Diversity, creativity, and efficiency are important for any team that aims to achieve success. People involved in a project should have different knowledge, capabilities, and skills to solve various tasks (Manning, 2021). It is also necessary to be able to analyze problems, generate ideas, make decisions, organize work processes and evaluate the results. Besides, social competence is essential, and team members must be able to communicate with each other and work towards a common goal. In this regard, creating a diverse and multicultural team can help improve the project’s productivity and performance.
In the given scenario, the new manager’s role for the project should be to compose a high-functioning team and ensure its effective virtual work to adapt the company’s workstation for clients from South America. Effective team management is key to ensuring smooth operations of both virtual and office-based employees (Manning, 2021). Therefore, Angel’s responsibilities include creating a team space for effective individual and joint work, establishing the norms of communication, and ensuring an opportunity for inquiries and questions.
The team disbanded by the manager is not truly diverse as all the employees are from Northern America: four from the United States and one from Canada. Furthermore, there are no women, and no other important attributes were considered. According to Manning (2021), diversity at work involves people of different races, genders, cultures, ethnicities, and religions. True multiculturalism can help increase the cultural competency of employees, an essential concept for increased productivity. Angel’s team lacks diversity and might not meet the needs of South American clients.
To ensure a more diverse team and address the multiculturalism problem, Angel can focus on various criteria for selection, such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and culture. Besides, it is important to consider the company’s needs and vision to find the right individuals who share common values (Manning, 2021). Diversity and multiculturalism can benefit the team and the project results by increased creativity, performance, innovation, and decision-making. At the same time, multiculturalism can result in barriers because of differences in language, culture, and education (Manning, 2021). To resolve these challenges, it is necessary to provide training in technical and social competence to increase the team’s skills and cultural awareness.
The selection process needed to create a diverse team includes several steps. In particular, the manager needs to involve employees with various backgrounds in the project. As per Manning (2021), an essential concept for this scenario is targeted recruiting. The next steps are to provide training for the team and create an inclusive and culturally diverse physical work environment. Finally, discussing multiculturism with employees can help the manager improve the team’s efficiency, communication, and empathy.
When coaching the manager, I will focus on the importance of diversity and effective communication for the project’s success. I will discuss delegation strategies that include encouraging diversity in decision-making, allowing employees to voice their opinions, and ensuring transparency in the workplace (Manning, 2021). Furthermore, it is necessary to raise the manager’s tolerance, empathy, and communication skills to ensure that she can provide support for the new team and address their needs.
To conclude, diversity is beneficial for the company’s project as various skills and knowledge of individual employees increase the overall qualification of the team. Multinational and multicultural teams can demonstrate high financial performance and efficiency. In the given scenario, a diversification strategy must be implemented to help Angel create a high-functioning team, provide creative solutions, accomplish the task, and meet the needs of South American clients.
Reference
Manning, G. (2021). The art of leadership (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.