Did you know that 1 + 1 + 1 does not always equal 3? You would think that the more people on a project, the greater the output. Sadly, that’s not always the case. A phenomenon called Social Loafing leads some team members to do the minimum possible. They drag down group productivity like a boat anchor. Today we’ll look at why social loafing happens, and six ways you can be sure to get the best effort from everyone.

Notes and Resources:

• Prefer to read? Here’s the full post: Stop Social Loafing: 6 Ways to Get Everyone Working
• Here’s the original article about Max Ringleman’s findings.
• Social loafing is the tendency for people to exert less effort when they are part of a group than when they are by themselves.
• For how to harness social pressures to build a higher-performing group, check out Secrets of Social Facilitation: Putting the Audience to Work
• Reasons for social loafing can relate to group size, goal achievability, goal value, goal low-balling, skill differential within the group, and the “Sucker Effect.”

Quotable:

“The larger the group, the greater the tendency to slack off.” - Ken Downer

“Good leaders do their best to prevent a competition for ‘who’s best at doing the least.’” - Ken Downer

“Potential ‘loafers’ will be more likely to contribute if they believe they will be found out.” - Ken Downer

“Peers may be in the best position to assess who’s pulling their weight.” - Ken Downer

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