Running head: FINAL PROJECT 1

Final Team Project: Diversity in the workplace

BIS 343
Lindsay Snowden, Jorge Sosa, Peter Lazic
December 1, 2017
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Final Team Project: Diversity in the workplace

It seems more and more that the power of diversity in the workplace is gaining
value. In her book Managing The Team: A Guide for Managers, Leigh L. Thompson
(2018) emphasizes the benefits of building a diverse team. “When groups are persuaded
of the value of diversity…for their team’s performance,” she states, “diverse groups
perform better when they hold prodiversity beliefs” (Thompson, 2018, p. 41). She also
mentions that social diversity improves team morale, and that cultural intelligence, or “a
person’s ability to adapt effectively to new cultural contexts” (Thompson, 2018, p. 333),
has shown teams to exhibit higher rates of performance over the life of a team
(Thompson, 2018, pp. 38, 334). While there are several different types of diversity that
can occur within a team, Business Co.’s Diversity Team focuses on protecting and
promoting the value of social diversity within organizations.
For several years now, Business Co., a large corporation, has been using their
Diversity Team to help bring awareness to and to resolve diversity issues within their
organization. As “research from both academic institutions and the private
reveals…ethnic diversity helps companies deliver superior business results” (Thompson,
2018, p. 324). This research has been the driving force behind the Diversity Team.
Because of the program’s success, Business Co. decided to make the Diversity Team a
public entity which campaigns for diversity rights in all workplaces. The team strives to
bring social justice to the workplace by advocating for diversity through social media,
seminars for other businesses, and by helping build and implement Diversity Teams in
other organizations. Business Co. has also facilitated several fundraisers through social
media, auctions, and other events in order to fund a scholarship program for interns of
diverse ethnic backgrounds. Pressing forward with “Diversity Is Our Strength” as their
motto, the team hopes to empower others by emphasizing the importance and power of
diversity in the workplace.
8. What communication-related problems do you anticipate? How
will your team address and resolve conflict?
Though the Diversity Team has experienced massive success, it has not been
without a few speedbumps along the way. Because Business Co. has brought in members
from different branches of its company in order to build the team, communication
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related problems were among the first challenges the team encountered. To resolve
communication conflict, as well as other conflicts, the Diversity Team has utilized and
studied conflict management models such as those constructed by K. W. Thomas,
Rubult’s EVLN model, and Wageman and Donnefield’s intervention model (Thompson,
2018). In observing the Conflict Modes model by K. W. Thomas, the team is able to
distinguish the five different courses of action that are common during conflict:
avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competition, and collaboration (Thompson,
2018, p. 210). Identifying which course of action is being used in a conflict helps the
team to realize that a different or better course of action may be possible. Using the
EVLN (exit, loyalty, voice, or neglect) model also helps the team identify different
approaches being used during conflict and allows them to navigate conflict more
effectively. When an approach or course of action can be identified during team conflict,
the appropriate intervention method can be applied. Wageman and Donnefield suggest
four kinds of intervention: “Team (re)Design, task process coaching, conflict process
coaching, and changing the individual” (Thompson, 2018, p. 214). These four
interventions include techniques such as making “deliberate changes in the
structure…in which teams do their work”, “coaching that helps the team perform better
via changes in effort, strategy, and talent”, “direct intervention in a team to improve the
quality of conflict in a team”, and “individual-level training” (Thompson, 2018, p. 214).
Being able to identify they type of conflict and apply proper intervention techniques has
increased the performance and cohesion of the Diversity team at Business Co. Because
of their success, these models and methods have also been implemented into seminars
and training programs that the Diversity Team presents to other organizations.
6. How will your team evaluate success through the performance
criteria of productivity, cohesion, learning, and integration?
Success: that’s what the Diversity Team at Business Co. has experienced. To
measure this success, Business Co. has monitored the performance criteria of
productivity, cohesion, learning and integration. Thompson (2018) states that the two
best ways to measure productivity success are by whether or not the team has clear goals
and is achieving them, and whether or not the team is meeting the standards of those
who use it (pp. 128-129). “If the teams output is unacceptable to those who use it, the
team is not effective,” she states (Thompson, 2018, p. 129). Focus on outlining and
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achieving clear cut goals, and feedback from end users who “depend on the team’s
output” (Thompson, 2018, p. 129) have been the measure for the Diversity Teams
productivity success. The measure of team cohesion, or how well the team members
work together (Thompson, 2018, p.129), has been the longevity of the team. The
Diversity Team has existed at Business Co. for several years now and has overcome
many obstacles together. They keep a log of their conflict management in order to be
able to reflect on successful resolution techniques. Thompson mentions that “if team
members do not enjoy working on a team, future performance will suffer” (2018, p.
130). The team’s success speaks to the group’s level of cohesion and this aspect is
monitored (and guarded) closely. In addition to cohesion, Thompson mentions that
learning must also be present (2018, p. 130). While the team does not measure their
learning, they are sure to provide opportunities for growth and development within the
team that meet the individual needs of the members on the team. And finally, the team
measures it’s integration by asking: “does the organization benefit from the team?”
(Thompson, 2018, p. 130). Because this team was implemented to improve the
organization in the first place, and because the team has been successful, Business Co.
considers the integration of the Diversity Team a great success. In order to continually
monitor their integration and avoid becoming a self-serving team, the Diversity Team
has a small group of people within the team that monitor their contributions and growth
within Business Co..
7. What is the organizational culture or shared mental model?
Business Co. will always be the home of the original Diversity Team. From this
home, the Diversity Team built itself from the ground up and thus was instilled with the
same organizational culture and shared mental model as its mama bear, Business Co.:
inclusion, innovation, and professionalism. Business Co. places emphasis on the
inclusion of all of its employees, including their ideas. Having an open door to
employees and their ideas has contributed to the culture of innovation at Business Co.
In fact, Business CO. has found that “norms that favor innovation or incorporate shared
expectations of success…foster team effectiveness” (Thompson, 2018, p. 114).
Fortunately, this culture and shared mental model (that everyone is valuable), has not
only passed on through the Diversity Team and contributed to their success, but also
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stands as the basis for their entire existence: inclusion breeds innovation, and
innovation breeds success. Thus, “Diversity Is Our Strength”.
9. How will your team avoid groupthink?
As the Diversity Team of Business Co., it is extremely crucial for the team to avoid
group think. The Diversity Team is meant to find solutions in order to aid the targeting
problem that minorities have been dealing with in the workforce. This will be impossible
if the team does not think creatively. To avoid group think, the Diversity Team at
Business Co. is kept small. Leigh L. Thompson (2018) states that “people grow more
intimidated and hesitant as team size increases” (p. 176). This is exactly what we do not
want in our Diversity Team. If people within the Diversity Team are scared to express
themselves, then the team will back track instead of finding a solution to the issue at
hand. The whole point of the Diversity Team is to figure out how everyone in the
workforce is able to communicate stronger with one another so that certain individuals
won’t be targeted.
By keeping the team small, they are able to really go in depth with what they are
trying to accomplish. Having everyone think creatively is more beneficial than a large
group who is hesitant to share their ideas due to the fear of being criticized. Also, having
a small group of people with different perspectives and backgrounds helps create a clear
guide to give all people a fair chance in working in any organization, even if they are the
minority.
5. How will your team deal with communication challenges
associated with diverse perspectives in team environments?
The diversity team at Business Co. thrives off of communication challenges
associated with diverse perspectives in team environments. As a group, the Diversity
Team takes communication problems regarding diverse perspectives and turns them
from a negative situation into a positive one. The goal of the Diversity Team of Business
Co. is to figure out a solution in order to prevent minorities from constantly being
targeted by HR’s and not having the same fair chance that everyone else does in the
workforce. Having communication challenges associated with diverse perspectives
within the group provides a tremendous benefit because of the opportunity to dissect
the problem and figure out why these communication challenges are occurring as well as
figure out a solution. The way the team dissects the problem is by addressing it when it
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happens, trusting each other, and working together to figure out the solution. In the
text, Thompson (2018) states, “diverse teams need to focus on building trust and
cooperation” (p. 296). Being able to figure out this problem will help prevent HR’s in all
organization from dealing with these communication challenges. By going through these
problems as a group and figuring out the solution to the challenge at hand, the team is
able to address these issues to the public and show other organizations how to prevent
these challenges from happening within their own organization. This will not only lower,
or hopefully even end, communication challenges due to diverse perspectives within
team environments, but also support an increase in diversity within organizations as
well as help minorities from being targeted during the hiring processes in the workforce.
10. What kind of 360-degree evaluation system will your team develop?
The 360-degree evaluation system is a key component of the Diversity Team’s
success at Business Co. Thompson (2018) states that “each organization should develop
the 360-degree system that will optimize effectiveness within its organizational design”
(p. 356). The best utilization of the 360-degree evaluation system happens by keeping it
within the Diversity Group. The rest of the organization does not contribute to this
aspect of the team. In the Diversity Group, everyone is considered equal status. This is
very important because when it comes to reviewing one another the team wants to make
sure everyone knows that it is an opportunity to learn from one another in order to
grow. For the team’s 360-degree evaluation system, it stays anonymous. The goal is not
to anger one another by making each other feel threatened, but to enhance the team’s
knowledge of how they can communicate in order to work better together as a team.
With honesty through feedback, the Diversity Team is able to grow stronger as a team.
With this, the team is able to impact the growth of Business Co. and help formulate a
guideline of principles that other organizations for growth as well.
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Reference:

Thompson, Leigh (2018). Making the Team: A Guide for Managers, 6th edition. Pearson.