Have you ever worked in a team where people say: “Why should I do it? Let the others handle it” or “All of us should contribute equally”. The latter sentence is fair to some degree, although equal may not mean equitable. It’s also an expression of the fact that you consider you are doing too much compared to others and therefore start to push the brakes a bit. Social loafing is a reduction in someone’s effort when working in a group compared to working solo. This effect is based on the assumption that by working in a group, better results will yield anyway and the consumption of energy is not justified.
The larger the team doing the same type of work, the smaller the individual contribution. In other words, when the group is big, social loafing increases. It’s a psychological phenomenon called also the Ringelmann effect.
Real life examples
If you ever participated in work groups or a training in which work is divided into groups, there’s a moment when the moderator says: “Now write your conclusions on the flipchart”. What happens next? Do you see people jumping in to write on the flipchart? No. Someone “else” will do it. The person with the higher moral values will give in just because “somebody has to do it”. OR, surprisingly, someone with the least interest to put in intellectual effort. But by writing on the flipchart, a contribution perceived as equitable is brought in.
In many countries, workers in government agencies have a reputation for being lazier than a sloth. It’s mostly because they are over staffed. They can drain money easily by doing nothing – it’s a free ride. It’s not like they don’t have 100 other colleagues that could do job, but if others aren’t doing it, why would they? No one wants to be “the sucker”.
Generally speaking, when people find a warm workplace, where they want to sit in for the long ride, they don’t want to be perceived at the ends of the spectrum. Not the laziest – because those get fired at some point, but not the most hardworking either – because hard workers tend to get rewarded with more work.
Is social loafing backed up by science?
Of course, otherwise we wouldn’t be talking about it or call it the Ringelmann effect (which already makes it sound scientific). The phenomenon was discovered by a French engineer, Maximilien Ringelmann – hence the alternative name for social loafing.
Ringelmann studied the phenomenon in two ways. First, by asking participants to pull a rope horizontally for 5 seconds and measuring the force with a dynamometer. Second, by pushing a crossbar connected to a two-wheel cart. Alone, the participants pulled on average 85 kg per person. In groups of 7, the average pull force was 65kg per person. In groups of 14, the average dropped to 61kg per person.
Social loafing combines sometimes with the bystander effect: people are less likely to help a victim when other people are present. If you are walking on the street and there’s only one other person who collapses in front of you – who else can help, but You? But if there are 20 other people around, you might say: “Well, I’m not qualified to offer help, best I can do is tell the person who intervenes what to do” (that’s irony, btw).
Causes of social loafing
No evaluation of the individual contribution. If you’re not accountable for the results, you will not put real effort into it.
Low perceived value of the task or contribution. Imagine you have to take off a layer of paint. One person with a proper tool, like an angle grinder, would finish the job easily and quite fast. But if you’d assign 4 people with razors to scratch it, that would be dumb. Imagine you live in a bad neighborhood, where the broken window effect is in place. You are cleaning up graffiti under your window, while the rest of the block is filled with it. So you’re just creating a fresh canvas for new work, while the overall neighborhood would still look bad.
No team cohesion – it’s like working with strangers. That’s why team bonding is needed, because it makes you feel accountable in front of other people with whom you are sharing some positive experiences. If you see a friend struggling to carry some furniture, you’d step in and help even if you are not asked to do it. If you see some strangers carrying a heavy couch on the stairs, you’d probably just make room for them to pass.
Ambiguous goals or tasks. “Your group is responsible to keep this place tidy”. What does tidy mean? By whose standards? If there’s 5 of us who says I should be the one in charge of the dishes? But on the other hand if you have only 2 people living in apartment, F buddies or not, it’s clearly who’s job is it to keep the apartment clean. Is it? Actually that’s one reason why couples start to argue: because it’s not clear who does what and the perception of an equitable contribution is different. Taking out the trash (2 min task) does not equal vacuuming the whole house for an hour.
The effects of social loafing
The Ringelmann effect can lead to some obvious effects:
Reduced team performance – I guess this is a no-brainer.
Burnout for those trying to overcompensate. You know, those with the higher moral values feeling guilty.
Resentment – another no-brainer.
Talent attrition – why stay in a place where nobody gives a flying F. about the work that has to be done?
How do you fight back the Ringelmann effect?
Prepare to be amazed! You play the Uno reverse card on the causes.
Allow for individual evaluation and responsibility.
Clearly assign tasks and accountability. You don’t see social loafing in a SWAT team or a military unit, right? Nobody will say “I guess someone will shoot the enemy, why should I do it?”
Size the team appropriately. Don’t add people for the sake of company.
Coaching. Yes.
What about you? Do you feel more productive when working alone or do you prefer groups? You know, those big groups where you can have fun and relax 🙂
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