So you were on your way to the office pantry and noticed that the coffee maker wasn’t working. Like a professional representative from any tech support company ever, you try the universally tested troubleshooting standard of plugging and unplugging, turning the thing off, waiting 1min, then turning it on. The pesky thing still isn’t working so you just walk away knowing that you’ve tried the best you can in a maximum effort to fix the coffee machine. You walk away thinking “well, I tried to fix it. It’s not my job to make it work.”

But did you really give your best effort in fixing the coffee maker? Was there anything else you could’ve done to fix it? Did you try to report it, maybe? Be honest, did you really do your best?

Social loafing is the social psychology phenomenon of low performance and reduced productivity. It’s when someone makes fewer contributions to a group effort than they would if they were solely charged with the responsibility. In this case, you didn’t try to fix the coffee maker because you’re confident that someone else will. In other words, it’s not doing your best or doing just the bare minimum because you think someone else will deal with it. Basically, when any number of people can potentially take it upon themselves to fix the coffee machine, social loafing says a high percentage of individuals in the group will assume that someone else will pick up the slack and try to fix it. Hence, the social loafing phenomenon.

How do you get rid of it at the office?
Social loafing is inevitable. It will occur in team projects and anywhere teamwork is required. Some will always try to get away with being a “free rider”. The way to discourage it is to empower the employees. When employees feel that they can make decisions and have free agency over how they do their work, they will naturally take initiative in working toward completing tasks and projects.

Managers should trust their team to make the right decisions – that will reduce social loafing in itself. Hire smart people and people you can trust – then get out of their way and let them do their work. Most social loafers are that way because they think they don’t have the capacity to make big decisions. They won’t take the steps to introduce new ideas to a team or suggest new ways to attack a difficult project because they think that’s not their job. But if managers give them the power to decide and trust their judgment, they will see many more people stepping up and taking the necessary steps towards improving team projects.

Are there any instances of social loafing in your office? How do you address that? What tips do you have to reduce social loafing at the workplace? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to stay humble and hustle hard.

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp