Cliques -- good or bad?

Cliques or informal groups are found in every organization -- not just in school. Cliques are prevalent in the workplace. People who have similar interests will stick together regardless of any formal organization. People who form cliques or informal groups are often not even aware that they are members of such a group. They are just accustomed to hanging out together or IM'ing alot, or other such behaviors. People drift in and out of the informal group.

People who like to talk about movies will hang out together while company "old-timers" will lunch together and work together out of habit. This appears harmless, but to the "outsiders," these groups may be viewed with suspicion, fear, or even envy. For example, "old-timers" may "know the ropes" concerning company procedures, so may seem to get more privileges than others. Others who try to link up with this group may be accepted or rejected after being observed by that particular "in" crowd.

As a employee (whether or not you are a supervisor), you might as well accept the existence of informal groups. Mature people recognize that there is much to be gained by an expanded network of people. Extend yourself to others, especially to others who may also feel left out. Say hello to everyone, and don’t worry about who says something back. Try to sincerely connect with everyone, including those in the clique. Look for ways to include yourself. Ask questions and gain knowledge about the interests of the informal groups. So, when the time is right for you to influence change, you can sell the cliques on YOUR direction or agenda, rather than attacking or ignoring them.

Are you new to an organization, trying to fit in or break into cliques? Perhaps you might wish to read this posting. If you wish to read about junior high (middle school) cliques, my reflections are here, or about cliques and groupthink, read here.

Walk the Talk

I just read a very interesting blog that elaborates on some of my ideas on informal communication.

What Goman says is that

"if the individuals in an organization don’t agree with the stated rational, if they haven’t been involved in developing the strategic plan, and if they don’t trust the messages they hear from leadership, there will be no successful change."

What people see is more powerful than what is said.

". . . nothing is more depressing than watching corporate communicators struggle to convince an audience with words that run contrary to organizational symbols and leadership behaviors. If an organization is filled with signs of executive privilege (corporate dining room, over-the-top executive compensation, reserved parking spaces, etc.) and the change message is: “We’re all in this together!” — that message will be derailed by the far more convincing corporate symbols. Likewise, if the stated message is “Let’s all collaborate!” and employees sense that senior leadership does not work well together, the collaboration message hasn’t a chance."

Companies need to be mindful of informal communications when trying to create change. Informal communication is often more powerful than formal communication. Employees need and want speeches from senior leaders and official communications in newsletters or internal company blogs. Formal communication delivers messages the company WANTS to deliver, WHEN management feels is right. In contrast, informal communications, such as the grapevines delivers the messages (whether correct or incorrect) when the Employee is ready to hear the message. If the grapevine controls the communications, it is not always delivered in the well-rehearsed or planned scope that management may desire. Employees may pay attention to what ISN'T being said. In the absence of communications, employees will try to explain things in their own way.

Managers will do well to remember this quote from the blog:

If leaders at any level of an organization want to be perceived as credible and forthright, they have to think “outside the speech.” That’s where they’ll recognize the importance of what isn’t being said, but is being communicated.

The New Woman on the Block -- Or How to Fit In

As graduates are flooding the market and I am also training a new employee at work, I am reminded of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy had to learn how to follow the yellow brick road before she could get help from the wizard and learn how to return home to Kansas. She had to learn that things were different in the land of Oz and had to learn some accepted behaviors as well as learn about the value of friends and what friends could do for her. Before she was accepted by the Munchkins, as well as the people of Oz, she had to prove herself. She had to learn the proper way to travel down her yellow brick road before she could reach Oz. She also had to determine the use of her magic slippers, a tool she already possessed before she could reach her goal of returning to Kansas.

The Land of Oz was a new world for Dorothy. She was accustomed to Kansas where she fit in and where she was familiar with her surroundings. Beginning with Munchkin land, all along the road to Oz, Dorothy was continuously learning new things about her environment. By the time she left to return to Kansas, she had made friends and felt comfortable in Oz.

When students graduate from college and take that big first job (or anyone switching to new jobs), the new company can be like Oz. Like Dorothy when employees first enter the organization, new employees need to learn how to fit into a new environment. They may possess necessary skills to accomplish tasks and learn to fit in, but nobody is going to tell them unless they ask.

Like Dorothy, any new employee needs to learn what behavior is acceptable and decide whether to conform totally, conform somewhat, or rebel. New employees should determine for themselves what behavior is acceptable and how to fit into the organizational scheme. Employees will possess many motives behind their behavioral decisions. Some of their motives are based on their backgrounds, needs and aspirations, attitudes, characteristics and a host of other factors.

As employees join new organizations, they undergo a socialization process. Socialization is the process by which individuals learn and acquire the habits, beliefs, values, norms, and accumulated knowledge of the culture around them. This is a dynamic learning process in which individuals interacting in a specific culture or organization can be active participants. Some of the individual or personal factors which influence the socialization process may be psychological, motivational, or ability related. Pulling on the organizational side are structural or systemic factors (ie., interdependence of subsystems, hierarchical positions, organizational policies) as well as social factors (ie., group acceptance, organizational culture and social relationships). These various factors intermix and become instrumental in the socialization of new organizational members.

Socialization and learning to fit in to groups is critical for new employees because the way their careers are managed by organizations influence the quality of their life. Also as the success of companies become increasingly dependent on the commitment of members rather than on traditional control systems, this learning process becomes increasingly critical to companies. The stability and productivity of companies depends a lot on the way newcomers to positions come to carry out their tasks. The socialization or learning process has impact for the newcomer as well as for the organization.

If socialization is optimally performed, new employees will not become too conforming and maintain creativity. New employees can be valuable contributors through informal as well as formal means. Read the office policy manual. Listen to the grapevine. Go to lunch with other employees and listen, listen, listen. Ask questions. Get to know management. Who are the winners and who are the goats in the organization? Why? Where is the company succeeding? Where are they struggling? Where is the opportunity to shine and help out?

Formal (do start-ups have time for new employee orientation?) and informal socialization process are important in bringing new employees along the yellow brick road and to the land of Oz--a new world. Like Dorothy, new employees may possess their magic slippers, but they need to learn how to use these slippers in the specific environment.

Rumormongering, Grapevine, Modern journalism and blogging

As I experiment with this blog, I am often reminded of papers I wrote in graduate school (too many years ago). I once wrote an in-depth research paper on the Grapevine. Now, blogging did not exist back then, and the internet was in its infancy. I would love to have done some of my research based on today's rumor and grapevine mechanisms -- Twitter, facebook, texting, IM, etc.

I currently know someone who works in a small start-up, where one would think there would not be too many communication issues. But, time and time again, the company hires remote employees, and formal and informal communications don't occur at frequent intervals. In the early stages, they sometimes developed patterns of only speaking via IM, even if the person was only a few offices away (or MILES away). Currently, they have many changes going on in the company and changes in product focus again. Yet, still people are seeking direction (uh, there are other issues here, but that is not the focus of this blog). Much of the communication is informal and often based on second-hand reporting or the grapevine.

Grapevines can provide a number of valuable services in the workplace. For management, they can provide feedback about almost anything going on. Roman empires used to send rumor wardens, called "delatores," out into the street to collect scuttlebutt because it was useful. For employees, the grapevine translates formal company orders into their own lingo, spreads information about job performance and employment opportunities and makes the workplace more close-knit and cohesive. In addition, it is a great source of entertainment, conferring special status on those who pick up on the juiciest nuggets.

To some extent, productivity in organizations depends on spontaneous cooperation and coordination through informal contacts and relationships. Also, the "informal" organization can make less tangible, but equally valuable contributions. Properly guided, it can help build teamwork, loyalty, and motivation that makes individuals desire to do their best. Have you had group Skype "chat" sessions?

Some managers use the grapevine as a tactical maneuver (a common device in collective bargaining). The grapevine is also a primary source of upward communication, especially information about what people are doing and how they feel toward certain situations. The grapevine brings both facts and feelings, rumor and truth, and it is the managers task to sort and interpret them. The grapevine is a useful emotional safety valve. When individuals get irked at their boss, they are NOT likely to tell him or her -- but they do need to tell someone in order to the the problem off their minds. They best not write it down in e-mails, but many will "text" it to others, or leave mood messages in their IM tools.

Grapevines and rumors thrive during periods of uncertainty and when formal communication is missing. Upper management has not announced my pending departure (nor the reasons), yet most people seem to know I am leaving and I am left to "explain" the "unexplainable nonsense." This is an example of how the absence of clear communication from management can leave employees with the need to explain the reasons themselves...

Managers can use these informal systems to their advantage if used correctly. I know a president of a company who developed informants in lower echelons. He knew he sometimes needed to ignore the lines on an organizational chart to develop relations and to help him view the organization as a whole. He also used these relationships to communicate "downward" informally. Although no executive can totally control the grapevine, he or she needs to think about how employees use the grapevine to fill information voids.

UPDATE: You might also want to read this later post of mine here.