Group Work and Free Riders: Mitigating the Situation

In most universities, if non all, collection work aims to enhance the learning experience of students. This is primarily dvirtuoso through collaboration among the students in concussion specific objectives for sort out activities. While stem work trains students in work-related skills, it also improves their personal inclinations to adjust to a assembly environment where various(prenominal) tasks may be designated in order to meet the goals of the collective whole. However, stem work bum also serve potential occupations to the mathematical chemical group in terms of members who are pure at large(p) riders.These loafers may not be of any use or help oneself to the entire group since they do not provide signifi scum bagt contri exceptions. Instead of aiding the group in keeping with the tasks at hand, the assuage riders become burdens to the group, on that pointby giving weight to the tasks all the more. One way to rationalize this problem is to consider less complex and less tedious tasks to the loosen riders in the group while keeping a closer eye on their performance. It can be said that collaboration among group members helps in rest period the larger chunk of the tasks involved.A reasonable distribution of tasks among members is an advantage to a group essentially because it divides the general tasks call for necessary for achieving certain goals (Barley & Kunda, 2001, p. 78). Although the distribution of tasks may vary depending on several factors which include but is not limited to single capabilities, it nevertheless creates the sense where to each one member has a definitive role and dowry in the interest of the group. By doing so, every member is also disposed certain responsibilities to meet downstairs a specified timeframe. More importantly, the distribution of tasks entails certain expectations from the members.In the end, the overall welfare and performance of the group volition have to depend on the members themselves. Since both the welfare and the performance of the group rely on the individual members, fall by the wayside riders among the group can pose serious disadvantages not only to the entire group but also to those who are working appropriately with their designated tasks (Pelled, 1996, p. 616). For one, there may be a psychological force out on the attitude of the other members when the free riders tend to give no consideration for their respective responsibilities.When there are members of your group who do not function according to the groups expectation, it is most possible the case that the other members give have negative responses whether explicit or not. It can affect their individual inclination to perform their duties because they can be influenced with regard to their behavior in doing their responsibilities. In order to mitigate the problems posed by the free riders in the group, these group members should only be given less complicated and less tedious tasks.It should als o be the case that the free riders should be given more worry or focus from the group members since the free riders are the ones who are most likely to give problems to the group in terms of the completion of tasks among others. Given a number of tasks involved in completing the group requirements, the division of tasks should be appropriated in such a way that the perceived free riders are given the lighter responsibilities instead of the tedious ones (Phillips & Phillips, 1993, p.534). The roles to be given to these members should be the ones which, when removed or separated from the overall product of the group work, can only give meek disadvantages. These minor disadvantages can come in the form of the absence of peripheral parts of the group work. By doing so, even if the free riders in the group are not able to submit their expected contributions to the group the overall group project can nevertheless still stand on its own.Or it can also be the case that even without the mi nor contributions from the free riders the rest of the group can still be able to amend the space by fulfilling the peripheral tasks left behind. Moreover, the free riders should be given more focus by the group members so as to at least make certain that their tasks are met and that no delays will hinder the happen of the group work. This can be done by constant meeting with the group members so that the tasks can be done while every member is present.When each member of the group is present, there will be more chances for the group members to keep a close attention on what everybody else is doing (Formanek & Sibley, 1991, p. 650). By doing so, the free riders will also be guided accordingly by the other members of the group in cases when the free riders are unable to efficiently perform their responsibilities. An early correction of the perceived problems can greatly help in arriving at a thoroughly crafted products or goals at the end of the day (Parboteeah & Cullen, 2003, p.13 9). However, one problem that can surface even in the light of the suggestions offered to mitigate the probable problems that may be encountered by the group with regard to the free riding members is the problem of the total absence or non-participation of these members. If the free riders in the group do not actually attend meetings or escape from participating in the group tasks, even the suggestions to mitigate the perceived problems may not be able to fully address the problems.Nevertheless, one thing that can be done to avoid the eventual downfall of the group as caused by the free riders is that the rest of the group can choose to take charge of the supposed responsibilities of the free riders as early as possible. After that, the rest of the members can then suggest to the teacher or the instructor in charge to relieve the supposed free riders from being members of the group due to the reason of neck lack of participation. In general, as long as there remains the possibili ty of controlling the problem, mitigating the situation is still the best option.In fact, the act of mitigating the situation in itself is already a task which requires a collective effort from at least the majority of the group. More importantly, mitigating the situation can win back the free riders as functioning members of the group, thus leading to fruitful results to the group as a whole and to each member of the body. References Barley, S. R. , & Kunda, G. (2001). Bringing Work Back In. shaping Science, 12(1), 78. Formanek, E. , & Sibley, D. (1991). The Group Determinant Determines the Group.Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, 112(3), 650. Parboteeah, K. P. , & Cullen, J. B. (2003). social Institutions and Work Centrality Explorations beyond National Culture. Organization Science, 14(2), 139. Pelled, L. H. (1996). Demographic Diversity, Conflict, and Work Group Outcomes An Intervening Process Theory. Organization Science, 7(6), 616. Phillips, L. D. , & Phillips , M. C. (1993). Faciliated Work Groups Theory and Practice. The Journal of the Operational Research Society 44(6), 534.