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Unit 10: Informal Organization

5. All major cliques, comprising the informal organization, should be catalogued and Notes
information collected about their reactions to one another and to the company.
6. In designing a formal organization structure, the “team” concept should be followed.
The three important features of this concept are as under:

• The work should be divided into meaningful “blocks” (as opposed to narrow
specialized tasks) to be assigned to a task team.
• As far as possible, the task team must be self-contained to include people with all
skills necessary to complete the assigned task.
• Each task team must be supplied with full facts about its performance to serve as
feedback for corrective action.
There is considerable evidence to show that such a work structure promotes informal groups
which are sympathetic to company goals. The reason is simple. Under mass production
techniques, tasks are generally interdependent. They also require interdependent roles and
social relationships. If the formal organization of the task fails to provide conditions in
which this kind of a relationship is fostered, no amount of external support can accomplish
company goals. The interdependence of tasks has to accompany interdependent social
relationships at work. Interdependent social relationship is achieved when work is organized
in small groups which assume responsibility of the whole task. Here the supervisory role
too becomes different. The need for coordination, detailed planning, follow-up of work is
no longer necessary. Often the supervisor plays a supportive or technical advisory function.
The organization also becomes “flat”, less bureaucratic and flexible in approach.

10.10 Group Dynamics

In the preceding paragraphs, we have seen how people in every organization are divided
into two types of groups: formal and informal. This all-pervasiveness of groups has made
group behaviour a specialized subject of study and the phrase “group dynamics” has, of late,
become very popular. The word “dynamics” comes from the Greek word “dynamikos”
meaning force. The phrase “group dynamics” thus means a study of cohesive and disruptive
forces operating within a group.
Traditional management thinkers did not give much importance to the study of groups. They
thought mainly in terms of the individual. The importance of groups as an independent
subject of study was for the first time recognized by the behaviourists.
The importance of group dynamics to a manager lies in the fact that many people tend to
behave differently as individuals and members of a group. The manager must thus study
them both as individuals and as groups, as these are two interrelated elements of a
motivational situation. He can thus equip himself better to anticipate the actions and
reactions of others and can thereby ensure smooth interpersonal relationships.
Our discussion of group dynamics will be structured around the following topics:
1. Basic elements of group behaviour

2. Group cohesiveness
3. Group structure

In 1920s and 1930s, Mayo showed that individual workers tend to establish
informal groups which affect morale and productivity. Later on, it was
Kurt Lewin who popularized the phrase “group dynamics”.

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