Definition

With the group work different single steps of a job, different on the basis are together implemented by product or procedure similarities manufacturing-organizational summarized processing steps or also cross-sectional tasks by several persons employed. The term is used ambiguously, both for qualified group work in addition, for hierarchical forms of the Labour Organization up to Mogelpackungen (like the work of particulars in the context of a number of individuals, e.g. within the framework of piece work concepts). Differently than with the work on the project the firm groups co-operate temporally relatively for an unlimited period with the operational group work.

Characteristic

The classical form of direct coworker control by a supervisor or the entrepreneur thereby replaced by self regularization of the group entspechend one either 1. transparency of the group - in coordination with the interests of the management - developed or 2. make-moderately set group standard, and from it derived conscious or latently effective mutual social control of the group members. This requires a certain confidence advance of the persons employed into the abilities of the entrepreneur, as well as its ability for the promotion of the informal co-operation achievement of the persons employed. The appropriate potential on the side of the coworkers (social authority) is to be developed by geziele qualification and process-accompanying measures with introduction and enterprise from group work to. Since the exact portion is to be measured each particular at the total output with difficulty, gladly the output of a group is consulted for the assessment basis of the remuneration. Further incentives can be set by group remuneration and group premiums. For this as clear and transparent a regulations on as fixed in the tariff and operational level as possible are to be made, so that group work does not lead to achievement excessive demand and other ill-making factors for the persons employed. The literature differentiates different forms of the group work, from qualified group work those enterprise-politically reconciliation between the interests of persons employed and shareholders - see also share more holder tried, up to Mogelpackungen in the form of on one side only the share holder interests serving forms of the Labour Organization. A problem of the spreading of qualified forms of the group work represents the readiness lacking of the managements to convert this form of an work-organizational innovation expert the portion of the purely proklamatorischen imitators was in particular into the 1990-er years very high to free rider behavior.

Influences on the achievement of a group have the following points:

• their size of (the more participant, the more highly the probability to free rider behavior)
• the group composition (homogeneity vs. heterogeneity)
• the transparency and quality of interest reconciliation between employing and share holder interests
• the durable support of the group work by process-accompanying functions
• the duration of co-operation (closed or open horizon)
• the suitable reorganisation of the indirectly productive and supporting functions
• the permeability of the structures and suitable career ways
• its rather democratic or rather authoritarian essential structure (quality vs. quantity)

Advantages

From this current form of the Labour Organization expects the learn-favorable and more humanere conditions of work, the entrepreneurs a higher productivity, a higher flexibility and more quality. Short clock rates and rigid of expirations of assembly-line are thus replaced to increased competition thereby in times of more briefly becoming product marketing cycles and by itself steering and more flexible structures. An increase in output and/or quality and cost advantages can arise from the fact that the persons employed are more motivated in principle in groups (e.g. by more direct influence on the controlling of the operational sequences, less ill-making structures, stronger promotion and development possibilities of the particulars) than e.g. in monotonous Einzelarbeit or with Mogelpackungen like hierarchical group work. These advantages of increased readiness to perform disappear, if they are misunderstood as pure reduction of costs potentials by the management. Then above all rising costs are seen in the form of higher labour costs, since more highly qualified persons employed are needed, who must be remunerated in the group similarly (reverse Babbage effect). This purely instrumental view takes a high portion in management circles still, particularly since human being-scientific realizations are hardly common due to technical qualification lacking there. They are missing both in the economical as well as in the engineer-scientific training, whose graduate places traditionally the main group of the managers. So the concept of qualified group work has a vergleichweise small spreading degree in Germany as "group work strictly speaking" after investigations for instance the Gelsenkirchner of institute for work and technology, in addition, landcomparative research projects on European level, (like also different new forms of the Labour Organization). Current research results to the topic are however hardly present.

Connected with group work closely is in practice the continuous improvement process: The groups constantly optimize their operational sequences. Exact regulations are necessary in interest rush equal between staff and interests of management. Otherwise it threatens that increases in output are only demanded due to of achievement pressure, which cannot secure long-term occupation as a predatory exploitation concept. The reached increased output of a group becomes in accordance with such a exploitation strategy in each case the new achievement yardstick, which it applies to then exceed on the part of the persons employed. Increased output is punished with it by work speed increased in the future, which entails a profound damage of the motivation. The temporal limitness of such a work-organizational discharge model is in times of older becoming staffs a calculable competitive disadvantage for the location. Opposite are concepts, which promote more intelligent instead of faster working to see than alternative whose conversion places however high requirements against the abilities of the management.

Despite the of a common achievement of a group it is to be noted however that always individual individuals are carriers of creativity. To that extent personale development concepts for qualified group work apart from the continuous authority development for the group have to contain always also individual development possibilities.

Disadvantages

Typical risks of the group work are personnel reduction, self exploitation, achievement pressure and the danger that all, which are not completely so efficient it is expenditure-bordered or to withdraw itself. Furthest common group work is in large-scale enterprises, particularly in the manufacturing.

The group work in the didactics is a temporally limited co-operation of a group of pupils and pupils (often 3 to 6) with the purpose of the kommunikativen and cooperative solution of tasks or problems. A well-known founder and theoretician of this beginning were Hugo Gaudig.

See also: Co-operation, cooperative learning, Gruppenunterricht, group of eddies

Articles in category "Group work"

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