Informal organizations

(noun)

It consists of a dynamic set of personal relationships, social networks, communities of common interest, and emotional sources of motivation. The informal organization evolves organically and spontaneously in response to changes in the work environment, the flux of people through its porous boundaries, and the complex social dynamics of its members.

Examples of Informal organizations in the following topics:

  • Formal Structure

    • Formal structure of an organization or group includes a fixed set of rules for intra-organization procedures and structures.
    • Tended effectively, the informal organization complements the more explicit structures, plans, and processes of the formal organization.
    • Informal organization can accelerate and enhance responses to unanticipated events, foster innovation, enable people to solve problems that require collaboration across boundaries, and create paths where the formal organization may someday need to pave a way.
    • This deviation was referred to as informal organization.
    • A formal organization is a fixed set of rules of intra-organization procedures and structures.

  • Informal Communication

    • Informal communication occurs outside an organization's established channels for conveying messages and transmitting information.
    • Informal communication frequently crosses boundaries within an organization and is commonly separate from work flows.
    • Formal communications in traditional organizations are frequently "one-way": they are initiated by management and received by employees.
    • Informal communication, on the other hand, can occur in any direction and take place between individuals of different status and roles.
    • While informal communication is important to an organization, it also may have disadvantages.

  • Informal Communications

    • Informal communication is established around the societal affiliation of members of an organization and is spread through the 'grapevine'.
    • Informal communication contains facts, deceptions, rumors, and unclear data.
    • Informal communication is implicit, spontaneous, multidimensional, and diverse.
    • Informal communication does not follow authority lines as in the case of formal communication.
    • Liaisons within an organization usually help facilitate grapevine communication.

  • Informal Structure

    • The informal organization is the aggregate of behaviors, interactions, norms, and personal/professional connections.
    • The informal organization evolves organically in response to changes in the work environment, the flux of people through its porous boundaries, and the complex social dynamics of its members.
    • The nature of the informal organization becomes more distinct when its key characteristics are juxtaposed with those of the formal organization.
    • Second, they provide social status and satisfaction that may not be obtained from the formal organization.
    • In a large organization, a worker may feel like an anonymous number rather than a unique individual.

  • Informal Groups

    • Informal groups are small groups that share interests, knowledge, and activities for the purpose of meeting mutual needs.
    • Informal groups are comprised of a small number of people who participate in common activities, share feelings, and have similar interests.
    • Simultaneously, informal groups may help the organization to work more effectively as a total system.
    • Informal groups also have potential disadvantages.
    • A community of practice often develops organically, and it may have as many objectives as it does members.

  • Sanctions

    • Informal sanctions may include shame, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism, and disapproval.
    • Informal sanctions can check deviant behavior of individuals or groups, either through internalization, or through disincentivizing the deviant behavior.
    • Informal controls are varied and differ from individual to individual, group to group, and society to society.
    • Authoritarian organizations and governments may rely on more directly aggressive sanctions.
    • Typically, these more extreme sanctions emerge in situations where the public disapproves of either the government or organization in question.

  • Informal Means of Control

    • Informal social control refers to the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to norms and laws.
    • Informal controls are varied and differ from individual to individual, group to group, and society to society.
    • Informal social control—the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to norms and laws—includes peer and community pressure, bystander intervention in a crime, and collective responses such as citizen patrol groups.
    • Informal sanctions may include shame, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism, and disapproval.
    • Informal controls differ from individual to individual, group to group, and society to society.

  • The Economy

    • Informal economies are frequently less institutionalized and include all economic practices that are neither taxed nor monitored by a government.
    • Capitalism functions in distinction from socialism, or various theories of economic organization that advocate public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production.
    • Informal economic activity is a dynamic process which includes many aspects of economic and social theory: exchange, regulation, and enforcement.

  • Informal Social Control

    • Informal control typically involves an individual internalizing certain norms and values.
    • Informal sanctions may include shame, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism, and disapproval, which can cause an individual to conform to the social norms of the society.
    • Informal social control has the potential to have a greater impact on an individual than formal control.
    • Informal sanctions check 'deviant' behavior.

  • Informal economy

    • Informal economic activity is a dynamic process which includes many aspects of economic and social theory including exchange, regulation, and enforcement.