Informal and Informal Organization

Many writers on management distinguish between formal and informal organization. Both types are found in organization. Let us look at them in more detail.
Formal Organization
Generally, formal organization means the intentional structure of roles in a formally organized enterprise. Describing an formal, however, does not mean there is anything inherently inflexible or unduly confining about it. If a manager is to organize well, the structure must furnish an environment in which individual performance, both present and future, contributes most effectively to group details.
A formal organization must be flexible. There should be room for discretion, for beneficial utilization of creative talents, and for recognition of individual likes and capacities in the most formal of organization. Yet individual effort in a group situation must be channeled toward group and organizational goals.
Informal Organization: Cheques Barnard, author of the management classic The functions of the executive, described an informal organization as any joint personal activity without conscious joint purpose, although contributing to joint results. It is much easier to ask for help on an organizational problem from someone you know personally, even if he or she may be in a different department, than from someone you know only as a name on an organization chart. The informal organization is a network of interpersonal relationships that arise when people associate with each other. Thus, informal organizations-relationships not appearing on an organization chart-might include the machine shop group, the sixth floor crowd, the Friday evening bowling gang, and the morning coffee "regulars."
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Fundamentals of Management : Staffing [BBA 2305]