or ignorance towards the team, then after a series of warnings, he is expelled. So the group adjusts its composition.
Informal group structure
This question has been carefully researched by psychologists. In different age groups, the structure was approximately the same. The distribution of group roles looks like this:
- Leader - a person with inner strength, engaged in motivation and sanctions, using the "carrot and stick".
- "Analyst" - able to think strategically.
- A "skeptic" or representative of the internal opposition is required to confirm or refute the viability of ideas.
- "Diplomat" is the most humane member of the group, takes into account the interests of all.
- "Entertainer" - provides interesting leisure time.
- "Buffoon or jester" - has a bright sense of humor, supports self-irony.
- "Scapegoat" - is appointed guilty for the failure of the undertaking. Necessary for the entire group to function in the future.
An informal group of people always arises on the basis of constant communication, when people communicate with each other daily or with an interval of 1-3 days.
Relations between formal and informal groups
Informal groups always arise - both in the most progressive and in problematic organizations, countries or collectives. All people are different, and everyone needs to find a kindred spirit in their surroundings.
A good leader or teacher understands that the formation of small social groups is a natural phenomenon, and one can only interact with such a group. An attempt to ignore or ban such a group is doomed to failure in advance.
One of the characteristics of informal groups is resistance to innovation and change. Any relocation or new technology poses a potential threat to the very existence of the group, as it reshapes employees - some may be promoted, while others may be fired. It is not always possible to find a reasonable compromise between the demand for progress and the interests of the group.
What is the purpose of informal groups?
The main goals of an informal group are the comfortable existence of its members. Communication with your own kind significantly reduces the level of stress, helps to relieve internal tension, gives people the opportunity to feel their relevance.
Large groups emerge where leadership uses an authoritarian style of governance. The natural need of a member of the labor collective is to be involved in the result of collective activity. If the leadership only uses punishment, then real resistance should be expected to form.
Formation of informalgroups is happening at an accelerated pace in closed communities - in the army, on long-distance ships and in prisons, where people of different life experiences and social levels are forced to communicate with each other around the clock.
Progressive employers pay great attention to a he althy atmosphere in the team. To do this, testing of potential employees is carried out, people with a he althy stable psyche are selected.
How long is the "life" of an informal group?
Researchers say no more than 4 years. A productive group is considered to be no more than 2 years old. Small groups arise spontaneously, sympathy, age, common interests play a decisive role. It is somehow impossible to regulate the emergence of small social groups.
The main catch lies in the conflicting goals of the members of the group. People create temporary alliances, often "friends against" a specific person. However, career advancement, praise or punishment can fundamentally change the distribution of roles within the group.
The art of leadership is to engage informal groups to achieve the goal needed by the organization as a whole. As a rule, the vast majority of people in the team prefer a conformist position or tacit agreement with the majority. Therefore, it makes sense to work most closely with the person who is the informal leader at this time.
It is important that the leader shows the group exactly how to act in a given situation. People learn from each otherand the efficiency of the entire team is increased. Weak employees, following a strong leader, can show excellent results.
