Leveraging Diverse Teams

All teams are diverse, yet the potential benefits from those differences is often unrealized. Diversity brings the possibility for both conflict and creativity and differences need to be intentionally cultivated and managed so they can add value. This session gives participants conceptual knowledge and tools to harvest the benefits and minimize the liabilities of diversity on teams.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain a model for understanding and dealing with the impact of diversity on teams.
• Apply a framework for building productive diverse teams.
• Use a tool for assessing team strengths and identifying opportunities for development.
• Sample team processes for building connection and collaboration that lead to improved results.

Presented By:

Lee Gardenswartz, Ph.D. and Anita Rowe, Ph.D

Lee Gardenswartz, Ph.D. and Anita Rowe, Ph.D., began helping organizations with diversity in 1977 when they worked with Los Angeles Unified School District to deal with its diversity challenges at the time of mandatory integration. Since that time they have specialized in the "human side of management" for a variety of regional and national clients, helping them manage change, handle stress, build productive and cohesive work teams and create inter-cultural understanding and harmony in the workplace. Both Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe hold Doctorates of Human Behavior from the United States International University.

In addition to direct client relationships, Lee and Anita have also helped organizations through their writing on diversity. They have co-authored a series of articles and numerous books. Managing Diversity: A Complete Desk Reference and Planning Guide (1993, 1998) which has served as a primary guide to organizations in structuring their diversity initiatives, providing not only conceptual information but techniques and tools as well. Managing Diversity won the book of the year award from the Society for Human Resource Managers. In addition, they have co-authored The Managing Diversity Survival Guide (1994), The Diversity Tool Kit (1994), Diverse Teams at Work (1995, 2003), The Lending and Diversity Handbook (1996) and The Lending and Diversity Training Workbook (1996). They are also co-authors of Global Diversity Desk Reference: Managing an International Workforce (2003). They write a regular column in Mosaics newsletter and have written articles on diversity for publications such as Physician Executive, College and University Personnel Journal and Working World and have been featured in Personnel Journal.

Among Gardenswartz, & Rowe's clients are Farm Credit Services of America, Cox Communications, Starbucks, Kaiser Permanente, Safeco, Harvard Medical School, Countrywide Mortgage, Sempra Energy, IRS, British Telecommunications, Boeing Aircraft Group, Progress Energy, Walt Disney World, and Shell Oil Company. Anita and Lee have lectured widely, giving keynote speeches, facilitating team building retreats and teaching seminars across the country. Gardenswartz & Rowe's principals also continue to teach about diversity, not only through training in client organizations, but also through SHRM's Diversity Train-the-Trainer certificate program, and institutions such as the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication in Portland, Oregon.

Continuing Education:

• This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hour toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage.