Diversity is a word we hear a lot nowadays. Generally speaking, the call is for more diversity, everywhere and in everything.
What does diversity mean for your team? How does diversity benefit your business? And how can you ensure the diversity you bring in has a positive effect?
What is diversity?
Diversity is an essential component of team composition and basically means that not everyone on your team is the same. There are many ways your team members can be diverse, including (but not limited to)
- personality
- functional expertise
- skills
- communication style
- background
- years of experience
- prior team experience
- values
- language
- race
- age
- gender
- nationality
- and more!
When adding to, or creating from scratch, your team a good leader will hire for diversity – deliberately seeking out a variety of people. A few questions to help you in this process:
- where are we now and where do we want to be in 2-3 years?
- what skill sets are needed for this team and this project?
- how do existing team members play off and complement each other?
- are there any significant gaps in our team diversity – is there an age group, nationality, experience level, gender perspective that we are missing?
What does diversity bring to my team?
The value of diversity to a team is really summed up well by Laura Merrit, VP of Marketing at Kind Healthy Snack…
“If you have an entire team of doppelgängers, you stunt creativity and problem-solving”
How can I make sure the diversity in my team is a strength?
This is an excellent question and one that a good leader should definitely be asking. Differences between people can be a source of both strength and challenges. Let’s be realistic, sometimes differences cause conflict, tension or frustrations. Part of the leader’s work is to be alert to fault lines – aspects of diversity that have the potential to divide your team. Once you are aware of these fault lines you can now put in place actions to bridge them.
This is where thoughtful choices in your team members is especially important. A team member who brings in a new element of diversity is great but if there are the sole representative of a specific group or viewpoint, it can be tough gig for them. So, when hiring, be on the lookout for individuals who cross the fault lines and act as bridges. For example, if your team is made up of older, male executives and younger, female creatives – you can see the fault lines clearly. A better team composition would be to have an older, female executive in the team – she can help cross the gender fault line in your team. Or perhaps hire a creative in an older age group – they can cross that age fault line. Of course, there will be fault lines – if there are not potential challenges then your team is probably lacking in the very diversity you are seeking. But having a few individuals in the overall team who cross some of the divides is a big assist in making the diversity positive.
The 4 E’s of Diversity
When it comes to diversity, you also need to set some guidelines for how the team will behave and interact with each other. This is also a learning opportunity for everyone involved – a chance to expand minds, explore new possibilities, grow in skills and qualities.
The 4 E’s framework is a good tool here. Let’s have a brief look at each ‘E’:
- Enhancement – all team members and leaders need to view the diversity as an opportunity, a factor that enhances the overall creativity, efficacy, value, reach and influence of the team
- Empathy – empathy is the quality that allows us to imagine the experiences of others, to “put ourselves in their shoes” so to speak. Empathy within a team looks like people who listen first, who actively work to put aside assumptions, who support each other, who are curious about each other and want to learn.
- Exploration – to take full advantage of their diversity, the team should see themselves as explorers. Pretend you are in an Indiana Jones movie and enter the hidden temple, go down the misty path, dive beneath the surface – explore the opportunities that arise and have a “let’s try it and see” attitude.
- Esteem – a truly diverse team knows and lives by the belief that each and every viewpoint is equally valuable and worthy of respect.
Diversity takes effort but, it is a truly worthwhile investment for your team!
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