INFORMAL WORK GROUP: POWER AND INFLUENCE

Throughout our lives, we all belong to a series of informal groups.  Informal group is self-creating, and goes beyond the relationships considered necessary by the company to get the job done.  Some informal groups are strong.

Informal work group may be defined as "a collection of individuals whose common work experiences.  Groups are characterised by friendliness, and common interests.  Some informal work groups continue functioning outside the work environment.  In some instances, they may develop relationships where it last longer than their common work experience.  Relationships in informal groups, being based on common interests and friendships, often attract a greater loyalty than company interests.

Formal organisation can be defined as a planned cooperative effort in which each members has a recognized role to play and duties or tasks to perform.  Conflict is created when a worker must decide between conforming to the pressures coming from the formal organisation and those deriving from the informal one.

Informal organisations are not "bad".  Informal organisation do exists in every formal organisation.  But sometimes the informal organisation develops in opposition to the formal one.  Informal groups are formed because they satisfy human needs.  Every human being has a need for companionship, for identification.  The informal group if understood and managed well, can actually improve the functioning of the formal organisation.

 

Factors that motivate workers to develop informal groups

1.         fail to satisfy the social interaction needs

2.         workers may view the formal system as a common antagonist

3.         common interests associated with, or apart from, their common work experience

4.         physical proximity in the work situation

5.         common work experience

 

References:

Raef T. Hussein, (1989),"Informal Groups, Leadership and Productivity", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 10 Iss: 1 pp. 9 – 16

Raef T. Hussein, (1990),"Understanding and Managing Informal Groups", Management Decision, Vol. 28 Iss: 8