11 Most Important Advantages of Informal Organization

There are lots of advantages of informal organization. The major advantages of other informal organizations may be many.

It depends on the people who are leading the organization or environment. However, a few advantages are discussed below:

Advantages of informal organization

1. Job Satisfaction: It has a powerful influence on the productivity and job satisfaction. It also gives stability to workgroups. It is the means by which workers feel a sense of security and belonging. This sense of feeling retains them in the formal organization and thus turnovers reduced and productivity increases.

2. Meet the personal need: It is a social structure formed to meet personal needs of the members of the group. Such needs cannot be met by the formal structure. The formal organization cannot take account of the sentiments and values residing in the social organization by means of which, individuals or groups of individuals are informally differentiated, ordered and intergraded.

3. Effective work system: Informal organizations are complementary to formal organization. They blend with formal systems to make an effective system for getting the work done. Formal systems to make an effective system for getting the work down.

Formal plans and policies cannot meet every problem in a dynamic situation because they are pre-established and inflexible. An informal relation can better meet certain requirements of the formal organizations because they are spontaneous and flexible.

4. Lighten management workload: Informal organizations are to lighten the workload on the management. When management is sure that informal organizations are with them, they feel less compelled to have a check on the workers frequently.

Managers unhesitatingly delegate and flexible. Dublin has rightly said, “Informal relations in the organization serve to preserve the organization from the self-destruction and would result from literal obedience to the formal policies, regulations, and procedures.  Startle observations are also worth noting.

5. Good communication: The Informal organization is a useful channel of communication because it is developed y the members of the group.

They remain in close contact to each other and know what is going to open before the formal communication reaches them and they can chalk, decentralize their authority because they are aware of the cooperation, of the workers.

6. Fill the gaps of Management ability: Following the same line of thought informal organization may fill in the gaps in a manger’s ability, if suppose, a manager is weak in planning ability, members of informal group help in correcting the defective plans by making their valuable suggestions and improve them in implementation also.

Informal organizations are safety valves for employee frustrations and other emotional problems. According to “Psychologists” views, frustration and emotional feelings are subsidized if they are discussed with others in the groups in a friendly manner.

The presence of the informal organization, manager’s act carefully in making plans, policies, and actions. Managers are aware that they are sufficient to check on their powers of authority. They also know that if they misuse their powers, a befitting reply many be golden by the workers. They introduce changes into their groups only after careful planning.

7. Encourage improved management practice: Perhaps a subtle benefit of informal groups is that they encourage managers to prepare, plan, organize, and control in a more professional fashion. Managers who comprehend the power of the informal organization recognize that it is a “check and balance” on their use of authority.

8. Makes a more effective total system: More important benefit is making a more effective work system. Formal plan and policies cannot meet every problem in a dynamic situation because they are reestablished and partly inflexible. Some requirements can be met better by informal relations, which can be flexible and spontaneous.

9. Gives satisfaction and stability to workgroups: The significant benefit of the informal organization is that it gives satisfaction and stability to workgroups. It is the means by which workers feel a sense of belonging.

10. Improves communications: An additional benefit is that the informal organization is a safety value of employee frustrations and other emotional problems. One’s associates in the informal group provide this type of environment.

11. Plan and act more carefully: A benefit of an informal organization that is seldom recognized it’s that its presence encourages managers to plan and acts more carefully than they would otherwise.

Managers who understand its power know that the informal organization provides a check on their unlimited use of authority.

They introduced changes into their groups only after careful planning because they know that information group can undermine even a worthwhile project.

Related content of Informal Organization:

• Nature of Informal Organization
• Difference between Formal and Informal Organization
• Barriers to Informal Organization
• How to Overcome Barriers of Informal Organization?
• What is the Meaning of Grapevine?
• Basic Grapevine Pattern of Organization
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Grapevine in an Organization
• Features of Grapevine in an Organization
• What does mean by Rumor in Organizations?
• How to Control Rumor in Organizations?