Diversity is a general term used to mean differences in the dimensions of a team. These differences can be in terms of age, cultural backgrounds, skill, and nationality. However, diversity can impact the outcomes of a team either positively or negatively depending on how well it suits the structures of the organization. Personal and skill diversity are the two major ways in which most organizations categorize diverse groups. Personal diversity describes the individual traits harbored by each member of a team. These may include age, cultural orientation and the different roles that each member is able to attain effectively. However, skill diversity describes the competence levels that each member contributes to the team. These may include the educational credentials and expertise that each member contributes to the team. A well managed diverse team always guarantees benefits in the overall outcomes of the organization. A survey carried out by McKinney in 2015 corroborated that companies with a high degree of ethnic and racial diversity in their management were likely to post a 35% likelihood of profits (Strauss, 2018). In contrast, those companies with a low degree of ethnic and racial diversity in their ranks had only 15% probability of posting good returns. Individuals who are diverse in all aspect tend to inspire each other with their unique skills and attributes. However, one major risk that any organization may encounter is the misunderstanding that team members may exhibit against each other.
There are different types of work teams and these, may include; functional, cross-functional and self-managed teams. A functional work team consists of members who work in the same department and report to one manager. These teams are normally constituted to oversee a continuing project or permanently goals of the company. For instance companies with one human resource manager, all the employees tend to answer to one manager. Clarity in operation is one major advantage of a functional team. Members tend to understand the orders channeled by the sole manager which helps to eliminate confusion. An organization that has several functional teams is likely to benefit from high speed in operational processes. Territorial dispute between functional teams is a major disadvantage. Disagreements among the various teams may negatively impact on the general outcomes of the organization.
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A cross-functional team is mostly constituted when there is a need for the departmental heads to consult with each other for the benefits of the organization. In most cases, this team consists of members from different departments but of the same hierarchy. For instance, when a company is launching new products, different departmental heads will convene so as to strategize on the profitable ways to be followed. The advantage of a Cross-functional team is that members are likely to be creative (Börsch-Supan & Weiss, 2016). This is because it is made up of members with diverse skills and competence levels. An organization is likely to benefit from the creativity and competence provided by the team members. One major disadvantage of this team is that members usually take long to establish a proper cohesion among them.
A self-managed team consists of workers who do not have a specific leader. In this team, each member must contribute unique skills to power the decisions made by the team. This team encourages members to own the project since each member is geared towards empowering the services delivered by the team. In this team division of labor and specialization in different roles is decided by the team members. Self-managed teams usually have numerous advantages. These teams are highly efficient since each member has a substantial input on the general goal. Also, members benefit from the flexibility which makes it easy to accomplish any task assigned. Team members are also likely to exhibit high levels of commitment and low absenteeism since each individual has a specific responsibility to push the team forward. However, this team is disadvantaged by high initial investment cost required to come up with skilled members. The team is also likely to show inefficiency in cases where job rotation is rampant.
In comparison, a self managed team is superior to the functional structure. This is because each member of a self managed team is highly skilled to accomplish the goals stipulated by the group. However, in functional groups, some members may become redundant limiting the effectiveness of the department. A well organized self managed team is likely to accomplish tasks faster than the cross-functional team. This is due to the fact that cross-functional teams normally take a lot of time for members to properly coordinate. This is opposed to the self managed teams where each member perfectly knows his or her roles.
References
Börsch-Supan, A., & Weiss, M. (2016). Productivity and age: Evidence from work teams at the assembly line. The Journal of the Economics of Ageing , 7 , 30-42.
Strauss, A. L. (2018). Work and the division of labor. In Creating Sociological Awareness (pp. 85-110). Routledge.
