As I was being interviewed by reporter Roberta Gonçalves I started reflecting upon the fact that different nationality is only one of the factors that add to the increasing diversity of the Brazilian marketplace, which is becoming more and more globalized.
Much is said about diversity and the benefits it brings to corporations, but little is mentioned about the difficulty in working in very diverse settings, in which what is “obvious” or “logical” for some is not always understood the same way by everyone, and with that comes the risk of misunderstandings (at times very serious ones).
And this is particularly difficult for professionals whose responsibilities also include management. The more diverse the team the more difficult it is to manage it.
For those who like challenges the good news is that I believe diversity in work teams will only increase!! Regardless of management models and rules that exist or might be developed I believe that in order to do a good job with very diverse professionals one needs to treat them differently in order to ensure equal treatment.
What does this mean? It means that if you treat everyone exactly the same you won’t be fair or ensure equal treatment. Consequently you’ll be creating an unexciting environment.
Of course there will always be rules and results that should be followed and delivered equally by everyone, but sometimes it’s possible to be flexible in the way you deliver such results.
A simple example is offering a flexible schedule a couple of days during the week to a professional who needs it. They might be attending an evening graduate course, or have to take their children in for treatment, or it might even be a religious issue. You can be sure that such “flexibilization” will bring satisfaction to the professional and the will in them to deliver the expected results.
Finding the right level of “flexibilization” is not an easy task and might cause doubts and create so many exceptions that the original rules might end up being placed second or even forgotten.
This is a risk! But nobody has ever said that management is simple, let alone easy.
Knowing how to manage diversity—whatever it may be—is a challenge, but also a great opportunity to deliver above-average results. Diverse teams—when managed well —are complementary, cover a wider range of competencies, and are more competitive. Not to mention that they’re a trend (or already a reality?).
Good luck!
