Diversity in teams
Contents |
Abstaract
People are critical to the success of projects, programs and portfolios. As stated in the DS Handbook 185 "Projects are made for people by people", and it is only in the recent years that people and behaviours has been regoniced and incorporated in project management as a profession. [1]. It does not help to have the right processes and right systems if the team members do not work effectively together. An important part of managing projects, programs and portfolios is connecting people who do not know one another and come from different backgrounds to work together towards a shared purpose.
Different backgrounds, interests, and personalities will make people see and approach tasks differently.
This has changed the role of the project manager from a technician to a leader, where it is as important to have social skills.
To be able to manage a team it is important that the manager is aware of the challenges and benefits of diversity, and knows how to manage them.
The purpose of this article is to highlight the effects of diversity, the different types of diversity, how they can be managed and which limitations this has.
- More equality
- Less homogenous groups
Types of diversity
Personality diversity
Knowledge of the different types of personalities and how they may influence is crucial for the manager to be able to establish balanced teams that work well together. [2]
Cultural Diversity
As the world gets globalized, projects become more international and project groups are formed across country borders. This leads to cultural diverse project teams. Cultural diversity is defined as "the existence of a variety of cultural or ethnic groups in a society"[3]. All though research suggests that there is no direct connection between cultural diversity and team performance, it still affects the teams in several ways. [4].
Effects of diversity
How is connected to the key references - People - Complexity --Stakeholder complexity- Stakeholder complexity focuses on the program team itself and the diversity within the program team. p. 31 --- Diversity in teams is also connected to the complexity perspective, and particularly stakeholder complexity. Stakeholder complexity focuses on the program team itself, and the diversity within the team. [5]
People - communication
State of subject
Effects of diversity
The effects of diversity have traditionally been understood trough three different perspectives: [6]
1. Similarity-attraction
People are attracted to working with those with similar values, beliefs and attitudes.
2.Self-and social categorization
People categorize themselves into specific groups, based on a race, gender, values, beliefs among others, and others as outsiders. This creates an atmosphere where the outsiders are judged more stereotypically, and there are different expectations for those in the same groups and the outsiders.
3.Information processing
Individuals in groups with cultural diversity have access too other individuals that have different backgrounds, networks, information and skills. This increases the amount of information within the group and creates an atmosphere that can improve the group-performance
Application
Limitation
Annotated bibliography
[4] Large meta study, that tries to summarize previous research on the topic of cultural diversity. Taken from the report: "Our goals in this study were to take stock of and synthesize the findings from previous research, to reconcile conflicting perspectives and past results, and to propose an agenda for the next stage of research in this field."
- ↑ Geraldi, J., Thuesen, C., Oehmen, J., & Stingl, V. (2017). Doing Projects. A Nordic Flavour to Managing Projects: DS-handbook 185:2017. Dansk Standard.
- ↑ AXELOS. Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 2017 Edition, The Stationery Office Ltd, 2017.
- ↑ Oxford Languages for Google. Cultural diversity definition. Available at: https://www.google.no/search?rls=com.microsoft%3Anb%3A%7Breferrer%3Asource%7D&sxsrf=ALeKk00Aga05cPg7KF2xXvAQudX3lPwCFQ%3A1613070110502&ei=Hn8lYISXHqXnrgTy7L6oAw&q=cultural+diversity+definition&oq=cultural+diversity+definition&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQDFAAWABgsCFoAHAAeACAAVWIAVWSAQExmAEAqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwiEnry3wuLuAhWls4sKHXK2DzUQ4dUDCA0
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stahl, G., Maznevski, M., Voigt, A. et al. Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: A meta-analysis of research on multicultural work groups. J Int Bus Stud 41, 690–709 (2010). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46526123_Unraveling_the_effects_of_cultural_diversity_in_teams_A_meta-analysis_of_research_on_multicultural_work_groups
- ↑ The Standard for Program Management — Fourth Edition. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, 2017. Accessed February 12, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.
- ↑ Mannix, Elizabeth & Neale, Margaret A (2005). What differences make a difference? Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2005.00022.x?casa_token=qiXUEAO_nPIAAAAA:77IXwF62pgU5VFPWF6eW7mm2XyX56bgBE-cmFbnMJsl6NTVD1S2u9EEHZIry56F8RPzRaaAfDdyu
