Spiros is a member of the production design team on a science fiction film called The Future Begins Yesterday. It is a big budget production and is already behind schedule due to weather delays. Spiros and two other team members, Juanita and Alex, are tasked with finding futuristic background props for a scene in which the hero and his nemesis have a huge fight. Spiros, while glad to have landed his first job in the film industry, earns more money from posting videos offering behind-the-scenes glimpses of the set online. To that end, he sneaks back to the team's trailer as often as he can to post new material. This means that the set decorations the team was supposed to source are not yet complete, and the scene cannot be filmed at the scheduled time. The set design supervisor, Marsha, observes Juanita and Alex arguing with Spiros about holding up his end of the group effort. Marsha hears Spiros telling them that they are much better at finding props than he is, so they do not really need his help. Marsha sees a lot of potential in Spiros, but she is unhappy with the fact that he is not contributing as much as he should and is holding up the production as a result. Given what you know about process loss, how should Marsha address Spiros' behavior?
A) transfer Spiros to the front office where he will not have direct access to the set
B) require employees to check in their cell phones and laptops when arriving on set
C) make Spiros responsible for sourcing wall hangings and window treatments only
D) demand that Juanita and Alex address Spiros' shortcomings however they see fit
E) fire Spiros from the production since he is not capable of working in a team environment

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Members of teams can work together on projects over an extended period of time, and as a consequence, it's difficult to keep an accurate accounting of who does what. Similarly, members contribute to their team in many different ways, and contributions of some members may be less obvious than the contributions of others. Regardless of the reasons for it, uncertainty regarding "who contributes what" results in team members feeling less accountable for team outcomes. Those feelings of reduced accountability, in turn, cause members to exert less effort when working on team tasks than they would if they worked alone on those same tasks. This phenomenon is called social loafing, and it can significantly hinder a team's effectiveness. Making members' task more discrete and identifiable, such as by making Spiros responsible for sourcing wall hangings and window treatments, can help counteract the feelings that lead to social loafing.

Spiros Is a Member of the Production Design Team on a Science