Why diverse teams are an essential “ingredient” for value-based digitalization in Enterprises

• Because they are smarter;
• Because they make better decisions;
• Because they improve organisational performance.

Let me explain.

My current position is a Global Product Owner for Robotics & Automation and Digital Enablement Platform within Global Information Services of HEINEKEN.

In my team, you can meet the following people: 

• Chinese lady, Spanish Lady, Croatian gentleman, Bulgarian lady(me), Dutch gentleman, Italian lady (born in Italy, raised in Bonaire), a lady from Iran, a gentleman from India, Dutch lady, and a gentleman from Hungary.
• As you can see, I’m using only two diversity factors (nationality and gender). I want to underline that every person in this team is also different regarding their marital status, age, religion, job experience, level of technological awareness and skills, etc. (Factors that I didn’t include in order not to complicate the message that I’m trying to send with this article.) 

Recently I’ve published an article about the diversity and inclusion that I’m experiencing within HEINEKEN. Since publishing the post, I get many questions regarding this topic. 

What I’ve noticed from the questions is that the perception is still very narrow and we often think it is about race, nationality or gender. It is deeper and broader than that. With implications and influence on how modern organisations should strive to work in this current, digital era. (I’m especially passionate about a direction that I’ve named a “value-based digitalization” - for lack of a better word. More on this later.)

So let’s begin.

Why I’m saying that they are an essential “ingredient” for value-based digitalization?

Today we are going to cover the main three reasons.

1. Because the diverse teams are smarter

Here’s what I’ve learned in the past 5 years (when I think about it better, maybe in the last 10 years working in the IT industry): we all carry different types of cultural and intellectual biases or assumptions. 

What I see in everyday work is when a diverse team looks at a certain topic within the digitalization realm, a beautiful mess of perceptions is happening. 

Why?

In discussions with my colleagues, we’ve come up with the conclusion that diversity leads to open-mindedness and creativity which at the end leads to smarter teams.

This can, of course, go in the “wrong” direction but in my experience, it usually leads to a smarter way of thinking and looking at things.

Apparently, even though I’m looking at this within the digitalization and innovation, I’m not alone in this conclusion and experience.

Harvard Business Review has an article on this subject matter where they go even deeper proving this point. Here’s the link.

Here’s a snippet that I like:

Creating a more diverse workplace will help to keep your team members' biases in check and make them question their assumptions. - HBR

2. Because the diverse teams make better decisions

At first glance, this argument comes naturally after the first point above.

But, I would like to elaborate a little bit more and highlight something major first. 

Having smart, tech people in one room is a challenging task. This is why making better decisions within diverse teams requires diverse and inclusive leadership. 

What does this mean?

The root of the reason why a diverse team makes better conclusions lies in the fact that they have a diverse set of problem-solving techniques.

I’ve checked if this is something that others have spoken about and I found this article that further explores and backs up this conclusion.

When I told a colleague of mine that I’m writing a piece on this subject, he asked me, “how do you manage a diverse team”?

My answer: You don’t.

(His eyes glanced for a moment)

What you do instead is:

A. You create a context where ideas can flow

B. You value opinions and try to understand where are they coming from

C. You provide directions and play the role of a compass

I plan on “unpacking” this in future posts.

3. Because they improve organizational performance.

When a big company starts to digitize its processes, the whole organization is facing a huge task and performance test.

Even though it can be a painful and complex process, I see how diverse teams can influence other teams within the company to focus their energy on seeking innovative solutions instead of adopting negative outlook and resisting the change. 

Adopting new technologies and technology-led practices that transform processes is seen as a challenge rather than an issue for a diverse team.

To further prove my point, I’ve researched this conclusion and found that People Development Magazine covered this subject in an article. In the article, they even mention different studies that explore the correlation between diversity and performance. Here’s the link.

Over to you now

What would you add and what is your experience in working in diverse teams?

Please comment below and let me know if you find this helpful.

Until next time,

L. Todorovska

P.S.

My name is Lyudmila Todorovska and I’m part of a new wave of digitalization leaders that see digitalization and automation of processes differently.

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve mentioned the “value-based digitalization” phrase in this post.

I’m planning on writing more on this topic and I would appreciate your feedback and reasoning of this different approach to digitalization, automation, and innovation on an enterprise level. 

What I can say for now, (without making this post too long) is that I’m a huge advocate for using the new technologies and digitalization practices in order to bring value to the company. 

My raw reasoning is that some tasks can be “automated” using excel instead of using a new, cutting edge, paradigm-shifting, expensive and buzz worthy AI solutions.

This means enabling people to save time and energy that can be used for tasks and processes that the robots and algorithms cannot do. For example creativity, creative thinking, and innovation.

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