Decision Making in Groups and Effective Communication

Kindel Johnson

Argosy University Online

Module 4 Assignment 2

Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Professor Amy Nowaczyk

Due Date: August, 29, 2012

LASA Assignment # 2

Decision Making In Groups and Effective Communication

Social Loafing

Social loafing affects the productivity of group work by promoting and displaying laziness and not showing any effort to do their part as a group member. In other words, work capacity declines because 100% of the effort does not exist. Social loafing presents a monkey see monkey do attitude. Individuals in group work tend to become invisible or non-existent depending on how the group is. Expectations and standards are not set, so performance will be in decline.

To reduce social loafing in group work, special attention must be paid to the tasks by ensuring that all tasks are viewed as important by the group members.

The Sucker Effect

The sucker effect affects the productivity of group work by making the member(s) of a group feel like a pushover or pigeon. Meaning that one person is doing the work while the others are not. The sucker effect stunts or stops creativity and productivity in group work.

Free Riding

Free Riding affects the productivity of group work n=by lowering performance and work efforts. Group members will tend take advantage of a group member(s) by giving him/her a majority of the work responsibilities and claim the benefits for not contributing to any of it. To sum it up, they will put no work in, but reap the rewards.

Groupthink

Groupthink affects the productivity of group work by making group members feel fearful of challenging a decision made by the group by closing themselves off to any other information. This also affects poor decision making.

Process Loss

Process loss affects the productivity of group work based on the amount of work produced and what work is produced and by the number of people in the group. Process loss promotes les group work and more individual work....