Some excerpts from another great Post from my blogger friend at Manage Better Now.
Why You Need to Know Max Ringelmann
Maximilian Ringelmann was a French agricultural engineer that lived from 1861-1931. He did a study that found group force was greater than the force that any single person could apply on their own, but when functioning as a group it appeared that the individual contributions actually declined. Ringelmann further discovered that the more people he added to the team, the more their individual efforts declined. Two people would pull with the 93% of the force of their individual efforts combined. Three people would pull with the force of 85% of their individual efforts. Eight people would pull with 49% of the force. So when he put people into groups of eight they were not even exerting half the force they were capable of.
Why do individuals try less in a larger group? Ringelmann coined the term “social loafing” for this behavior. The first reason individuals put less effort into group projects is because they feel that their individual efforts will have little impact on the overall results of the team. If their efforts are going to go largely unnoticed, why should they try hard? This leads to a lackadaisical effort because the team members are convinced that their laziness will go undiscovered. At this point others in the group will notice that some are not giving 100% so they feel justified in reducing the amount of effort that they are contributing…The bigger the group, the less effort individuals will put into the project.
There are things you can do as a team leader to reduce the impact of the Ringelmann effect.
- Increase Accountability – Assigning specific action items to specific people helps to increase their perception that they are contributing to the group. Start group meetings off by going through the action items from your last meeting and having each participant update the group on what they have been able to accomplish.
- Increase Confidence – Talk to your team members. Let them know why they were selected to be on the team. Let them know what you expect from them. Also let them know that you are confident they can deliver and you are there to help them because you want to see them succeed. Some folks prefer to remain in the shadows and let others do things. They are not lazy, but rather they lack confidence. It is your job as a leader to boost their confidence and push them to contribute to the team.
- Set Measurable Goals – Setting measurable goals with hard deadlines is the single best way to increase accountability. I know when I do not clearly understand the goals of a team I am working on, then I am definitely not giving my best effort. To get the best out of people, they have to have clear direction. Frequent updates on the status of the project will help to keep the team focused.
Image: Larry He’s So Fine – Slacking Off in the Yellow Triangle Zone