Organizational Management

Social loafing is very common among teams. In most cases your team might endure just one social loafer, however; what do you do if you are stuck with a team full of loafers? The example in this document will illustrate my personal experience with a team of social loafers. When I was working on my undergrad, I dealt with a significant amount of teams. I have been a team leader on most teams. One experience I recall is when I was in a "computer information systems" class.

The goal was to develop a strategy that would enhance an automated system during the shipping and receiving departments for FEDEX and Kudler Fine Foods. My team had approximately six weeks to complete the task, unfortunately, the majority of my team members were confused about the project. Based on the knowledge I possessed about the situation, I explained what I felt was the best way to approach the task. We primarily met face-to-face and via the Internet. As time progressed, my team continued to state their level of confusion. We needed to prepare a PowerPoint presentation and an academic paper.

Initially, I always begin assignments the minute I receive the syllabus, this includes team work as well as individual assignments. By the third week, my team was unable to fulfill their duties on the tasks so I took the liberty of getting started on the project and emphasized that we only have a few more weeks to get this project done so what should we do now? At this point I did not receive an adequate response on how the team should proceed and time was ticking. This example will demonstrate social loafing from all four team members instead of just one. During week five, I completed the team paper and the PowerPoint all by myself. I expressed to the team my disappointment that I had to complete a task of this magnitude without the assistance of my team, therefore, I thought it would be unfair for the team to accept my completion of the assignment as if they contributed to the creative process that was involved. In essence, I told them that I would have to eliminate their names from my work and that they would have to come up with their own work. In the eleventh hour the team decided to meet on the final week to start their project from scratch. I found that the team I was working with, used their busy life as an excuse to why they didn't complete their assignment by the deadline. Everyone who attends a university has a hectic work schedule, so in my opinion, social loafers place a huge burden on the team and creates a hostile working environment.

I find that high cohesiveness does lead to high productivity and has a potential for "group think." A cohesive team is the most effective team because everyone is on the same wavelength and are striving to achieve the main objective. "Groupthink, a term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of "mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment" (Janis, 1972, p. 9). Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups. A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background, when the group is insulated from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making." A group should possess "one voice" and "one frame of mind" in terms of living up to the expectations of their mission and vision statements, however, there should always be room for innovation and creative concepts to improve current or existing products.

Political correctness (PC) can hinder effective communication for the reason that it is a deterrent that stifles ideas. The first amendment guarantees one's right to freedom of speech. The jurisdiction of this promise is often debated as well as is its place in our society. Political correctness is constantly challenging our freedom to say as we please. "The first amendment was not adopted to protect popular or majority thoughts...it as specifically written to protect the right of people to say whatever they want, no matter how unpopular or politically correct" The PC trend is also seen as it has also promoted the imposition of approved speech codes at many colleges, again, straight out, impeding freedom of speech. They have censored what may or should be said about groups, "victimized by past discrimination," (Lawter, 2010). This directly challenges the speech rights of those attending these universities. Overby writes, "Journalism school deans and professors are cozying up to speech codes and valuing politically correct speech above free speech". They are unwilling to stick up for rights that may not be in line with the popular view. "Unpopular speech often is repugnant and irresponsible but it is -or should be- protected by the First amendment" (Overby, n.d.). Unfortunately, the PC trend is aiding in the compromising of free speech, validating the stifling of ideas in order to save the feelings of groups frequently discriminated against.