Social loafing
In social psychology, social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone. It is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of their members working as individuals. ~ Wikipedia
Has anyone here had periods in their life when they were social loafing more than at other times?
@fmf said
Social loafing
In social psychology, social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone. It is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of their members working as individuals. ~ Wikipedia
Has anyone here had periods in their life when they were social loafing more than at other times?
@fmf saidNo - I work alone. Involving others lends itself to idle chat and other time-wasting activities. the only reason I'm responding to this is because I'm on hold with tech support.
Social loafing
In social psychology, social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone. It is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of their members working as individuals. ~ Wikipedia
Has anyone here had periods in their life when they were social loafing more than at other times?
@fmf saidI have spent my entire career doing this. The amazing thing is I retired last year with more money than I can ever spend. If I can do it anyone can.
Social loafing
In social psychology, social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone. It is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of their members working as individuals. ~ Wikipedia
Has anyone here had periods in their life when they were social loafing more than at other times?
@fmf saidI think people spending time on this is a primary example of 'social loafing'.
Social loafing
In social psychology, social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone. It is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of their members working as individuals. ~ Wikipedia
Has anyone here had periods in their life when they were social loafing more than at other times?
Normal people just call it 'teamwork'. Of course you expend less effort on a team. That's the purpose of a team in the first place, Max Ringelmann be damned.
Simms and Nichols explained there are at least five ways to reduce the personal aptitude of people to slack (this is really what you are talking about, despite you appropriating a psychology term). From "Social loafing: A review of the literature", an article from Journal of Management Policy and Practice in 2014.
1. Assigning individual tasks and responsibilities
2. Creating small groups and establishing individual accountability can help.
3. Establishing clear standards and rules
4. Evaluating individual and group performance
5. Highlighting the achievements of individual members
I would add:
6. Alter the goal. Create a larger goal because there are more members on the team.
Problem solved. Even better is to pay attention to whom you put on your team to reduce the incidence of slacking.
1 edit
@suzianne saidHave you had periods in your life when you were social loafing more than at other times?
I think people spending time on this is a primary example of 'social loafing'.
Normal people just call it 'teamwork'. Of course you expend less effort on a team. That's the purpose of a team in the first place, Max Ringelmann be damned.
Simms and Nichols explained there are at least five ways to reduce the personal aptitude of people to slack (this is really what you ...[text shortened]... . Even better is to pay attention to whom you put on your team to reduce the incidence of slacking.
1 edit
@mchill saidI have spent most of my working life earning a living off the value to others that my skill set and capacities offer, so, while not exactly "working alone" for much of that time ~ yes, I have had colleagues and I have operated in workplaces ~ but I have been almost exclusively responsible for my own performance and outputs rather than for the empirically measurable performance and outputs of a team. This has made the notion of "social loafing" largely irrelevant to me in terms of the efficacy of how I conduct myself.
No - I work alone. Involving others lends itself to idle chat and other time-wasting activities. the only reason I'm responding to this is because I'm on hold with tech support.
@suzianne saidIf by "this", you mean these forums, then surely the very purpose of these message boards is "loafing"? Seeing as this place is a venue for people "working" alone posting their messages, I think the phenomenon of "persons exerting less effort to achieve a goal" is irrelevant because they are not "working in a group".
I think people spending time on this is a primary example of 'social loafing'.
The notion that this "group" is sometimes "more productive or less productive" and that there is a "combined effort" resulting in a group performance or output would amount to a pretty muddled conception of what this message board is. For starters, it is not analogous to a workplace.