“Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavour”
William Cowper
When I say the words ‘diversity at work’, how does it make you feel?
Does the thought of workplace diversity training conjure feelings of inclusion and unity for you, or does it make you feel singled out or excluded?
Today, for many organisations, diversity training and recruitment has become a tick box exercise; a lip service payment, rather than the passionate, proactive movement it should be.
Most employees of large organisations are now required to complete an online training course on diversity and inclusion, which involves reading a number of bland slides and then signing to confirm you have done so.
What this ‘death by e-learning’ diversity training doesn’t tell you, is just how beneficial embracing difference can be – not just to an individual – but to an organisation’s overall performance.
When it comes to diversity in team building, we need to broaden our scope. Diversity is not only about race, gender, culture, disability, sexuality and age – it’s also about skills, knowledge and experience.
In this article, we will look at the importance of team diversity and how you can learn to harness the power of variety in the workplace, to create your very own A-Team.
Diversity is a fact; inclusion is an act.
“Diversity is having a seat at the table. Inclusion is having a voice and having that voice be heard.”
Liz Fosslien
Seeking out and recruiting a diverse team is actually the easy bit, bringing the team together and maintaining an inclusive environment is a little trickier.
The members of your team will all have a desire to feel included and to have their needs met. It’s up to you as their leader to respect their individuality, give them a voice and encourage them to contribute.
We need to make our people feel valued, regardless of their background and ensure we promote a team culture which encourages this.
It’s said that ‘birds of a feather flock together’ and that ‘it’s human nature to warm to like-minded people’; as team builders, however, we must rise above that. We not only need to ensure our team is diverse in terms of race and gender etc, we also need to look for the skill gaps, fill them and then blend the team together so they can learn from each other.
Diversity: it makes business sense.
We’ve all heard the phrase: ‘two heads are better than one’. What about several heads? What about a diverse group of people with very different life experiences, perspectives and skill sets working together towards the same goal?
Sound good?
According to a study on the art of decision making by People Management (CIPD), diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions than individuals.
A broader thinking team will not only make better decisions, they will spot more opportunities and challenge each other to think creatively.
An increase in creative thinking sparks innovation and solves problems – both of which will have a direct, positive impact on company performance. Leaders who embrace diversity and uniqueness are also more likely to encourage the sharing of ideas.
Research by the Harvard Business Review suggests that companies with diverse leadership and those that build a culture promoting inclusion are 70% more likely to capture new markets. A diverse team has greater vision, is attractive a wider audience, and understands more about the global marketplace.
“The value of a diverse team is its capacity to challenge the norm or group think and thus boost organisational performance and improve decision making.”
Yrthya Dinzey-Flores
Building a diverse team
“You don’t build business. You build people, then people build the business.”
Zig Ziglar.
An important area to consider when building your very own ‘A Team’, is the potential of each individual member.
People are all unique; we have individual personalities and our own career aspirations. As a leader, it’s a good idea to ensure you have a variety of ‘personality types’ on your team.
One way to achieve this, is to use personality assessment tools like the Hogan Personality Test, Korn Ferry 4 Dimensional Personality or Thomas PPA profiling, part of your recruitment process.
As a leader, you are going to want to employ a set of highly motivated people – but keep in mind that we are motivated by different things. For example, not everybody is super ambitious; just because a person has no interest in climbing that corporate ladder, it doesn’t mean they can’t be a valuable member of your team.
“Strength lies in differences not similarities.”
Stephen Covey
If you build a team that only consists of high-flyers, it can become very difficult to satisfy everyone vying for their place. A team of ‘plodders’ can be incredibly hard motivate, and a team made up of high-potential individuals who need lots of support, can be draining.
The trick to achieving a highly effective team, is to strike a balance. Consider personality types that complement each other – like a creative mind and a completer/finisher.
It’s also wise to plan ahead and have your talented high-flyers, mentor high-potential employees. When your talent gets promoted, the impact of their departure on your results will be minimal if you plan for this eventuality.
Making it work.
“A real team is a small number of people with complimentary skills, committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves accountable.
A High-performance team goes beyond the conditions of real teams; its members are also committed to one another’s personal growth and success. The result is a high-performance team that significantly outperforms other teams, and achieves more than external observers would have predicted.”
Jon R Katzenbach & Douglas K Smith
In a high performing team, the ‘sum of all the parts’ should give you more back; for example, 1+1+1+1 will equal greater than 4.
One of the most effective ways to ensure you get the most out of your team is to introduce a charter to act as a guide. A good charter plots a course for your team to follow and influences the overall culture.
According to better-teams.com, the below points are commonly included on a team charter:
- Team Purpose: A short statement describing the overall reason your team was created.
- Goals/Objectives: Top level, SMART goals that your team was formed to meet.
- Team Members and their Roles: Who is on your team? What are their individual roles and responsibilities
- Sponsor(s)/Stakeholder(s): The person(s) to whom your team is accountable.
- Activities/Responsibilities In and/or \|Out of Scope: A clear description of what your team should be focused on and if your team is part of a larger organisation, anything which is out of bounds.
- Decision Making Guidelines: How your team will go about making decisions (do you vote, or does the leader decide?).
- Ground Rules: The guidelines describing the behavioural expectations of your team.
- Duration: The length of time your team will exist; this may be an actual date or be about achieving the overall purpose.
- Conflict Resolution Process: The process by which team conflicts and disputes are resolved.
- Workload distribution: The process by which work will be assigned and allocated amongst your team.
- Communications Process: The means and the frequency in which the team will communicate.
Essentially, charters set ground rules and manage expectations. They also make for a great team-building exercise. Involving your team in the creation of the charter will generate a sense of unity and inclusion and mean they are more likely to hold each other accountable to sticking to it.
How diverse is your team?
After reading this article, how confident are you about the overall diversity of your own team?
If you already have a well-established team, which was built without diversity in mind, that doesn’t mean you should give up.
Sometimes the skills you need are already there, you just have to take the time to identify the individuals who aren’t playing to their strengths, draw them out and restructure/train.
Effective team building is tough, but it’s also highly rewarding; it stretches everyone to work together and focus on the same goals.
Wherever you are in terms of building a diverse team, we can help you to formulate a solid plan, then support you on your journey to achieve the team of your dreams.
