TOEFL Speaking Task 3

Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone. This phenomenon occurs because people feel their contributions are less identifiable in a group setting, leading to reduced motivation and responsibility. Social loafing is more likely in larger groups and when tasks are simple or repetitive. However, it can be minimized by making individual contributions clear, increasing task meaningfulness, or fostering group cohesion.

Professor: Now, let me give you an example from a real business setting. A marketing team at a tech company was assigned to brainstorm slogans for a new product. The team had eight members, and they were told to just write down any ideas and put them in a shared folder. During the first meeting, several members said little and contributed only one or two ideas, thinking others would come up with plenty. The manager noticed that the output was low and the ideas were not very creative. So, for the next session, she changed the approach. She asked each person to write three slogans individually on a whiteboard, with their names next to each slogan. Suddenly, everyone participated actively, and the number and quality of ideas increased dramatically. The team produced a final slogan that was much better than before.