Diverse teams at work : capitalizing on the power of diversity / Lee Gardenswartz, Anita Rowe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gardenswartz, Lee.

Contributor:

Rowe, Anita, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Teams in the workplace.

Multiculturalism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (259 p. ) 15 Line Drawings, 10 Tables, 250 Screen Shots

Place of Publication:

Alexandria, Va. : Society for Human Resource Management, c2008.

Summary:

Strategies for making differences in work teams an asset, not a liability are provided in this practical guide. Team members are helped to understand and make the most of their differences and to overcome barriers to achievement that are sometimes the result of diversity. More than 50 worksheets provide teams, team leaders, trainers, and consultants with processes, guidance, and tools to learn how to diversify groups while building relationships. An appendix provides an annotated list of resources, including books, training activities, and videos that are helpful in developing group members and training team leaders.

Contents:

Front Cover

Preface

WHAT'S IN THIS BOOK: A CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER GUIDE

Acknowledgments

Contents

Chapter One: E PLURIBUS UNUM

Myths and Realities of Diverse Teams

Team Building with a Diverse Staff: How Is It Different?

Ten Characteristics of an Effective Pluralistic Team

Chapter Two: SIMILAR DIFFERENCES - The Power of Infinite Variety

The Four Layers of Diversity

Personality: The Unique Core

How Internal Dimensions of Diversity Shape the Team

Age

Gender

Ethnicity

Race

Physical Ability

Sexual Orientation

How External Dimensions of Diversity Influence Team Behavior

Religion

Marital Status

Educational Background

Income

Parental Status

Appearance

Personal Habits

Recreational Habits

Geographic Location

Work Experience

Organizational Dimensions that Make a Difference on the Team

Functional Level or Classification

Management Status

Department, Division, Unit, and Work Group

Union Mfiliation

Work Location

Seniority

Work Content or Field

Describing Your Own Filter

Keeping Your Own Filter Clean

Chapter Three: HOW DIVERSE TEAMS WORK

The Four Dimensions of Team Building

Task: Focus on the Product

Relationship: Focus on Human Dynamics

Shoulder to Shoulder: Working Together

Process Intervention

Assessing Your Team's Functioning

Diversity Variables that Impact Team Functioning

Chapter Four: TASK ACCOMPLISHMENT - The Raison D'etre of Teams

Values: The Critical Underpinning

The Team's Mission: A Compass that Charts Its Course

Creating a Mission: An Artful Process

Goals: Clear, Collective, and Compelling

Chapter Five: RELATIONSHIPS - The Times that Bind

Building Trust: The Foundation for Productive Team Relationships

Self-Disclosure: One Avenue to Developing Trust

Generating Commitment to Each Other.

When Problems Rear Their Ugly Heads

Balancing Individual Freedom and Joint Accountability

Creating an Inclusive Environment on Your Team

Chapter Six: SHOULDER TO SHOULDER - In the Trenches Together

Preventing the Ghettoization of the Group

Guidelines for Structuring Work-Related Interactions

Vehicles and Variations for Bringing People Together

Total-Team Tasks

Small-Group Tasks

Individual Tasks

Focus on Common Goals and Build Shared Experiences

When Taking Two Steps Back Doesn't Seem like Progress

Peer Teaching and Coaching: Building on Each Other's Strengths

Chapter Seven: GROUP PROCESS - Human Engineering to Keep the Team on Track

Ego and Affiliation: The Universal Needs

The Human Dynamic: Creating an Inclusive Environment

Task and Maintenance Behaviors

Overcoming Diversity Obstacles to Problem Solving and Decision Making

Assumptions and Blocks: Subtle Saboteurs

Decision Making on the Team

Consensus: A Prime Decision-Making Tool

Conflict: Variations on a Human Theme

Suggestions for Resolving Conflicts

Resolving Conflict on the Team

Chapter Eight: WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Options in Selecting Functional Team Members

Options for Selecting Short-Term Team Members

Assessing Where the Team Is and Where It Needs to Go

A Sequence of Team Building Activities

Infancy Stage

Adolescence

Middle Age

Maturity

Diagnosing Problem Spots and Redirecting the Team

Integrating New Team Members

Phasing Out Longtimers

Appropriately Acknowledging Completions and Moving On

Chapter Nine: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF LEADER

Variables Impacting Leadership

Qualities of Effective Leadership

Leadership: An Evolution

The Four Roles of Leaders

The Qualities of a Catalytic Leader

Chapter Ten MAKING TEAM BUILDING PAY OFF: Considerations, Challenges, and Caveats.

Team-building Considerations

Team-building Challenges

Team-building Caveats

Resources for Building Diverse Teams

Bibliography

Index

Tables

1-1 Differences between Homogeneous and Diverse Work Teams in the United States

3-1 Teamwork in Four Dimensions

6-1 Bringing People Together on Tasks and Projects: Variations of Groupings

7-2 Dealing with Conflict as a Cultural Phenomenon

8-1 The Phases of Team Growth and Development

Figures

2-1 The Four Layers of Diversity

3-1 The Four Dimensions ofTeam building: A Model of How Teams Function

3-2 Diversity Variables that Impact Teamwork

7-1 Sample Team Norms

7-2 Five-Step Guide to Resolving Conflict

9-1 Leaders and Followers: An Evolution

Worksheets

1-1 Ten Characteristics of an Effective Pluralistic Team

2-1 Drawing Your Personality Profile

2-2 Personality: What's Your Style?

2-3 Analyzing Your Diversity Filter

2-4 Dimensions of Diversity: Same and Different

2-5 Assessing the Impact of Diversity on Our Team

2-6 Keeping Your Filter Clean: Confronting Your Own Assumptions and Expectations

3-1 Assessing the Team's Functioning: A Feedback Tool

3-2 Team Busters

3-3 Diversity Variables on the Team

4-1 Values: The Critical Underpinning

4-2 Goals: Charting Our Course

4-3 Goal Clarification (Example)

4-4 Defining Clear Goals and Objectives

4-5 Task-Accomplishment Worksheet

4-6 Measurement Criteria: Holding the Team's Feet to the Fire

5-1 Trust Eroders on Your Team

5-2 Trust on Our Team

5-3 Trust Building on a Diverse Team

5-4 Sharing Perspectives on the Team

5-5 Developing Mutually Supportive Relationships on the Team

5-6 Interpersonal Problem-Solving Worksheet

5-7 Individual and Group: Maintaining the Balance

5-8 Accountability for Team Tasks

5-9 Group versus Individual: A Group Experience.

5-10 How Inclusive Is the Team Environment?

6-1 Structuring Work-Related Interactions for Task Accomplishment

6-2 Maximizing the Learning from Every Experience

6-3 Cross-Training Self-Analysis

7-1 Being a Productive Team Member

7-2 Who Am I?

7-3 Team Experiences

7-4 Establishing Norms on Our Team

7-5 Identifying Behaviors Necessary for High Team Performance

7-6 Improving Performance on the Team

7-7 Defining a Problem on Your Team

7-8 Diversity Assumptions Impacting Problem Solving on Your Team

7-9 Blocks to Problem Solving

7-10 Decision Making: What's Your Style?

7-11 Analyzing Decision-Making Styles

7-12 The Characteristics of an Effective Team Member on a Diverse Team

7-13 Conflict: You and the Team

7-14 Conflict Quiz

7-15 Options for Handling Conflict

8-1 Assessing Where the Team Is: A Checklist

8-2 Diversity as It Relates to Phases ofTeam Growth and Development

8-3 Diagnosing Problem Spots

8-4 New and Existing Team Member Integration

8-5 Bringing New Members Up to Speed

8-6 Bringing Closure to a Work Team

8-7 Team Members' Celebration and Acknowledgment List

9-1 Leadership and You

9-2 Essential Leader Behaviors for Effective Teams

9-3 Improvement of Overall Leadership Characteristics

9-4 Leader: What's Your Type?

9-5 How Much of a Catalytic Leader Are You?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 253) and index.

ISBN:

1-58644-211-2

OCLC:

846496158