Addressing diversity and inclusion in project management

Abstract

The principles of diversity and inclusion (D&I), although often neglected in project management, are crucial to the success of the project. Taking these principles into account offers many advantages, from better performance and innovation to a more pleasant working environment.

Although the themes of D&I re covered in other articles, they are regularly studied from a team perspective (http://wiki.doing-projects.org/index.php/Diversity_in_teams). However, to my knowledge, no comprehensive guide for a project manager to address these issues in a project. This guide will try to give all the resources for a project manager who has to lead a project with a new team and with limited time. For the coherence of the article, a time limit of six months will be set.

While inclusion and diversity policies are substantive and therefore long-term policies, the following article aims to propose effective short-term solutions, which are best suited for project management. Indeed, project management presents unique diversity and inclusion challenges due to the typically tight schedule and temporary nature of the teams.

The article begins by explaining the importance and benefits of diversity and inclusion, while providing a theoretical framework. It will then try to provide a tool to give strategies for taking diversity and inclusion into account in project management, and how to monitor and evaluate its implementation. Finally, the article will discuss the limitations of the approach.

Annotated bibliography

Naïl Mulatier