How does diversity strengthen a team?

 In your opinion, how does diversity strengthen a team?

Albert Einstein once said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." So, I am trying to explain the concept as simply as possible.

As apps are more and more commonly used on smartphones, we can now play real-time tactics and battle games almost everywhere with a mobile phone and a connection. Many games emphasize teamwork such as Mobile Legends and Gerena Arena of Valor. It is a 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena. In each battle, you have four allies(plus you, there are both five players in a game) and five enemies from different players. There are five types of heroes you can pick to play this game, warrior, tank, archer, supporter, and wizard. Each type has its own special abilities and skills. For instance, some supporters can control enemies' ability to move. This skill can be very useful while chasing an escaping enemy. If the enemy has been controlled, allies such as wizards can easily give him a terrible thunderstorm. In addition, when a wizard is enchanting, he(or she) is very weak. So, he needs a tank to protect him from interruptions and absorb those serious attacks from enemies. As we can see, the teamwork leads them to succeed in this contest. If the five people all choose to be warriors, they cannot work as a team as I told you before, and that will lead to a higher chance of failure. Diversity brings a broader range of skills and strategies to projects.

Now, back to real life. As global companies rely more and more on virtual teams to conduct many crucial projects, business owners need to be prepared to manage intercultural teams regularly. Technology and the communication it enables give companies a competitive advantage in the international environment. Net collaboration technologies also help companies work with multinational partners to bring new products to market with significant savings in time and money. For instance, workers in different countries in different time zones can work together as a team to synchronic the same project and increase efficiency. Although time zone is not a skill, it is still a diversity that can strengthen a team. 

Moreover, approaches to project management tasks such as scheduling, goal setting, task assignment, and leadership differ across cultures (Milosevic, 1999). Mutual trust plays a crucial role in successful multinational partnerships, even though it is not easy to achieve. Trust among global team members depends on their perceptions of each other’s ability and integrity. It is one of the essential skills for an excellent manager to have all the partners in a team that are willing to trust one another. However, trust is hard to build but easy to lose. 

To ensure each ally understands how diversity strengthens an intercultural team and each person is willing to bring different perspectives to the task, leaders should recognize the value each member contributes to the team. For instance, a team member with excellent time management skills builds a timeline and keeps others on track for project completion. Another team member might be weak with time management, and strong in interpersonal skills or technical expertise.

Although we all hope we can and have the ability to do everything we want, due to so many limitations such as time, life, and resources, we can try to be better than ever but cannot always be perfect. Everything has its own pros and cons and these pros and cons also changing over time. What we can do is to improve and adjust ourselves over time, and during the process, we may establishing new friendships and enhanced the experience for all members. In this discussion forum, students also commented on how each member added a different perspective and helped teammates to see things from a different angle. As we know that in the Arena of Valor, getting to know players' strengths and backgrounds at the beginning of the game proved to be a valuable strategy.

Reference

Ackley, J. & Barker, R.T. (2001). The presence of five intercultural dimensions in Mid-Atlantic managers: An exploratory study. Paper presented at the 2001 ABC European Convention in Dresden, Germany. May 24-26, 2001.

Barrett, D.J. (2001). Teaching MBA students to manage intercultural teams. Paper presented at the 2001 ABC European Convention in Dresden, Germany. May 24-26, 2001.

Child, J. (2001). Trust—The fundamental bond in global collaboration. Organizational Dynamics, 29 (4), 274-289.

Daly, C.B. (1996). Does diversity matter? Harvard Business Review, 74 (3), 10- 11.

DiStefano, J.J. & Maznevski, M.L. (2000). Creating value with diverse teams in global management. Organizational Dynamics, 29 (1), 45-64.

Duarte, D.L. & Snyder, N.T. (1999). Mastering virtual teams. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.