Test by discipline

"Management".

Topic 15. Formal and informal groups.

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..page 2

2. Formal groups……………………………………………………………...page 2

3. Informal groups……………………………………………………………..page 4

4. Leadership of formal and informal groups……………………………..page 7

5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………page 18

6. List of references……………………………………………..page 19

Introduction

An organization is a social category and at the same time a means of achieving goals. It is a place where people build relationships and interact. Therefore, in every formal organization there is a complex interweaving of informal groups and organizations that formed without management intervention. These informal associations often have a strong impact on the quality of operations and organizational effectiveness.

Although informal organizations are not created by the will of management, they are a factor that every manager must consider because such organizations and other groups can have a strong influence on individual behavior and on the work behavior of employees. Moreover, no matter how well a leader performs his or her functions, it is impossible to determine what actions and attitudes will be required to achieve goals in an organization moving forward. The manager and subordinate often have to interact with people outside the organization and with departments outside their subordination. People will not be able to perform their tasks successfully if they do not achieve the effective cooperation of the individuals and groups on which their activities depend. To cope with such situations, the manager must understand what role this or that group plays in a particular situation, and what place the leadership process occupies in it.

One of necessary conditions The effectiveness of management is the ability to work in small groups, such as committees or commissions created by the managers themselves, and the ability to build relationships with their direct subordinates.

Formal groups.

Based on Marvin Shaw's definition: “a group is two or more individuals who interact with each other in such a way that each person influences and is simultaneously influenced by other individuals,” an organization of any size can be considered to consist of several groups. Management creates groups of its own free will when it divides labor horizontally (divisions) and vertically (levels of management). In each of the many departments of a large organization, there may be a dozen levels of management. For example, production at a factory can be divided into smaller units - machining, painting, assembly. These productions, in turn, can be divided further. For example, production personnel involved in machining can be divided into 3 different teams of 10–16 people, including a foreman. Thus, a large organization may consist of literally hundreds or even thousands of small groups.

These groups, created at the will of management for the organization production process, are called formal groups. However small they may be, they are formal organizations whose primary function in relation to the organization as a whole is to perform specific tasks and achieve specific, specific goals.

There are three main types of formal groups in an organization: leadership groups; production groups; committees.

Command (subordinate) group The manager consists of the manager and his direct subordinates, who, in turn, can also be managers. The company president and senior vice presidents are a typical team group. Another example of a command subordinate group is the aircraft commander, co-pilot and flight engineer.

The second type of formal group is working (target) group . It usually consists of individuals working together on the same task. Although they have general manager, these groups differ from the command group in that they have much more independence in planning and carrying out their work. Working (target) groups are composed of such famous companies like Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Texas Instruments and General Motors. More than two thirds of total number employees of the Texas Instruments company (more than 89 thousand people) are members of target groups. For increasing the overall efficiency of the company, they can receive a 15 percent bonus to their budget. In this company, management believes that task forces break down barriers of mistrust between managers and workers. In addition, by giving workers the opportunity to think about and solve their own production problems, they can meet the needs of higher-level workers.

The third type of formal group is Committee . This is a group within an organization that has been delegated authority to perform a task or set of tasks. Committees are sometimes called councils, task forces, commissions, or teams.

All team and work groups, as well as committees, must work effectively as a single, well-coordinated team. There is no longer any need to prove that effective management of each formal group within the organization is critical. These interdependent groups are the blocks that form the organization as a system. The organization as a whole will be able to effectively fulfill its global objectives only if the tasks of each of its structural divisions are defined in such a way as to support each other's activities. In addition, the group as a whole influences the behavior of the individual. Thus, the better a manager understands what a group is and the factors behind its effectiveness, and the better he masters the art of effectively managing a group, the more likely he is to improve the productivity of that unit and the organization as a whole.

Informal groups.

Despite the fact that informal organizations are not created at the will of management, they are powerful force, which, under certain conditions, can actually become dominant in the organization and nullify the efforts of management. Moreover, informal organizations tend to interpenetrate. Some managers often do not realize that they themselves belong to one or more of these informal organizations.

In production conditions, protection is often required, for example, from harmful production conditions, wage reduction, and layoffs. This protection can be found in an informal organized group.

Often informal organizations use informal information, so-called rumors, which are an object of satisfaction for the vanity of individuals. In a group you can also express your sympathies and gain satisfaction from communicating with other employees. Informal groups develop their own norms of behavior and require their members to comply with these norms.

An informal organization is a spontaneously formed group of people who interact regularly to achieve a specific goal. Like formal organization, these goals are the reason for the existence of such an informal organization. It is important to understand that in a large organization there is more than one informal organization. Most of them are freely networked. Therefore, some believe that an informal organization is essentially a network of informal organizations. The work environment is particularly favorable for the formation of such groups. Because of the formal structure of an organization and its mission, the same people tend to come together every day, sometimes for many years. People who would otherwise be unlikely to even meet are often forced to spend more time with their colleagues than with their own family. Moreover, the nature of the tasks they solve in many cases forces them to communicate and interact with each other frequently. Members of the same organization depend on each other in many ways. A natural result of this intense social interaction is the spontaneous emergence of informal organizations.

Informal organizations have much in common with the formal ones in which they find themselves embedded. They are organized in some ways the same way as formal organizations - they have a hierarchy, leaders and tasks. In spontaneously emerging (emergent) organizations there are also written rules, called norms, which serve as standards of behavior for members of the organization. These norms are reinforced by a system of rewards and sanctions. The specificity is that the formal organization is created according to a pre-thought-out plan. Informal organization is more likely a spontaneous reaction to unmet individual needs.

The difference in the formation mechanism of formal and informal organizations is shown in the Figure:

Informal groups tend to resist operational changes that could threaten the group's existence. Threatening factors may include expansion of production, introduction new technology, reorganization. The consequence of these factors is the arrival of new people who can encroach on established relationships in an informal organization.

Leadership of formal and informal groups.

Management has a great influence on management as a whole. A manager is a person who, as a leader, effectively manages his subordinates in order for them to perform regular tasks. A leader is a person who effectively exercises formal and informal leadership.

Leadership is based on influence. Influence is “any behavior by one individual that brings about changes in behavior, attitudes, feelings, etc. another individual."

One person can also influence another with ideas alone. Karl Marx, who never had any official authority in any political organization and never personally used such a means as violence, had an unintended influence on the course of events of the twentieth century. Leaders must exert influence in a way that is easy to predict and that leads not just to acceptance of a given idea, but to action - the actual work necessary to achieve the organization's goals. To make leadership and influence effective, a leader must develop and exercise power. In other words, power is used - the ability to influence the behavior of others. Having authority, but not having power, a leader cannot manage effectively.

The manager has power over his subordinates as a result of their dependence on him for wages, satisfaction of social needs, presentation of work, etc. But subordinates also have a certain degree of power over the manager: obtaining information, informal contacts, desire to do work.

An effective leader must use his power within reasonable limits so that his subordinates do not have the desire to exercise their power, which could reduce the effectiveness of management, i.e. it is necessary to maintain a balance of power, achieve the fulfillment of set goals and not cause disobedience of subordinates.

The managers on whom the receipt of information, raw materials, and equipment depend also have a certain share of power in relation to other managers. If a leader controls what a subordinate is interested in, he has power over him, which forces the subordinate to act in the right direction. Essentially, power rests on the needs of the performer.

University of Michigan professor R. French and B. Raven proposed the following classification authorities.

1. Power based on coercion. It is based on the subordinate's belief that a leader with power can interfere with the satisfaction of some need or perform other undesirable actions.

2. Power based on rewards. The subordinate believes that the manager has the ability to satisfy his needs.

3.Expert power. The subordinate is convinced that specialized knowledge the manager will allow him to satisfy his need.

4. Reference power. The leader has properties that make the performer want to imitate him.

5. Legitimate authority. The subordinate believes that the manager has the right to order, since he is at a higher level of the managerial hierarchy. The legitimacy of power is based on the delegation of management powers.

In formally organized structures, legal authority is primarily used. Traditionally, people report to bosses who hold specific positions. Tradition is impersonal. The subordinate reacts not to the person, but to the position. In this case, there is subordination to the system as a whole.

Management theory uses three approaches to determining the effectiveness of leadership: from the perspective of personal qualities, behavioral and situational approaches. The personal qualities of a leader that determine effective influence on subordinates include: a high level of intelligence and knowledge, honesty, truthfulness, initiative, legal and economic education, and self-confidence. However, one cannot talk about the sum of specific qualities that will definitely give effective result in management. Research has shown that in different situations a leader needs to use his different qualities, and therefore influence his subordinates in different ways. This allows us to talk about different behavior leader in different conditions. Proponents of the behavioral approach believe that the effectiveness of influence is determined not by the personal qualities of the leader, but by the generalized types of behavior of the leader in relations with subordinates in the process of achieving set goals, i.e. leadership style.

But we must not forget about other factors. The personal qualities of a leader and his behavior determine success, taking into account the needs and personal qualities of subordinates, the nature of the task, the impact environment. A situational approach to defining leadership is necessary; the leader’s personal qualities and style of behavior must correspond to a specific situation.

It is important that leaders understand that informal organizations interact dynamically with formal ones. One of the first to pay attention to this factor, as well as the formation of informal organizations, was George Homans, a theorist in the field of group studies. In the Homans Model, activities refer to tasks performed by people. In the process of performing these tasks, people interact, which, in turn, contributes to the emergence of feelings - positive and negative emotions towards each other and their superiors. These emotions influence how people will carry out their activities and interact in the future.

In addition to the fact that the model demonstrates how from the management process
(delegation of tasks that cause interaction) informal organizations arise, it shows the need to manage an informal organization. Because group emotions influence both tasks and interactions, they can also influence the effectiveness of the formal organization. Depending on the nature of emotions (favorable or unfavorable), they can lead to either an increase or decrease in efficiency, absenteeism, staff turnover, complaints and other phenomena that are important for assessing the organization’s performance. Therefore, even if a formal organization is not created at the will of management and is not under its complete control, it always needs to be effectively managed so that it can achieve its goals.

One of the biggest and most common difficulties that hinders the effective management of groups and informal organizations is the initially low opinion of leaders about them. Some managers stubbornly continue to believe that informal organization is the result of ineffective management. In essence, the emergence of informal organizations is a natural and very common phenomenon - they exist in every organization. Like many other factors operating in the field of management, they carry both negative and positive aspects.

Indeed, some informal groups may behave unproductively in ways that interfere with the achievement of formal goals. False rumors can be spread through informal channels, leading to negative attitudes towards management. The norms adopted by the group may cause the organization's productivity to be lower than that determined by management. The tendency to resist any change and the tendency to preserve ingrained stereotypes can delay the necessary modernization of production. However, such counterproductive behavior is often a reaction to the attitude of superiors towards this group. Rightly or wrongly, group members believe that they are being treated unfairly and respond as any person would respond to something that seems unfair to them.

Such instances of backlash sometimes prevent managers from seeing the many potential benefits of informal organizations. Since being a member of a group requires working for the organization, loyalty to the group can translate into loyalty to the organization. Many people refuse more highly paid positions in other companies because they do not want to break the social connections they have acquired in that company. The goals of the group may coincide with the goals of the formal organization, and the performance standards of the informal organization may exceed the norms of the formal organization. For example, strong spirit collectivism, characteristic of some organizations and generating a strong desire for success, often grows from informal relationships and involuntary actions of management. Even informal communication channels can sometimes help a formal organization by complementing the formal communication system.

By failing to find ways to effectively engage with informal organizations, or by trying to suppress them, managers often miss out on these potential benefits. In any case, regardless of whether the informal organization is harmful or useful, it exists and must be taken into account. Even if the leadership destroys one group, another will certainly arise in its place, which may develop a deliberately negative attitude towards the leadership.

Earlier writers thought they knew how to deal with informal organization—they just had to destroy it. Today's theorists believe that informal organization can help a formal organization achieve its goals. Scott and Davis propose to solve this issue as follows:
1. Recognize the existence of an informal organization and realize that its destruction will entail the destruction of the formal organization. Therefore, management should recognize the informal organization, work with it and not threaten its existence.

2. Listen to the opinions of members and leaders of informal groups. Developing this idea, Davis writes: “Every leader should know who the leaders are in each informal group and work with them, encouraging those who do not interfere with, but contribute to the achievement of the organization's goals. When an informal leader opposes his employer, his widespread influence can undermine the motivation and job satisfaction of employees in a formal organization.”
3. Before taking any action, consider its possible negative impact on the informal organization.
4. To reduce informal resistance to change, allow the group to participate in decision making.
5. Provide accurate information quickly, thereby preventing the spread of rumors.

In addition to the challenge of managing informal organizations to harness their potential benefits and reduce negative impacts, management must also improve the effectiveness of command teams and committees. Because these groups are an intentionally created component of the formal organization, much of what is true for managing an organization is also true for them. Like the entire organization as a whole, groups require planning, organization, motivation and control to achieve effective functioning.

The group will be able to achieve its goals more or less effectively depending on the influence of the following factors: size, composition, group norms, cohesion, conflict, status and functional role of its members.

Size. Management theorists have devoted much time to defining the ideal group size. Authors of the administrative management school believed that the formal group should be relatively small. According to Ralph K. Davis, the ideal group should consist of 3-9 people. His opinion is shared by Keith Davis, a modern theorist who has spent many years studying groups. He believes that the preferred number of group members is 5 people. Research shows that in fact, between 5 and 8 people attend group meetings.

Some studies suggest that groups with between 5 and 11 members tend to make more accurate decisions than those larger than that. Research has also shown that groups of 5 people tend to experience greater satisfaction than those in larger or smaller groups. The explanation for this seems to be that in groups of 2 or 3 people, members may be concerned that their personal responsibility for decisions is too obvious. On the other hand, in groups of more than 5 people, its members may experience difficulty and shyness in expressing their opinions in front of others.
In general, as a group increases in size, communication among its members becomes more complex and it becomes more difficult to reach agreement on issues related to the group's activities and tasks. Increasing group size also increases the tendency for groups to split informally into subgroups, which can lead to conflicting goals and the formation of cliques.

Compound . Composition here refers to the degree of similarity of personalities and points of view, approaches that they show in solving problems. An important reason for bringing an issue to a group decision is to use different positions to find optimal solution. It is therefore not surprising that research recommends that a group be made up of dissimilar individuals, as this promises greater effectiveness than if group members have similar points of view. Some people pay more attention to the important details of projects and problems, while others want to look at the big picture, some want to approach the problem from a systemic perspective and look at the interrelationships of various aspects. According to Miner, when "groups are selected in such a way that they contain either very similar or very different people, then groups with different points of view produce more high-quality solutions. Multiple points of view and perspectives pay dividends.”

Group norms . As early group researchers discovered, in work groups, the norms adopted by the group have a strong influence on the behavior of the individual and on the direction in which the group will work: to achieve the goals of the organization or to counter them. Norms are designed to tell group members what kind of behavior and work is expected of them. Norms have such a strong influence because only if their actions are consistent with these norms can an individual count on belonging to a group, its recognition and support.
This applies to both informal and formal organizations.

Cohesion. Group cohesion is a measure of the attraction of group members to each other and to the group. A highly cohesive group is a group whose members feel strongly attracted to each other and consider themselves similar.
Because a cohesive group works well as a team, high levels of cohesion can improve the effectiveness of the entire organization if the goals of both are aligned. Highly cohesive groups tend to have fewer communication problems, and those that do occur are less severe than others. They have less misunderstandings, tension, hostility and mistrust, and their productivity is higher than in disjointed groups.
But if the goals of the group and the entire organization are not aligned, then a high degree of cohesion will negatively affect productivity throughout the organization.

Management may find it possible to increase the positive effects of cohesion by holding periodic meetings and emphasizing the overall goals of the group, and by allowing each member to see his or her contribution to achieving those goals. Management can also strengthen cohesion by allowing subordinates to meet periodically to discuss potential or current problems, the effect of upcoming changes for production activities, as well as new projects and priorities in the future.

Potential negative consequence The highest degree of cohesion is group like-mindedness.

Group unanimity is the tendency of an individual to suppress his actual views on some phenomenon in order not to disturb the harmony of the group. Group members believe that disagreement undermines their sense of belonging and therefore disagreement should be avoided. In order to preserve what is understood as agreement and harmony among group members, a group member decides that it is better not to express his opinion. In an atmosphere of group like-mindedness, the primary task for an individual is to stick to common line in the discussion, even if he or she has different information or beliefs. This tendency is self-reinforcing. Since no one expresses different opinions from others or offers different, opposing information or point of view, everyone assumes that everyone else thinks alike. Since no one speaks up, no one knows that other members may also be skeptical or concerned. As a result, the problem is solved with less efficiency, since the entire necessary information and alternative solutions are not discussed or evaluated. When there is group consensus, the likelihood of a mediocre decision that will not affect anyone increases.

Conflict. It was mentioned earlier that differences of opinion usually lead to more effective group performance. However, it also increases the likelihood of conflict. While active exchange of ideas is beneficial, it can also lead to intragroup arguments and other forms of open conflict, which are always detrimental.

Group Member Status . An individual's status in an organization or group can be determined by a number of factors, including seniority in the job hierarchy, job title, office location, education, social talents, awareness, and experience. These factors can lead to increases and decreases in status depending on the values ​​and norms of the group. Research has shown that high-status group members are able to exert more influence over group decisions than low-status group members. However, this does not always lead to increased efficiency.

A person who has worked for a company for a short time may have more valuable ideas and better experience regarding a project than someone with high status acquired through many years of work in the management of that company. The same applies to the head of a department, whose status may be lower than the vice president. To accept effective solutions, all information relevant to this issue, and weigh all ideas objectively. To function effectively, a group may have to make a concerted effort to ensure that the views of higher status members do not dominate the group.

Roles of group members. A critical factor determining the effectiveness of a group is the behavior of each of its members. For a group to function effectively, its members must behave in ways that promote group goals and social interaction. There are two main types of roles for creating a well-functioning group
- target and supporting roles.

Target roles are distributed in such a way as to be able to select group tasks and carry them out. Employees performing target roles are characterized by the following functions:

1. Initiation of activity. Offer solutions, new ideas, new formulations of problems, new approaches to solving them, or new organization of material.
2. Search for information. Seek clarification of the proposal put forward, Additional information or facts.

3. Gathering opinions. Ask group members to express their views on the issues being discussed and to clarify their values ​​or ideas.

4. Providing information. Provide facts or generalizations to the group, apply your own experience to solve group problems or to illustrate points.

5. Expressing opinions. It is imperative to express opinions or beliefs regarding any proposal with an evaluation of it, and not just report facts.
6. Elaboration. Explain, give examples, develop ideas, try to predict the future fate of the proposal if it is accepted.
7. Coordination. Explain the relationships between ideas, try to summarize proposals, try to integrate the activities of different subgroups or group members.
8. Generalization. Relist the proposals after the discussion is over.

Supportive roles involve behavior that contributes to the maintenance and activation of the life and activities of the group. Employees in support roles perform the following functions:

1. Encouragement. Be friendly, sincere, responsive towards others.
Praise others for their ideas, agree with others, and positively evaluate their contributions to solving a problem.

2. Ensure participation. Try to create an environment in which each member of the group can make a proposal. Encourage this, for example, with the following words:
“We haven’t heard anything from Jim yet,” or offer everyone a specific time limit for speaking so that everyone has the opportunity to speak.
3. Establishing criteria. Establish criteria to guide the group when making substantive or procedural choices or evaluating the group's decision. Remind the group to avoid decisions that are inconsistent with group criteria.

4. Execution. Follow the decisions of the group, being thoughtful about the ideas of other people who make up the audience during group discussions.
5. Expressing the feelings of the group. Summarize what is being formed as a feeling of the group. Describe group members' reactions to ideas and solutions to problems.

Conclusion.

Group management is very great importance in modern management. Since organizations of all sizes are made up of groups, managers need to have a good understanding of the emergence and development of formal and informal groups. A modern manager must understand the importance of the existence of informal groups. He should strive to ensure close interaction between formal and informal organizations, since informal organizations dynamically interact with formal organizations, influence the quality of work performed and people's attitudes towards work and towards their superiors.

Problems associated with informal organizations include decreased efficiency, the spread of false rumors, and a tendency to resist change. Potential benefits include: Greater commitment to the organization, high team spirit, and higher job performance are observed when group norms exceed formal norms. To cope with potential problems and to capture the potential benefits of informal organization, management must recognize and work with informal organization, listening to the opinions of informal leaders and group members, consider the effectiveness of informal organization decisions, allow informal groups to participate in decision making, and suppress rumors by promptly providing official information.

Knowing group dynamics well, management will be able to effectively manage formal groups and wisely use structures such as committees in the activities of their enterprise.

Bibliography.

Gerchikova I.N. Management: Textbook. 3rd ed., revised. and additional – M.: Banks Exchange, UNIGI, 1999.

Zaitseva O.A., Radugin A.A., Radugin K.A., Rogacheva N.I., Fundamentals of Management: M.: Center, 2000.

Korotkov E.M. Concept of management: Textbook. allowance. – M., 1998

Meskon M.H., Albert M., Khedouri F. Fundamentals of Management: -M., 1997.

Vershigora E.E., Management: Textbook. allowance. – 2nd edition, revised. and additional – M.INFRA-M. 2001

Odegov Yu.G., Zhuravlev P.V., Personnel management: - M., 2000

Shepel V.M., Handbook for businessman and manager. – M., 2004

Group represents an association of people constantly interacting, interdependent and mutually influencing each other, performing different responsibilities, coordinating joint activities to achieve specific common goals and considering themselves as part of a single whole.

Group– a community of people limited in number, distinguished from the social whole on the basis of certain characteristics ( joint activities, identity of circumstances, etc.).

In an organization, group forms of work can be used in various areas of its activity, to achieve different goals, and can be created based on different periods time (Table 11.1).

Table 11.1. Types of groups in an organization

Signs of identifying a group type	Types of groups
Band size
Area of ​​joint activities	Managerial Production
	Highly developed Underdeveloped
The principle of creation and nature of interpersonal relationships	Formal Informal
Purposes of existence	Target (project) Functional By interest Friendly
Operating period	Permanent Temporary

Formal and informal groups in an organization

Every organization has formal groups, created by decision of management to perform tasks aimed at achieving the goals of the organization. They operate in accordance with pre-established, officially approved provisions, instructions, and charters. There are three types of formal groups: management teams (leader's group), working groups and committees.

Formal group– a group created by decision of management within the organization’s structure to perform certain tasks.

Management team first of all, the highest level, consists of the manager and his immediate subordinates (deputies), who, in turn, can also be managers. Thus, the head of the organization and his deputies, heading various functional areas, represent a typical command group. At the shop level, the shop manager and his deputy also form a command subordinate group. Commercial director and heads of departments subordinate to him, for example, sales (sales) finished products, marketing, advertising also form a command group.

Working groups are formed and function as separate structural units, created to perform specialized functions that emerged in the process of division of labor in production and management. These are functional working groups. Formal groups can also be created to work on specific project or a problem. After completing a task, they may be disbanded, or they may be assigned to work on another project or problem. These are targeted working groups.

Both functional and target working groups select specialists who have certain professional training, qualifications, experience and are ready to perform work in a joint labor system.

Committee– a formal group to which authority has been delegated to perform a task or series of tasks. Varieties of committees can be commissions, councils. The main thing that distinguishes committees from other formal groups is group decision making.

Thus, the board of directors of any large company can create committees for strategic planning, personnel and remuneration, and audit.

Along with formal ones, there arise and operate in the organization informal groups, created by members of the organization in accordance with their mutual sympathies, common interests, the same hobbies, habits to satisfy social needs and communication between people (Fig. 11.1).

Interest in informal groups was sparked by Elton Mayo's famous Hawthorne Experiments in the 1930s, when researchers discovered that informal groups emerged spontaneously as a result of employee interactions and were not determined by the formal organization. People are well aware of who is in their informal group and who is not. Informal groups usually have their own unwritten rules and norms of behavior. In them there is a certain distribution of roles and the status of each member of the group is determined. In an informal group, as a rule, there is an explicit or implicit leader.

An informal group can manifest itself in two varieties. In the first, informal service relationships have a functional content and exist in parallel with the formal organization, complementing it. An example is a system of business connections between employees that has developed spontaneously in addition to the existing management structure; in these cases we speak of an informal structure.

In the second, interpersonal connections arise due to mutual attraction, sympathies, common views on life, habits, hobbies, etc. out of connection with functional necessity. These could be partnerships, interest clubs, etc.

Interesting experience

Virtual team

This is a group of people with common goals, fulfilling their functional roles, who in the process of cooperation rarely meet in person or do not know each other by sight, united with the help of modern information and telecommunications

Rice. 11.1.

on technologies. Virtual teams can be made up of people separated by large distances.

Virtual teams are highly flexible and dynamic. These can range from temporary cross-functional teams to long-term and even permanent self-managed teams. Such teams are created to develop projects in the field of high technology, but if the company needs it, the sales department can also be virtual.

• Highly developed groups– groups characterized by unity of goals and common interests, stability of relations between its members, high cohesion, etc. Underdeveloped groups– groups characterized by insufficient development or lack of psychological community, established structure, clear distribution of responsibilities, and low cohesion. These groups, which are at the initial stage of their existence, are also called diffuse.
• Elton Mayo is an American psychologist, founder of the school of human relations in management.

Each person simultaneously belongs to many groups. To one we belong enough short term(excursion group, army, technical school). Having achieved the goal, such groups disintegrate. Others, on the contrary, accompany us all our lives (family, family, friends) and have a great influence on him.

In management theory, groups are distributed, which are the basis of any team, into formal and informal.

Formal groups - these are groups that arise on the initiative of the administration and are included in a certain unit in the organizational structure and staffing table enterprises. Exist Various types formal groups:

1. A group of managers (team) - consists of the head of the enterprise (its division) and direct deputies and assistant managers.

2. Functional group - unites the head and specialists of a functional unit (department, bureau, service), who implement a common management function and have similar professional goals and interests.

3. Production group - consists of a manager and workers engaged in performing a certain type of work at the lower level of management (link, team, section). Group members work together on one task, the incentive is the end result, and the differences between them are associated with the distribution of types of work between group members depending on the qualifications of the workers.

4. A committee is a group within an enterprise to which authority is delegated by senior management to carry out any project or task. The main difference between a committee and other formal structures is group decision-making, which is sometimes the most effective means solving complex problems and achieving goals.

Formal groups arise at the will of management and are therefore conservative to a certain extent, since they often depend on the personality of the leader and the people who work in this group. But as soon as they arise, they immediately become a social environment in which people begin to interact with each other according to different laws, creating informal groups.

Informal groups - These are freely formed small social groups of people who enter into constant interaction to achieve personal goals.

Informal groups are created not by management through orders and formal resolutions, but by members of the organization, depending on their mutual sympathies, common interests, identical affections, and so on. These groups exist in all organizations, although they are not reflected in the organizational charts. Informal groups have their own unwritten rules and norms of behavior; people know well who is in their informal group and who is not. In informal groups, a certain distribution of roles and positions develops; these groups have an explicitly or implicitly expressed leader. In many cases, an informal group may have its member's influence equal or greater than the formal structure.

Informal groups usually form spontaneously within formal groups, with which they have much in common, namely:

They have a certain organization - hierarchy, leader and tasks;

They have certain unwritten rules - norms;

They have a certain process of formation - stages;

They have certain varieties - types of informal groups according to the degree of maturity.

The reasons for the formation of informal groups can be different: the desire to belong to a certain social group and have certain social contacts; the opportunity to receive help from colleagues in the team; the desire to know about what is happening around, to use informal communication channels; the desire to be closer to those you like.

There are significant differences between formal and informal groups both in the purpose for which they are created and in the forms of influence of their leaders on other group members (Table 13.1).

Table 13.1

The main differences between a formal and informal group

Classification sign	Characteristics
	Formal groups	Informal groups
	Determined by the organization according to the group's place in the formal structure	Satisfying social needs that are outside the interests of the formal organization (hobbies, friendship, love, etc.)
Conditions of occurrence	According to a pre-developed project for building an organization	Created spontaneously
	Appointed by the organization	Recognized by the group
Communications	Formal channels with other structural elements and within the group	Mainly informal channels both within and outside the group
Interaction between group members	Based on production tasks	Develop spontaneously
Forms of influence on group members	All forms, but predominate in economic and administrative nature	Mainly methods of personal psychological influence

Experts divide the process of formation of informal groups into five stages, as a result of which five various types informal groups that differ from each other in the degree of maturity of relationships:

/ Stage- spontaneous associations of people who unconsciously react to any events;

Stage II- the emergence of more conscious emotions in case of successful previous actions;

Stage III- an organized association for a joint fight against an external threat, the emergence of a leader;

IV stage - in the presence of positive factors - the emergence of a desire to establish themselves in the struggle and continue joint activities, the emergence of hierarchies;

V stage - unification to solve long-term goals, the emergence of norms.

There are informal groups in every organization, and a serious aspect of a manager’s activity is the need to understand the importance of the existence of these groups and their management.

One of the first scientists to pay attention to these issues was the group theorist George Homans, who created a model called the Homans model (Fig. 13.1).

Rice. 13.1. Homans model

The essence of this model is that in the process of joint activity people enter into interactions, which in turn contribute to the manifestation of feelings - positive and negative emotions towards each other and towards the leader. These emotions influence how people will carry out their activities and lead to an increase or decrease in their effectiveness. That is why, you should remember some negative and positive phenomena that an organization may encounter in the process of managing informal groups (Table 13.2).

Table 13.2

Negative and positive aspects of the existence of informal groups

Informal relationships among team members are inevitable, since their activities and interests cannot exist only within the framework of formal (approved) structures, positions, functions and procedures. In addition, informal relationships are necessary, because without them formal structure, in a certain sense, loses its effectiveness.

The optimal state of the team is in which formal and informal groups coincide as much as possible. This coincidence of formal and informal structures ensures team cohesion and increases productivity.

Due to inconsistency of structures, when the leader does not have authority in the team, and group norms and rules differ from collective ones, a struggle may arise in the organization between formal and informal structures, which hinders effective activity and the process of achieving organizational goals.

Today's theorists believe that informal groups can help a formal organization achieve its goals. For this it is desirable:

1. Recognize the existence of informal groups and work with them.

2. Listen to the opinions of members and leaders of informal groups.

3. Before starting any actions, calculate their possible negative impact on the informal organization.

4. Allow the informal group to participate in decision making.

5. Providing accurate information quickly, thereby preventing the spread of rumors.

So, one of the most important tasks of a leader is to bring together formal and informal structures, positive orientations of informal groups and the fight against negative manifestations a team.

It is human nature to communicate with other people. In many cases, such communication is casual and short-term. However, if two or more people spend enough time communicating with each other, they begin to become psychologically aware of what others think of them, what others expect of them. It makes people in a certain way change their behavior, thereby confirming the existence of social relationships based on group characteristics.

Each of us belongs to many groups at the same time (family, relatives, friends, work team, sports team, etc.).

A group is two or more individuals who interact with each other in such a way that each individual influences the others and is simultaneously influenced by the other individuals.

An organization of any size is made up of a number of formal and informal groups.

Groups created at the will of management to organize a production, commercial or other process are called formal groups.

There are three main types of formal groups in an organization: management groups, working (production, task) groups and committees (commissions, councils).

Team group leader consists of a manager and his direct subordinates, who in turn can also be managers (president of the company, his deputies, heads of departments, etc.).

Working (task group) usually consists of individuals working together on the same task. Although they have a common leader, these groups differ from a command group in that they have significantly more autonomy in planning and executing their work.

Committees are created to fill gaps in organizational structures to solve problems that are not within the competence of any department and to perform special functions. There are permanent and special (temporary) committees (policy development, planning group, employee grievance review, salary review, etc.).

The main functions of formal groups (teams) are to perform specific tasks and achieve certain goals.

The following factors influence the effectiveness of a formal group:

group size. As a group increases in size, communication among its members becomes more complex and it becomes more difficult to reach agreement on issues related to the activities of the group and the accomplishment of its tasks, and the tendency for groups to informally divide into subgroups increases (an ideal group should consist of 3-9 people );

Group members. It is advisable for a group to consist of dissimilar individuals, as this promises greater effectiveness than if group members have similar points of view;

group norms - designed to tell group members what kind of behavior and what kind of work is expected of them. Group norms include: pride in the organization; achievements of goals; profitability; collective work; planning; control; professional training personnel; innovations; relationship with the customer; protection of integrity, etc.;

Cohesion is a measure of the attraction of group members to each other and to the group. Management can find opportunities to increase the positive effects of cohesion by periodically holding meetings to discuss current issues, new projects and priorities for the future. A potential negative consequence of high cohesion is group like-mindedness;

group like-mindedness – This is the tendency to suppress the views of an individual on some phenomenon in order not to disturb the harmony of the group. As a result, the problem is solved with less efficiency, since all the necessary information and alternative solutions are not discussed and evaluated;

conflict. Although active exchange of views is beneficial, it can also lead to intra-group disputes and other manifestations of open conflict, which are always detrimental;

the status of group members can be determined by a number of factors (seniority in the official hierarchy, job title, location of the office, education, social talents, awareness and accumulated experience). Group members whose status is high enough are able to exert more influence on group decisions than group members with low status;

roles of group members. For a group to function effectively, its members must behave in ways that promote group goals and social interaction. There are two main types of roles to create a well-functioning group:

target roles imply the ability to select group tasks and carry them out (initiating activities, searching for information, collecting opinions, providing information, expressing opinions, elaborating proposals, coordinating, summarizing);

Supporting roles imply behavior that contributes to the maintenance and activation of the life and activities of the group (encouragement, ensuring participation, establishing criteria, performance, expressing the feelings of the group). Most American managers perform goal roles, while Japanese managers perform goal and support roles.

The most effective group is one whose size corresponds to its objectives, which contains people with dissimilar character traits, whose norms contribute to the achievement of the organization's goals and the creation of a spirit of collectivism, where healthy level conflict, performing well in both task and support roles, and where high-status group members do not dominate.

Effective management of each formal group within an organization is critical to achieving the organization's goals.

Informal groups- These are spontaneously emerging groups of people who regularly interact to achieve a specific goal. Informal organizations have much in common with formal organizations. They have their own hierarchy, leaders, norms and tasks.

The difference is that a formal organization is created according to a pre-thought-out plan, while an informal organization is most likely a spontaneous reaction to unsatisfactory individual needs.

The reasons for joining informal organizations are that belonging to informal groups can provide people with psychological benefits that are no less important than the wages they receive: a sense of belonging, mutual assistance, mutual protection, close communication and mutual interest

Informal organizations create a number of problems:

decrease in the efficiency of the enterprise;

spreading false rumors and resisting progressive change.

At the same time, if group norms exceed formal norms, informal organizations can bring benefits (commitment to the enterprise, high team spirit and higher productivity).

People usually know why they join formal organizations (to achieve common goals, rewards, prestige, etc.). People also have reasons for joining informal groups, but they are often unaware of them. The most important reasons joining a group: a sense of belonging, mutual assistance, protection of common interests, close communication (sympathy) and interest.

Each informal group has its own leader. In this case, his age, job position, professional competence, responsiveness, even the location of the workplace, etc. usually matter.

The development of informal organizations and the reasons why people join them contribute to the development of characteristics in these organizations that make them both similar and different from formal organizations. It is important that leaders understand that informal groups interact with formal groups.

One of the biggest difficulties preventing the effective management of informal groups is the initially low opinion of managers about them. Some managers believe that the very emergence of an informal organization is the result of ineffective management. But that's not true. There are informal groups in any organization. This is as natural as the desire of friends to be friends, communicate, and interact.

The effectiveness of a formal organization is strongly influenced by the following characteristics of informal organizations:

social control - establishing and strengthening norms - group standards of acceptable and unacceptable behavior (clothing, acceptable types of work, behavior). Social control, carried out by an informal organization, can influence and guide the achievement of the goals of a formal organization. It can also influence opinions about managers and the fairness of their decisions;

resistance to change - will arise whenever group members see change as a threat to the continued existence of their group as such, their common experience, the satisfaction of social needs, common interests or positive emotions. Management can reduce this resistance by allowing and encouraging subordinates to participate in decision making;

Informal leaders have two primary functions: to help the group achieve its goals and to support and strengthen its existence. Sometimes these functions are performed by different people.

Some informal groups may behave unproductively (spread false rumors, hold back the necessary modernization of production, etc.). Therefore, one of the biggest and most common difficulties that hinders the effective management of informal groups is the initially low opinion of managers about them. By failing to find ways to effectively engage with informal organizations, or by trying to suppress them, managers often miss out on potential benefits. In any case, regardless of whether the informal organization is harmful or useful, it exists and must be taken into account. Even if the management destroys some informal group, another group will certainly arise in its place, which may have a deliberately negative attitude towards the management.

An informal organization can help a formal organization achieve its goals. To do this, managers need to:

1. Recognize the existence of an informal organization, work with it and not threaten its existence;

2. Listen to the opinions of members and leaders of informal groups. Know who the leader of the informal group is and work with him, encouraging those who do not interfere, but contribute to achieving the goals of the organization; a leader is a person who is “followed” (consulted, listened to, considered) without connection with his position in the organization; The leader usually influences creatively, but there are also negative leaders (pushing for a decrease in labor productivity, etc.).

3. Before taking any action, it is necessary to calculate their possible negative impact on the informal organization;

4. Allow the informal group to participate in decision making to reduce resistance to change on its part;

5. Providing accurate information quickly, thereby preventing the spread of rumors.

Thus, the task of a manager in this aspect is not to fight informal groups, but to acquire the skills to manage them in order to skillfully direct the efforts of not only formal, but also informal groups to achieve the goals of the organization.