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Discuss the Functions of the Formal and Informal Groups, How Can Each Type of Group Contribute to the Achievement of Organisational Goals. Provide Examples to Illustrate Your Answer.

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Discuss the functions of the formal and informal groups, how can each type of group contribute to the achievement of organisational goals. Provide examples to illustrate your answer. “Groups are formed as a consequence of the pattern of organisation structure and arrangements for the division of work.” Mullins, L. (2007). Management And Organisational Behaviour. Harlow; Prentice Hall. A group is seen as a number of people, who are socially and psychologically aware of each other. It is a vital feature of a group that a member perceives themselves as members of the group, while a group has no exact definition, it varies upon people’s perceptions and therefore sometimes difficult to identify. Groups are a prominent feature of …show more content…

With the ability to now influence the work a member does, and the outcome of a task, gives the member a sense of satisfaction, generally resulting in an increase in motivation, followed by an increase in productivity. Although this shows a positive aspect to informal groups, they can also be heavily detrimental to a member’s motivation and attitude. An example of this is that, if an informal group gathers to discuss and form ideas, but the ideas formed by the group are not shared by the organisation, members might become unhappy with the organisation, creating unrest, lack of motivation and even descent towards fellow staff. Another factor is that, the creation of personal relationships within informal groups within an organisation by socialising is usually done within work hours, although this can improve the working environment for an employee, from an organisational point of view, it is counterproductive as it is time consuming activity and rarely follows anything constructive towards organisational goals therefore decreasing performance. Work environment; the nature of the task here workers are involved in similar work, share a common task, or face the same problems, this may assist cohesiveness. The nature of the task may serve to bring people together._ Physical setting, where members of a group work in the same location or in close physical proximity to each other, this will generally help cohesiveness. Communications;

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