Diversity in teams

Abstract

Diversity has many definitions, one of them is "variation based on any attribute people use to tell themselves that another person is different". . Diversity is especially connected to projects, programs and portfolios management through the people perspective.

People are critical to the success of projects, programs and portfolios and as stated in the DS Handbook 185 "Projects are made for people by people" . Even though it sounds obvious, it is only in recent years that people and behaviours have been recognized and incorporated in project management as a profession. An important part of this is to see projects as a collaboration between people, each with their own identities, knowledge, interests, feelings, personalities and so on. These are all factors that will make people see and approach the task differently, and requires attention from the manager. It does not help to have the right processes and right systems if the team members do not work effectively together. This has in many ways changed the role of the manager from a technician, an analytical person that schedules meetings and updates budgets, to a leader that also needs to have social skills. Communication is now recognised as a project success factor, and around 80% of managers' time is spent on communication. .

The factors mentioned above are all examples of different types of diversity that can exist in a team. In almost all sectors, whether it is government, business, science, health care, diverse groups are on the rise . There are several ways and theories on how diversity affects teams, both positive and negative. It has the potential to disrupt team functioning, or on the flip side be the source of creativity and insight. Awareness and knowledge about diversity and how to handle it are therefore crucial for a project, program or portfolio manager.

State of subject

Among many, including scholars and scientists, there has been developed a belief that increased diversity will lead to increased team performance and a large number of positive outcomes have been connected to increased diversity. But by looking at the research on the topic, from the last 50 years (Mannix, Elizabeth & Neale, Margaret A) find that there are no consistent, positive main effects for diversity on work-group performance. They also fin that advantages of diversity often are found under very narrow conditions . Further the research shows that diversity can lead to reduced performance and group satisfaction through negative effects on communication, social integration and conflict.

It has to be mention that this does not mean that diversity, for the reasons of equality, and are not both appropriate and necessary. Diversity initiatives can reduce discrimination and increase access to career opportunities.

Even though diversity is difficult for teams, and especially to manage, there are still ways to do it and even capitalize on it.

Effects of diversity

The effects of diversity have traditionally been understood trough three different perspectives:

1. Similarity-attraction. People are attracted to working with those with similar values, beliefs and attitudes. People can therefore have preferences on who they would like to work with, without having ever met them.

2.Self- and social categorization People categorize themselves into specific groups, based on a race, gender, values, beliefs among others, and others as outsiders.

3.Information processing Individuals in groups with cultural diversity have access too other individuals that have different backgrounds, networks, information and skills.

Both the similarity-attraction perspective and self-and social categorization perspective tend to lead to the pessimistic view of diversity in teams. Since individuals will be attracted to working with those that are similar to themselves, more homogeneous teams will be more cohesive and the members more socially integrated. It also creates an atmosphere where the outsiders are judged more stereotypically and experience different expectations. The information processing perspective does on the other hand offer a more positive view, as it leads to increased the amount of information within the group and creates an atmosphere that can improve the group-performance.

Types of diversity

There are several types of diversity that all affects groups and teams differently. Research shows that surface-level-category differences, such as those of race/ethnicity, gender, or age, tend to be more likely to have negative effects on the ability of groups to function effectively. Underlying differences, like differences in the functional background, education or personalty, are on the other hand more often related positively to performance. This could for an instance be through increased creativity or group problem solving, which relates to the Information processing perspective. It is specified that this requires that the process is carefully controlled. In this section, the different types of diversity will be investigated further

--Diversity and complexity/Connecting the dots. Diversity can increase the complexity of projects, programs and portfolios, both within the project teams working, but also with the stakeholders. This is especially connected to cultural and language diversity. Different cultures may do the same work in different ways, and in a project, expectations for a certain type of work may not always align. For example, EHS(Environment, health and safety) in the construction industry can vary a lot from different parts of the world. In northern parts of the world, there are often way stricter rules, than further south. In different cultures, there are also different ways to communicate, which can make the project more complex. In larger projects where

Diversity and uncertainty When diversity affects the communication, it leads to increased risk. To reduce risk good communication between the involved parties is important.

-- 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.

How to manage diversity

In a workplace environment the manager can not always choose the background of the. There is there for up to the manager to deal with the both the challenges and opportunities related to diversity. Commincation

What can the PM do ??

Annotated bibliography

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."