In this article I will explain what diversity is the culture of organizations and how we can win with him to work better.
Diversity is a characteristic of a group of people or a social group Which makes people different from one another, objectively or subjectively. In general, there is difference between two broad categories:
-Functional diversity : They are internal differences like experience, competences, values, aptitudes, attitudes...
-Diversity : Superficial differences; Skin color, age, sex...
There have been major changes in society that have brought about enormous diversity. These include: globalization, incorporation into the work of the disabled, age differences in working groups...
Because diversity is a reality (for example, Spain is the most multiethnic country in the world. EU ), We must know how we can increase the positive consequences of this phenomenon. Thus, research asserts that diversity, if promoted with certain conditions, increases the information, communication and quality of work teams.
On the other hand, it is known that not all groups with diversity work equally well. Those that are functionally diverse (skills, knowledge, training) work better than those that are socially diverse (sex, age...). This can be taken into account in a company / college / institute / university at the time the boss or teacher makes the groups work as a team.
However, it should be noted that diversity does not have positive effects by itself, it needs to be optimized. What conditions can we improve to increase the positive results of diversity?
Controls task conflicts and prevents personal
Task conflicts are those that arise from problems of the same work or activity being done (for example not agreeing on what a magazine cover should look like). Personal are those that are based on physical or psychological characteristics of people (criticize about physical appearance, values, opinions...).
Task conflicts on a medium level are positive because that way group thinking is avoided (all members of the same group think the same), which is very negative. However, personal conflicts are very negative and we must leave clear group rules to avoid them.
2. Use heterogeneous groups for difficult and homogeneous tasks for tasks that require easy tasks.
Heterogeneous groups work best on tasks involving creativity and non-urgent homogeneous groups perform better on simple tasks, with time pressure and monotonous.
3. Promotes communication
Functional diversity increases group effectiveness if there are communication processes: make meetings, dynamics...
4) It promotes a culture of positive attitudes towards differences, in which diversity is valued as added value.
5) Propose to integrate into different groups in which you consider that there are people different from you functionally or socially.
In short, the diversity Is a reality in today's society and in itself, has no positive or negative consequences. We will have to manage the factors named to give us value (either as a person or in a company) and we can see effects such as quality of working groups, creativity , Innovation...