Introduction
The researcher has been appointed to head a local division of health care management organization and will analyze the role of a diverse work team. The research will address the importance of a multicultural work team by justifying the rationale. The research also analyzes the impact of multicultural team conflicts and how to reduce them using a corporate culture that fits the entire culture (Levis, 2000).
Importance of a diverse work team
According to (Lorimar, 2001), if diverse work teams are properly managed, they outperform work teams that are homogeneous or diverse work teams that are not managed. Diverse work teams attract a greater pool of ideas through interaction that brings better solutions. Workplace Diversity in this sense refers to how in all aspects persons differ including organizational characteristics. Members contribute individual views as well as value-sets from different parts of the world. This represents a wide range of mental models necessary for complex problem’s solving as well as completing a particular task. Members in diverse teamwork have the capacity to see problems from various perspectives that consequently provide a sophisticated understanding of particular problems leading to solutions of high quality (Mark, 2000) found that, multicultural management provides a key to success in the current global economy and this has not failed to accelerate in the medical field. In a multicultural group, individuals have unique beliefs and norms as well as values including observable behaviors. In general, teams that are multicultural portray effectiveness in solving tasks where creativity and innovation are required. The members have a capacity to generate more as well as better ideas and chances of them being influenced by their status quo thinking or that of their colleagues are limited. This way of thinking also called mob psychology inhibits members from being independent in their decision-making.
Disadvantages of multicultural diversity in teams
(Stefano, 2003) argued that, although the benefits of diversity in team building are obviously more than its potential problems, team development is not always successful. A few team members sometimes mistrust their colleagues if their behavior deviates from their national cultures. For example, a speaker who is British or a German chooses to be precise and use an exact number of words to deliver the message. Such a speaker perceives elaborate as well as deep-detailed speakers such as Arabs as exaggerating. Perception, as well as preconceived stereotypes, may also cause problems in communications and bias between individuals. For example, north-Americans express their respect and honesty by ensuring direct eye contact contrary to Asians perception that sees sustained eye contact to be staring and as a sign of disrespect.
Conclusion
(Williams, 2004) concluded that, the head of a health care management should create a unifying mission for his/her team using mission statements that are easy for them to understand and achieve. Research has shown that divided team members tend to unite if they have a common purpose. This would make every individual feel that it is him/her against the competitor. Clear roles should also be assigned according to different talents with good communication of interdependencies. This avoids confusion about what an individual should do and also rewards those with special strengths. Adequate resources should also be availed to all teams as this prevents division among members. Problems should also be resolved immediately when they arise rather than waiting for them to blow up and reducing the morale of the entire team.
References
- Levis A. (2000): The Effectiveness of Health Care Teams in the National Health Service: Oxford University Press pp. 45-54
- Lorimar W. (2001): Team-based Health Care Organizations: Blueprint for Success: Elsevier pp. 23-29
- Mark A. (2000): Putting teamwork in context: Blackwell Synergy pp. 65-73
- Stefano J. (2003): Creating value with diverse teams in global management: Elsevier pp. 19-27
- Williams L. (2004): Building Credible Multicultural Teams: St. Martin’s Press pp. 29-36