INTRODUCTION
"A group is defined as two or more people working together regularly to achieve common goals. A team is defined as groups of people who work actively together to achieve a purpose for which they are all accountable." In order to become a high-performance team, the group needs to work together in ways that use their skills well to accomplish a purpose.
DIVERSITY IN TEAMS
Benefits of diversity in teams are that it improves team problem-solving and increases productivity; and, offers information and talent. These are assets valuable to teams working on complex and very demanding tasks.
A homogeneous team is one in which team members are similar in age, gender, race, experience, ethnicity, and culture. These are benefits in creating a successful team. All members most likely have the same ideals, moral and ethical tendencies, and have similar outside interests. On the other hand, this can hinder a team's performance by limiting viewpoints, outside influences and creativity.
A heterogeneous team is one in which members come from different demographic backgrounds, experiences, lifestyles, and cultures. This can be of benefit to the team because it gives a different perspective on problem-solving and increasing creativity. It can also hinder a team's performance if the demographic characteristics conflict with others in a negative way. Members must be willing to work together and make sacrifices.
Diversity is usually associated with different ethnicities, color or sex. The Columbia River Crossing project has a very diverse team in that there are several agencies involved in completing one big project. This office consists of engineers, designers, environmental agencies; city, state and governm ...