254 Part 3 Group and Organizational Communicationis, work harder to be part of the group. Males, on the other hand, tend to engage in a
practice called social loafing, which we discuss next.Social Loafing
On many education and learning blogs, you can find students and instructors
complaining about one of the most dreaded assignments of all time: the group
project. At first glance, doesn’t it seem that group projects should be easier than
working solo? There are more minds with whom to try out ideas and share in the
work. But what we all dread is having group members who don’t pull their own
weight. The fact is, in a group, people may become prone to social loafing—fail-
ing to invest the same level of effort in the group that they’d put in if they were
working alone or with one other person (Karau & Williams, 1993). In almost
every group situation, from your high school yearbook committee to cut-throat
competitions like Survivor, there are always a few individuals who manage to
make it through to the end simply by keeping their heads low and letting their
teammates do most of the work. Clearly, social loafing affects both participation
and communication in groups (Comer, 1998; Shultz, 1999).
Despite the negative connotation of the word loafing, it’s not always due to
laziness. When a person fails to speak up because he or she feels shy around a lot
of people, the person is engaging in social loafing. Social loafing also results from
the feelings of anonymity that can occur in larger groups, where it is more dif-
ficult for an individual member’s contributions to be evaluated. Thus a member
may put in less effort, believing that nobody will notice that he or she is slack-
ing or, conversely, that he or she is working hard. If group members perceive an
inequality in individual effort, conflict can and often does emerge, harming team
morale. Social loafing even occurs in online groups and teams (Piezon & Ferree,
2008): members of an online discussion group, for example, may post messages
or photos that are unrelated to the group’s topic or they may not respond at all to
a request for everyone’s opinion on an idea.
Scholars argue that there are several practices that can help to manage your
group’s productivity and prevent or reduce social loafing (Cox & Brobrowski,
2000; Latane, Williams, & Harkins, 1979; Van Dick, Tissington, & Hertel, 2009):c Establish objectives and performance goals. Make the schedule clear to all team
members so everyone is aware of deadlines. Clarify what each member’s
individual responsibility is. You may even consider putting everything in
writing, akin to a contract, so that there’s no confusion about who should be
taking care of what.
c Establish individual accountability. At the beginning of a project, be sure that
all team members understand that they are expected to carry out their duties
responsibly. This will establish the importance of each person’s future perfor-
mance. Also discuss how members will be evaluated and the consequences of
social loafing or poor performance (Cox & Brobrowski, 2000).
c Encourage team identity and ownership. Early on in the process, promote
team unity by coming up with a group name or symbol. Take the time to get
to know each other and build social bonds and trust. This will help foster
more team loyalty. Encourage team members to take pride and ownership in
their work—which will also promote dedication to the cause.If you’ve ever been bullied
or witnessed bullying, you
know that social ostracism
can be a powerful—and
hurtful—force. But is exclud-
ing someone from communi-
cation always aggressive or
malevolent? Consider situa-
tions in which you may have
excluded a group member
from communication, either
in person or online. What
were your motives, and how
did it affect communication
in the group?AND YOU?
Have you ever been
excessively quiet or shy in a
group? Do you consider this
behavior social loafing or do
you feel that the situational
or relational context is
primarily to blame? Why?AND YOU?