What do you do if your collaborative team lacks diverse perspectives?

I focus on recognizing gaps, and the reason why a capable worker is unable to show their full potential. Once done, I focus on remedial measures which may include conselling, enouraging the worker to take initiative and making them responsible for their task.

I like the idea of evaluating your team as the starting point to address diversity issues within a team. This evaluation gives you information about underrepresented interests within the team-where the gaps exist. However, it is also a good idea to revisit the organization recruitment policy. There could also be a gap at that level

Recognize Gaps: Identify the areas where your team lacks diverse perspectives. This could be in terms of skills, experiences, or viewpoints. Encourage Diversity: Foster an environment that values and encourages diversity. This could involve bringing in new team members with different backgrounds or experiences. Promote Inclusive Discussions: Ensure all team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas and perspectives. This can help bring a wider range of ideas to the table.

If my collaborative team is lacking diverse perspectives, I encourage fresh outlooks by asking questions to inspire broader and deeper thinking. I like to do an activity to break the ice so the team begins to relax and inspire one another to think outside the box. Activities, such as a research scavenger hunt with diverse opinions to research and discuss our findings, followed by a brainstorm of connecting those perspectives to our objective.

Seeking input from team members is crucial for ensuring diverse perspectives are considered. Implement strategies to actively solicit input, such as: Regular Meetings: Schedule regular team meetings where all members have the opportunity to contribute their ideas, insights, and concerns. Brainstorming Sessions: Host brainstorming sessions where team members can freely share their thoughts on specific topics or challenges. Encourage creativity and exploration of diverse perspectives. Surveys or Polls: Use surveys or polls to gather input from team members on various issues, projects, or decisions. Ensure anonymity if necessary to encourage honest feedback.

WHY seeking inputs matter: - Uncover Blind Spots: Different viewpoints reveal overlooked aspects. - Boost Creativity: A mix of ideas from diverse backgrounds sparks innovation. - Promote Inclusivity: Ensures all voices are heard, fostering equity. - Invest in Success: Cultivates adaptability and resilience for long-term growth. Remember, it's not just about filling gaps but about embracing diverse perspectives to drive innovation, inclusivity, and success.

Foster open dialogue and provide platforms for team members to express their ideas and insights. Highlight the importance of diverse perspectives in problem-solving and decision-making. Actively engage all team members in contributing their inputs, leveraging diversity to fuel innovation and achieve success.

While it may sound obvious, one of the most useful strategies to gather input and create a safe space for open dialogue is to ask genuinely open and curious questions starting with "what" and "how". The shorter, the better! Some of my favourites... ?? "What could we be missing or not seeing?" ?? "What else needs to be considered?" ?? "What other views or perspectives might be important?" These types of questions can also be asked using online tools and technology - a great strategy for soliciting input from those who may feel less comfortable speaking 'out loud'. Be careful to avoid what I like to refer to as "imposter" questions - i.e. questions that are leading, or to which you think you already know the answer!

It's essential to take proactive steps to address this issue 1.Acknowledge the Issue 2.Encourage Open Communication 3.Promote Inclusivity 4.Create Diverse Teams 5.Lead by Example

In my experience, the most effective approach to prevent groupthink—my interpretation of this question—is to be intentional. Establish team norms that ensure everyone’s voice is heard. Occasionally, consider examining the rotation of voices, taking into account power dynamics. Additionally, seek input from external perspectives—individuals with diverse experiences or alternative viewpoints. Leveraging multiple tools can help address gaps you’re aware of and even those that might escape notice.

Create a Safe Environment: Foster a culture where team members feel safe and encouraged to speak up without fear of judgment or reprisal. Emphasize mutual respect and active listening. Actively Listen: Practice active listening by giving full attention to what others are saying, without interrupting or judging. Encourage team members to express their thoughts and feelings openly. Provide Opportunities for Participation: Create opportunities for all team members to contribute their ideas and perspectives. This could include brainstorming sessions, team meetings, or project discussions.

Empowering team members' voices for me is really about actively engaging all members and ensuring that their contributions are heard, valued and acted upon. When people sees their ideas in action, this will serve as a motivation for them to keep voicing out their ideas and share their perspective with the team. It is also important to explore other ways people can share their perspective, it doesn't always have to be during meetings. For example, some members may not feel comfortable speaking up in large group settings. You could implement smaller group sessions or one-on-ones where they might feel more at ease to express their thoughts or encourage them to do it in writing, ensure that all ideas through different platforms are welcome.

Before any meeting or session you have with you team, it could be useful to send out meeting questions or any topic or tasks for the team members to reflect on and then bring those reflections or ideas to the meeting. By doing it this way, you ensure that team members have the time to reflect on their own and bring to the broader team meetings their own original thoughts. Give each member the opportunity to share their thoughts / responses and only one this is done get every one to engage with what was shared to see where there are any common themes or new thoughts / ideas.

Instead of prioritizing the empowerment of diverse voices as the second stage in establishing a culture of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), I propose focusing on fostering an environment of trust and transparency. This foundation is essential for any successful D&I initiative and should be followed by securing management support.

Think from the perspective of your customers or end users; and I mean plural. All too often we think about one singular end customer, often referred to as our "ideal customer" or "ideal customer avatar." Thinking about one person is not a diverse perspective. Instead, seek input and knowledge from your ideal customer *community.* A community includes diverse people and diverse perspectives. Think about who would make up you're ideal customer community and seek their input on your projects.

Some effective ways to get started is, Offer training sessions or workshops on diversity and inclusion to raise awareness and help team members understand the importance of diverse perspectives. This can help to foster empathy and understanding among team members, while expanding their knowledge.

Realize sess?es de treinamento sobre diversidade e inclus?o, proporcione a sua equipe conhecimento trazendo palestras com mentores e facilitadores especialistas em diversidade para que possa compartilhar suas experiências e juntos criar insights. Promova workshops interativos.

Rotate leadership roles within the team to ensure that different voices are heard and different perspectives are considered in decision-making processes.

Assign tasks in a manner that motivates members with diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives to make meaningful contributions. Intentionally diversifying tasks ensures a representation of various viewpoints in the team's efforts, fostering comprehensive solutions and innovative outcomes.

To get people to change their orientation can be quite challenging. Diversification of talent requires making routine tasks more interesting and rewarding as an incentive to get the desired reorientation and adapt more easily to the change required. Balancing personal needs and organisational requirements in the bid to create diversification within the group can be a useful strategy to satisfy the goals for organisational and personal growth.

When forming project teams or task forces, intentionally create diverse groups that bring together individuals with different backgrounds, skills, and perspectives. This can lead to more innovative solutions and better decision-making.

In most projects we have no time to reflect. It’s a chaotic world filled with deadlines and more new project add ons leaving no room for reflection. This is in my opinion a very important step to realise what worked and what didn’t. It will be helpful in next projects and consistently being reflective will create a stronger and much impactful results.

The best way that I know of, is to begin every day in prayer. Here's an example that I can share; It involves 5 specific reminders I have for myself, that I refer to daily. The #1 reminder is: Above all else, seek the the Kingdom of God.. Don't worry, be Happy... #2 Take care of your health. #3 Be patient and compassionate.. Love one another. #4 Trust that you are on the right path, answering your unique calling for the day. #5 Imagine and visualize everyone on your team in the most wholesome, healthy, constructive way you possibly can. Be humble and willing to forgive as well. Pray by holding them up to the Love and Light of our Creator and expect Harmonious, Magical and Joyous relations for everybody's highest good in all your endeavors.

Recognizing and rewarding contributions can also help in reinforcing the value of diverse perspective. It doesn't always have to be in monetary form. For example, Acknowledging and celebrating contribution via an email blast would encourage others to do more of the same behavior in terms of sharing perspective.

Consider diversifying your team as well. If your team itself is not diverse, the likelihood of diverse ideas coming from them would be much less. Considering selecting the team based on diversity. As they say: garbage in, garbage out. So if you want diversity out, then first start with diversity in

Taking a strengths-based approach can also be helpful in emphasising the value & diversity that different individuals bring to the table. In my experience, this is particularly useful with groups who are still building trust and rapport, or are in the 'forming' / 'storming' / 'norming' stages. When executed well, programs focused on identifying and exploring individual & collective strengths can help to 1) create a common language around diverse skills & strengths 2) give the group 'permission' to not be "good" at everything and 3) remove any potential stigma associated with different perspectives (e.g. the so called "naysayer" can be acknowledged for their strengths in critical or analytical thinking!)