Question

Topic 2: Addressing Demographic Diversity in Real World Teams
Reflect on course content that highlights the potential for issues when working with diverse teams.

Locate a resource that identifies at least one strategy (way of thinking or behaving) that could be used when working in a diverse team.

Discuss both the challenges and potential opportunities for growth associated with diverse teams. 
(Emerging Team Opportunities and Challenges section: Diversity and Multicultural Teams)

Answer 1

Lets first define Demographic Diversity: Demography is characteristics which is related to the population. For example age, gender, race, marital status etc. Diversity means how a person is different from another person. Demographic diversity (in teams) hence can be described as how members within the team are alike or different in terms of race, age, gender, socio economic status etc.

Issues when working with Diverse Teams:

1. Groupism: in a team when there are people from different subgroups or a particular group of the society so its very natural to support people who share similar background like them.
2. Difference in opinion due to cultural background:
3. Takes time to develop trust when working in a diverse team.
4. Language or communication barrier (sometimes due to accent even if everyone speaks the same language)
5. Prejudice towards a particular religion/ group etc.

Strategy for working in a Diverse Team:

For a Leader to work in team	Strategy for a member while working in a diversified team
The leader has to be trust worthy, competent, approachable for handling a diverse team. He should have clear goal which should be conveyed to the team as well. Impartial Equal delegation of the work/ task Ensure the progress of each member	The member should be respectful towards all the cultures. Amicable behaviour. Being Coopperative Honest and sportive spirit.

Challenges while working with a Diverse team

1. Decision making; When there is a larger diverse group there is more chance of having clashes due to difference of opinion thus sometimes making it difficult for management to make decision.
2. Division in the team; Due to favourism to a particular person or group due to some common ground.
3. Clashes: Due to generation gap or differences in culture, societal norms.
4. Accommodation of belief : Its difficult to accept change especially when it comes to embracing a new set of beliefs.

Potential Opportunities for growth associated with diverse teams:

1. Strong Dynamics: a diverse team is beneficial for employees personal growth as there is lot to learn from each other.
2. Greater innovation and creativity - A diverse team bring lot of new ideas and innovation.
3. Higher Employee Engagement- The diverse team asks for more employee engagement thus leads to better productivity.
4. Better reputation of the organization- Having a diversified team gives a better message not only within the organization even outside the organization .

Conclusion: A diversified team comes with its own challenges but its potential opportunities for growth outnumbers the challenges it has. It depends on the leader/Management how do they deal with the diversity to bring a harmony among the team members to strive to achieve a common goal.