The creative process can often be confusing in the most diverse teams. But really, it’s all about the harmony and cohesion of the members of these teams. So that the creative ideas flow. While a diverse team composition appears to confer an advantage when generating a wide range of innovative ideas, empirical studies indicate. That diversity may impede the consensus that these benefits disappear once the team decides which ideas to select and implement. Knowing that effective team leadership can mitigate conflicts arising from diversity. Regardless of any possible reasons for finding diversity in a workplace, it can be said that it is best to reinforce the premise that diverse teams and organizations are more creative. Thus, it is natural that creativity is a practical result of balancing between diversity, harmony, and cohesion of teams. Moreover, the potential gains in creativity from diversity will not come at the expense of the harmony and cohesion of teams. The following are practical results that confirm the hypothesis of this balance between the diversity, harmony, and cohesion of team members:
1. The difference between generating ideas and implementing them
Several studies show that creativity gains from inherent social conflict can disrupt team diversity. As can the decision-making inefficiencies that less homogeneous teams create. It makes sense for organizations to increase diversity in teams focused on exploration or idea generation and to use more homogenous teams to nurture and implement those ideas. This distinction also reflects the psychological competencies associated with the creative process, as divergent thinking and openness to experiment and brainstorming are necessary to produce many original ideas. But for these ideas to become genuine innovations, they require management expertise and effective leadership. Talking about the importance of creativity, most organizations have excess creative ideas that are never implemented, and more diversity will not solve this problem.
2. Effective team leadership reduces emerging conflicts
Effective team leadership can mitigate conflicts arising from diversity. It also enables team members to set aside their agendas to collaborate with others for the mutual benefit of the team. In addition, it contributes to clarifying the natural tension between members’ desire to be ahead of others and their need to conform with them. This is especially important when teams are diverse because it is difficult for them to empathize with them, see things from other members’ points of view, and suppress their own conscious and unconscious biases.
3. Moderation in diversity
Most studies assume that there is a linear relationship between diversity and creativity. But some recent studies suggest that moderate diversity in teams is more beneficial than excessive diversity. This finding is consistent with the “too much of a good thing” model in management science, which provides convincing evidence that even the most desirable traits have a dark side if taken to extremes.
4. Personal variables, values , and abilities
Most discussions of diversity focus on demographic variables such as gender, age, and race. However, the most exciting and impactful aspect of diversity is the deep diversity that includes personality variables, values, and abilities. There are many advantages to focusing on these variables rather than demographics. While demographic variables perpetuate stereotypical and biased descriptions, deep diversity focuses on the individual, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of human diversity.
5. Share knowledge
Knowledge is valuable to any organization, especially in the digital age when information is abundant and dynamic. However, knowledge is not only about data and facts but also about insights, experiences, and ideas that can improve performance, innovation, and collaboration. No matter how diverse the team members are, a knowledge-sharing culture fosters creativity. Therefore, leaders must foster a culture of knowledge sharing that encourages and enables their teams to create, access, and use knowledge effectively.
6. Varied training
As human beings, we treat differences with distrust, as a small portion of people do not believe in equal rights and do not treat everyone with empathy and respect. Because these people come from rigid and conservative backgrounds, which makes diversity and inclusion difficult. To mitigate this problem, managers must support diverse training programs to change people’s mindsets. Variety coaching often aims to achieve goals such as maintaining high morale for team members and promoting understanding, harmony, and cohesion. It is also designed to facilitate positive group interaction, reduce bias and discrimination, and teach different team members how to work together effectively to be more creative and productive.
7. Selecting employees based on creativity
While diversity can enhance creativity, it is essential to note that many other drivers of creativity are at play. Noting that supporting innovation, vision, task orientation, and communication are among the most potent factors influencing creativity and innovation. Also, developing expertise, assigning meaningful and exciting tasks to team members, and improving creative thinking skills will lead to higher gains in individual and team creativity than focusing on diversity. The best way to enhance creativity and diversity is to select employees based on their creativity rather than their knowledge, ability, or educational qualifications. That alone would improve the level of diversity typical of organizations.
Diverse team challenges
Before creating diverse teams in the organization, it is essential to consider some challenges these teams may face. Being aware of these challenges ahead of time can help you create more effective and creative teams to overcome them. Some of the challenges these teams may face include:
1. Communication barriers
When creating a team with different backgrounds, some members may be native speakers of different languages—noting that this can constitute a barrier to communication and reduce the effectiveness and creativity of the team. As a successful team leader, you identify potential bottlenecks before creating the final team, which helps you implement countermeasures to improve communication. In addition, by encouraging your team to learn the different languages of other team members, you can significantly improve the team’s communication capabilities.
2. Cultural differences
When you form teams with different cultural backgrounds, it can sometimes lead to conflict between members. It can also affect the performance, creativity, and workflow of the team, which can affect relationships in the workplace. Knowing that establishing work boundaries can benefit teams to prevent cultural conflict, as this includes setting limits on conversations about discussing cultural, religious, or political beliefs.
3. Barriers to making decisions
In some cases, diverse teams can reduce timely decision-making capabilities. Disagreements or multiple points of view can also lead to less effective decision-making and an impact on the team’s work. As a team leader, you can assign a team member to mediate discussions or conflicts to prevent discussions or arguments from occurring and can help the team reach decisions productively.
4. Team member bias
When teams analyze processes or procedures, members may form a bias toward one solution or another. This can create conflict and prevent teams from discovering solutions that benefit the organization. Knowing your team members’ personalities is essential to analyze potential team bias. You can also eliminate opportunities for bias by ensuring that all team members communicate their ideas and concerns. In addition, ensuring the participation of all team members can lead to collaboration and improve relationships between them.
Creativity and diversity are intertwined much more deeply than one might imagine. People from diverse backgrounds come together; they focus more on the facts and carefully process them. They are more likely to constantly look at the facts and remain objective while at the same time encouraging more concern for each member’s actions. This ensures that their shared cognitive resources are constantly alert and sharp. They know this will make your team more intelligent, creative, and innovative. But you need to ensure that you promote inclusive practices in the workplace so that creativity is a practical result of balancing the diversity, harmony, and cohesion of teams, and they give their best to creativity in their work every day.
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