Although most organizations have some structure, rules, guidelines, etc., there is an informal side to organizations as well. Box 4.8 on page 97 discusses this informal aspect of organizations and mentions its importance. I think that this informal side is extremely important to the culture of the organization as it brings people closer together and encourages unity and friendship. Lots of things go on in organizations such as: people become friends, people become enemies, rumors are spread, etc. Some of these things are good and some are bad but are essential to the culture because without it the organization would be boring and have no personality. Every year, for example, we have an offsite meeting. Although it's intended to discuss the companies goals and is usually packed with meetings, we still go out and drink at night. This informal activity is the most valuable portion of the entire offsite as it's the only way to get to know the people you work with. People in organizations often have lunch together and don't discuss work at all. It's much easier to work effectively with people once you get to know them.
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Over 20 years ago Michael Pacanowsky and Nick O'Donnell-Trujillo observed that there's a lot more going on in organizations than getting the job done. As you point out, friendships (and unfriendships) develop, people talk about all sorts of things other than work, and informal networks are formed. These activities suggest that organizations serve more needs than producing goods and services for people to consume. People organize in part because we're social--we're driven to connect with others. So as you suggest, informal activities are a crucial part of organizational life. And in establishing those relationships, that communication also contributes to getting the job done.
At one of my first jobs in real estate, there seemed to be several levels of informal socialization. The first level was the completely voluntary and spontaneous gathering, usually taking the form of someone coming by your cube and saying "We're going to lunch - wanna come with?" The second level was the unofficial after-work gathering, usually involving much drinking at a local restaurant, prearranged by someone by e-mail on a monthly basis. (Curiously, my manager's e-mail address never seemed to make it onto the list, nor did the e-mail addresses of a few of my more anti-social coworkers.) The third level was the celebratory gathering - wedding and baby showers, birthday lunches, retirement or goodbye parties. These were not officially arranged, but everyone on the administrative staff was included on the invitation list, and most attended unless they had an unavoidable conflict. The final level was the official informal gathering - the Christmas lunch party, the holiday happy hour, the annual awards banquet - that included everyone on staff, administrative and sales alike. Although these events were technically "voluntary", it was understood that it would not be a particularly good thing for one's standing in the company to miss the event. For one thing, you risked the ire of management for rejecting their hospitality, and for another, you would most likely be the target of backbiting gossip after a few rounds from the open bar had gone by. That being said, the official gatherings and celebratory functions always seemed a bit more stilted as far as "getting to know you" conversation went. The more voluntary the gathering seemed, the more open people were about talking about their personal lives and how they really felt about certain workplace topics. Which makes sense, I suppose, but as it would in any other group setting, it resulted in self-perpetuating cliques in the office as people got to know one another and made it a point to hang around certain groups they felt comfortable with - sometimes leading to a combative Us Vs. Them mentality, even after the effects of the last margarita wore off.
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