NEW YORK– Diverse teams actually aren’t more successful than non-diverse teams--they actually underperform, unless they engage in team development, according to one expert.
But there is a technique that can help diverse teams deal with conflict effectively, and while conflict is a natural part of collaboration, it must be handled productively, according to Alida Miranda-Wolff, the CEO and founder of the consulting company, Ethos, and the author of Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations.
The following is excerpted from Miranda-Wolff’s book, Cultures of Belonging.
Writing on FastCompany.com, Miranda-Wolff, who received her certification in diversity, equity, and inclusion from Georgetown University and has nearly a decade of practicing experience, stated that what often goes unsaid in workplaces is how well employees perform (which in a perfect system determines how they advance) is dependent on their social environments.
“However, if the social environment is dysfunctional, out-of-sync, or toxic, that creates significant barriers and hurdles to improvement and promotion,” Miranda-Wolff wrote. “Early on in my diversity management program, we were discussing the power of diverse teams. Naturally, we were all listing the benefits of diversity in our own organizations. That’s when our facilitator, Sukari Pinnock, said, ‘The thing about diverse teams is that they aren’t more successful; they actually underperform, unless they engage in team development. Then they outperform non-diverse teams.’”
A Simple Argument
According to Miranda-Wolff, the central argument was simple: “When we are different from one another, we are more likely to have opposing points of view which leads to conflict. Without appropriately establishing norms and boundaries, getting to know each other, and setting mutual goals, team members may find themselves coming into conflict so much they can’t move together toward high performance.
“This argument highlights our collective cultural (so, very American) fear of conflict,” continued Miranda-Wolff. “We shy away from people who are unlike us because we fear clashing with them, even when so much of the business thought leadership today emphasizes that healthy conflict drives more innovation and better results.”
Miranda-Wolff said that in her work she has been investigating how conflict specifically manifests on diverse teams, which ultimately led her to apply conflict management principles and models in several different company systems.
Toward Vs. Away
“What I found is that humans evolved with ‘toward’ and ‘away’ responses,” Miranda-Wolff wrote. “We move toward those who are like us (friends) and away from those who are different (perceived foes). We are so primed to associate with one another based on the similarity that even the smallest shared social identification brings us together and amplifies the likelihood of intergroup bias. In other words, the ‘us and them’ impulse is strong.”
Yet despite these findings, diverse teams are not destined to underperform unless they can find common ground, stated Miranda-Wolff, who explained there is a body of evidence showing that homogenous teams underperform precisely because they experience more “comfortable” environments, while diverse teams overperform due to the increased effort necessary to work within them.
“We are more fearful of outsiders and tend to find collaboration harder with them at the very same time that we produce better work through that partnership,” stated Miranda-Wolff. “The conflict we experience in more diverse teams is precisely why we see better results on them. We just have to make sure that conflict isn’t so explosive that collaboration stalls completely.”
Four Principles
Miranda-Wolff said she has made noticeable progress with the following four principles for managing (not eliminating) conflict on teams.
- Conflict management is about looking for a mutual goal. “At the beginning of team development, we all align on one goal we can get behind. Our thinking, strategies, processes, and practices may all be different and divergent after that point, but we will have an anchor to ground us and remind us of the value of fully engaging with each other in collaboration.”
- Healthy conflicts involve parties who respond rather than react. “Emotional regulation is essential to healthy conflict. That means creating enough mental space for oneself to assess a situation and intentionally mobilize energy before engaging.”
- Conflicts end with a decision. “This means clearly stating what is going to happen, even if it’s ‘agree to disagree.’ Whether the decision is not to change at all or to pursue a whole new path, it must be explicitly stated and recognized in the group.”
- The conversation doesn’t end with the conflict resolution. “Once conflict on a team is resolved, I have observed a tendency (including my own) to avoid team members for fear that somehow the conflict will start over. However, this approach allows for the conflict to reopen, especially based on a feeling that ‘We aren’t talking so something must be wrong.’ Bonding after strain and struggle leads to a deeper connection.”