An informal group is ... Informal groups in an organization

In any collective, there are several groups of like-minded people who in the language of psychologists are called informal groups.

Why do informal groups arise?

In the work collective there are leaders and subordinates, whose activities are regulated by orders and orders. On paper, everything is simple: responsibilities and responsibilities are defined, you only need to execute what you have written. But in fact, personality characteristics are not taken into account when appointing to a position. Also partially ignored are experience, past merits, natural data, preferences.

Therefore, people get into "flocks" to satisfy their urgent needs.

An informal group is a kind of interest club in which people get what they can not find in another way of communicating.

What do people look for in an informal group?

The need for recognition is basic, a person must be someone needed. It does not matter what exactly a person can do better than others: dance, knit, cook, repair a car or fish. It is important that familiar people ask for advice and help specifically for him. Around the person who has some useful skill, easily formed a pleasant circle of communication.

An informal group is, in fact, a recognition by the social group of the talents available to a person.

Ideally, a person should engage in life's favorite things. But this does not always happen. People engaged in routine work - on the conveyor, for example - would very quickly lose their psychological stability if they could not discuss the latest news with mechanically repeated actions.

Mutual help

This is another important sign of the formed microsocial group. An informal group is a community in which people support each other by definition.

A good microclimate at work often occurs between people with approximately equal experience and knowledge. Someone knows the subtleties of work better, someone worse. Ideally, the leader should know the contents of the work assignment better than anyone else. But not all managers meet this criterion, and not everyone can create an atmosphere of openness. Therefore, employees often prefer to find out difficult questions together, rather than to ask the leader.

Sometimes a good working relationship turns into a real friendship of many years.

Mutual protection

A well-coordinated team is for management both a support and a problem. Such a team can be assigned a task of any complexity, and it will be successfully carried out. But to infringe workers' rights does not work. An informal group is a very stable entity that knows how to assert its rights. To reduce the zone of influence of the former collective or to try to cheat with pay is impossible, since the actions of the administration are instantly stumbling upon a violent reaction.

In defending their interests, informal groups are much more effective than trade unions. Members of the informal group are clearly aware that "one for all and all for one" is the best way to survive in difficult conditions.

Rumors and gossip

This phenomenon is generated most often by inept or clumsy actions of the administration, when the true state of things or motives of official movements are not voiced, but are hidden. People of any social status do not want to feel like a dumb, controllable herd.

In cases of lack of normal awareness of the processes occurring at the enterprise, informal channels of information are becoming in demand - rumors and gossip. These social phenomena fill an information vacuum, which ideally should not exist.

The 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 any such group. They are neighbors, a company of fishermen or hunters, knitters, garage-riders, fans and fans, even regulars of the pub.

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 a teenage environment, informal groups are more common than others. Examples can be seen in any yard of a multi-storey building. Teenagers crave self-assertion, sometimes they even require external signs of belonging to the community. It can be a piece of clothing, a tattoo, a headscarf or bandana, special ways of greeting.

Teenage groups can be dangerous if they are led by a teenager with criminal inclinations. Such groups are always based on physical force, violence is applied to the objectionable.

Types of informal groups

Scientists distinguish several varieties of small groups, here they are:

• Club for communication - a huge number of them can be found on social networks.
• Training groups - classes, studios and the like.
• Fan Club - fans of one creative personality or ensemble, football, hockey or other sports team.
• The group for action is most often informal groups in the organization: individual employees of the accounting department, the production team.
• The reactionary group is the opposition, the opponents of the new boss, adherents of conservatism and the like.

Control within the group

Informal social group is good in that it establishes its own "rules of the game". For this, no orders or special efforts are required. It's simple: a person can become a member of the group only if it meets certain internal criteria.

For example, in the fan group of the St. Petersburg "Zenith" will never be able to get a fan of another team, because they face diametrically opposite tasks. At the same time for "their own" there are no taboo topics, details of life, successes and misses of players are discussed in detail. If a member of the group shows disrespect or ignorance of the team, then after a series of warnings, he is expelled. So the group adjusts its composition.

Structure of the informal group

This question was thoroughly investigated by psychologists. In different age groups, the structure was approximately the same. Distribution of group roles looks like this:

• The leader is a person with inner strength, engaged in motivation and sanctions, using a "carrot and carrot".
• "Analyst" is able to think strategically.
• "Skeptic" or representative of internal opposition, is required to confirm or deny the viability of ideas.
• "Diplomat" - the most humane member of the group, takes into account the interests of all.
• "Zateynik" - provides an interesting leisure.
• "Skomorokh or Jester" - has a vivid sense of humor, supports self-irony.
• "Scapegoat" - is assigned to blame for the failure of the undertaking. It is necessary for the whole 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.

The relationship between the formal and informal groups

Informal groups arise always - both in the most progressive, and in problem organizations, countries or collectives. All people are different, and everyone needs to find a soul mate in their environment.

A good leader or teacher understands that the formation of small social groups is a natural phenomenon, and it is only possible to interact with such a group. An attempt to ignore or prohibit such a group is doomed to failure in advance.

One of the characteristics of informal groups is resistance to innovation and change. Any move or new technology poses a potential threat to the very existence of the group, as it reformats employees - some can be promoted and others can be fired. It is not always possible to find a reasonable compromise between the demand for progress and the interests of the group.

For what purpose are informal groups created?

The main goals of the informal group are the comfortable existence of its members. Communication with their own kind significantly reduces the level of stress, helps to relieve internal tension, gives people the opportunity to feel their relevance.

Large groups of people arise where management uses an authoritarian management style. The natural need of a member of the work collective is to be involved in the result of collective activity. If the management uses only punitive measures, then one should expect the formation of real resistance.

Formation of informal groups occurs at an accelerated pace in closed collectives - in the army, on long-distance vessels and in places of deprivation of liberty, where people of different life experiences and social level are forced to communicate with each other around the clock.

Progressive employers pay great attention to the healthy atmosphere in the team. To do this, testing of potential employees is conducted, people with a healthy and stable psyche are selected.

What is the duration of the "life" of an informal group?

The researchers claim that no more than 4 years. A productive group is considered no more than 2 years. Small groups arise spontaneously, the defining role is played by sympathy, age, community of interests. It is somehow impossible to regulate the emergence of small social groups.

The main trick is in the conflicting goals of the group members. People create temporary alliances, often "friends against" a particular person. However, moving up the career ladder, praise or punishment can radically change the distribution of roles within the group.

The art of leadership is to attract informal groups to achieve the goal that the organization needs as a whole. As a rule, the overwhelming majority of people in the collective prefer a conformist position or a tacit agreement with the majority. Therefore, it makes sense to most closely cooperate with a person who is an informal leader at a given time.

It is important that the leader shows the group exactly how to act in this or that situation. People learn from each other, and the efficiency of the work of the entire collective is increased. Weak employees, following a strong leader, can show excellent results.