Diverse Teams

Diverse Teams

Analyze the business case for and against diverse teams

Diversity is a word that refers to the way that people differ; diversity not only involves how people think of others and how this affects their interaction but how they conceive themselves, too. Diverse teams are groups of different people who differ in age and sex. Moreover, they may have different religion, race, sexual orientation, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, ethnic group and more. As Mullins stated[1], “groups are an essential feature of the work pattern of any organisation. Members of a group must co operate in order for work to be carried out…” Inevitably, the members of the group influence each other in many ways. In addition, groups may develop their own unique style of working.
Teamwork is a major factor in diverse teams and in every group development. With teamwork groups may improve their productivity, the quality of the product and they can also take advantage of the opportunities provided by technological advances. Apart from that, teamwork is also improving employee motivation and commitment to the group. Diverse teams have a lot of major advantages; however risks have to be taken.

At this point I would like to state that it is intuitively obvious that diverse teams can exploit a variety of perspectives and skills. For example, someone might expect that some types of diversity (gender, race, age, religion) are more likely to have negative effect to the team, whereas other types of diversity (functional background, personality) are more likely to have positive effects and make the team even more prospective and creative than any other type of working team. Furthermore, diverse teams have the ability to analyze and develop a subject from all sides because of the personality difference of their members. This is one of the major advantages of diverse teams. Yet, it is worth noting that without the right training and control this can...

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