Techniques for Managing a Diverse Team Managing a diverse team Think about a great manager who's really motivated you in the past. What comes to mind? Many people describe such managers as fair, respectful, encouraging, objective, clear, and good listeners. The key in a diverse work environment is to be this way with everyone, and not only with the employees you feel comfortable with. Managing a diverse team requires a commitment to demonstrate these kinds of behaviors with everyone on the team. The more you can really connect with each of your team members, the more you'll be able to create a highly productive environment. Once you've established your initial approach to managing diversity by building diversity awareness in yourself and your team, you need to use different techniques to maintain the approach. The techniques for managing a diverse team are to communicate inclusively, consider individual needs, delegate fairly, and evaluate objectively. Communicating inclusively The first technique, communicating inclusively, means being careful that your language doesn't make anyone feel marginalized. All team members should feel comfortable and know their contributions matter. And listening is one of the most important communication skills. Listen actively to what team members have to say to be sure you understand what they're trying to communicate. You also have to be clear when you communicate. Especially in diverse environments, you need to check to make sure all team members understand you. In addition to listening well and being clear, to communicate inclusively you can use two specific techniques: 1. be open – share all appropriate information, recognize and accept differences, change, and new ways of doing things, and respond honestly 2. use inclusive language – call people by their preferred names, avoid stereotypes, and avoid using metaphors that may exclude someone Do you know the background of each of your team members? Demonstrating an open and flexible mind is easier when you know who you're communicating with. Remember that communication is a two-way process, and every team member has had experiences that have shaped their views, opinions, and biases. You also have opinions and biases. So you'll need to adjust your language in a way that helps all your employees feel like part of the communication process, especially when they come from backgrounds different from your own. Because language is powerful, you need to be careful you don't use language that makes others feel excluded. Inclusive language is nonsexist and nonracist. Some people think using "politically correct" phrasing is a trivial matter, but words can shape people's realities. Not many little girls grow up wanting to be a "chairman." But children of either gender can see themselves as a "chairperson." You can use more inclusive language in several different areas: · gender – Avoid gender-specific pronouns, and don't use language that suggests human beings only come ...

1. Techniques for Managing a Diverse Team
Managing a diverse team
Think about a great manager who's really motivated you in the
past. What comes to mind? Many people describe such
managers as fair, respectful, encouraging, objective, clear, and
good listeners. The key in a diverse work environment is to be
this way with everyone, and not only with the employees you
feel comfortable with. Managing a diverse team requires a
commitment to demonstrate these kinds of behaviors with
everyone on the team.
The more you can really connect with each of your team
members, the more you'll be able to create a highly productive
environment. Once you've established your initial approach to
managing diversity by building diversity awareness in yourself
and your team, you need to use different techniques to maintain
the approach. The techniques for managing a diverse team are to
communicate inclusively, consider individual needs, delegate
fairly, and evaluate objectively.
Communicating inclusively
The first technique, communicating inclusively, means being
careful that your language doesn't make anyone feel
marginalized. All team members should feel comfortable and
know their contributions matter. And listening is one of the
most important communication skills. Listen actively to what
team members have to say to be sure you understand what
they're trying to communicate. You also have to be clear when
you communicate. Especially in diverse environments, you need
to check to make sure all team members understand you.
In addition to listening well and being clear, to communicate
inclusively you can use two specific techniques:
1. be open – share all appropriate information, recognize and
accept differences, change, and new ways of doing things, and
respond honestly
2. use inclusive language – call people by their preferred names,

2. avoid stereotypes, and avoid using metaphors that may exclude
someone
Do you know the background of each of your team members?
Demonstrating an open and flexible mind is easier when you
know who you're communicating with. Remember that
communication is a two-way process, and every team member
has had experiences that have shaped their views, opinions, and
biases. You also have opinions and biases. So you'll need to
adjust your language in a way that helps all your employees feel
like part of the communication process, especially when they
come from backgrounds different from your own.
Because language is powerful, you need to be careful you don't
use language that makes others feel excluded. Inclusive
language is nonsexist and nonracist. Some people think using
"politically correct" phrasing is a trivial matter, but words can
shape people's realities. Not many little girls grow up wanting
to be a "chairman." But children of either gender can see
themselves as a "chairperson."
You can use more inclusive language in several different areas:
· gender – Avoid gender-specific pronouns, and don't use
language that suggests human beings only come in one gender.
· stereotypes – Respect team members' desires to name
themselves by using the language they prefer. But equally
importantly, avoid stereotypes and labels.
· Metaphors – Avoid metaphors or other comparisons that can
cause confusion and be off-putting to someone who doesn't
know what they mean.
If you can't avoid gender-specific pronouns altogether, alternate
them by using "he" and "she" equally or change to a gender-
neutral plural form such as "they," "their", or "them." Use
"people" or "humanity" instead of "man" or "mankind."
Substitute a descriptive, neutral term for titles that end in "man"
or refer to the person's gender. For instance, woman doctor,
male nurse, and female supervisor all should be simply doctor,
nurse, and supervisor. And chairman should be chairperson,
while mailman becomes mail carrier, and so forth. Ask team

3. members what term they prefer to be referred to by, such as
African American, Oriental, or Senior. But remember, there's no
need to refer to someone as a member of this group unless it's
relevant. Team members should be defined by who they are as
individuals and what they accomplish, rather than by their
religion, race, age, or cultural background. Referring to people
by a group designation can lead to stereotyping. It gives
nonpertinent information that may affect how others behave
toward them, while not grouping them includes them more fully.
When communicating with people from different backgrounds,
the image a metaphor creates is often unclear. As a result, the
people from different backgrounds are left out, excluded from
the communication. Sports metaphors are particularly
problematic. A baseball metaphor like "three strikes and you're
out" will leave people out of the conversation if they don't
understand it. Military metaphors can also exclude. Many
military metaphors are hard to understand unless you're part of
the military or interested in it.
Considering individual needs
The second technique to manage a diverse team effectively is to
consider individual needs of the team members. You have to
decide how to implement policies without showing favoritism,
while at the same time, recognizing each person's differences.
It's a fine line to walk, especially when you have to enforce
company policies and guidelines.
It may sometimes feel as though you're expected to treat
everyone the same, but also differently. But it's not as hard as it
sounds, since the most important thing is to be fair. Being fair
doesn't necessarily mean treating everyone alike. As any good
manager knows, to get the most out of each person, you have to
tailor your message so that person can best understand it. While
every employee has to be held to the same work expectations,
policies, and procedures, managers can still accommodate
individuals. Different approaches to areas such as coaching and
motivating, communicating, and resolving conflicts will help to
promote an environment of inclusiveness.

4. Another way to consider the needs of all individuals is to learn
your team members' professional aspirations and support their
efforts to achieve them. To make career development programs
more effective in a diverse environment, take an interest in your
employees' careers, and create opportunities for talented team
members to interact with company leaders they might not
otherwise meet. Each team member can then follow their own
path to success.
Delegating fairly
When considering individual needs, you may need to delegate
different tasks to help team members achieve their individual
goals. But be sure to delegate fairly – don't always delegate to
the same people by default.
To develop all team members – and not just the ones you know
will do good work because you've delegated to them before –
you need to identify projects, tasks, and responsibilities that can
build individual skills. Once you decide to delegate a task to a
person, be specific about what you expect and what the end
result should be. And of course, be available to coach the
employee as needed. But also, be supportive of different ways
of doing things. Be positive, and try to avoid judging or
insisting that your way is the only way to complete a task.
Evaluating objectively
Another technique for managing a diverse team effectively is to
evaluate objectively with regard to performance. To avoid the
appearance of favoritism or discrimination, you need to
monitor, observe, assess, and evaluate each employee's
performance on a regular basis. When you give feedback
continuously, neither you nor your team members will be
surprised when it's time for performance reviews.
To avoid evaluating employees unfairly, remember to check
your assumptions about them. While it's never easy being
completely objective, managers shouldn't base judgments about
an employee's work on stereotypes about age, gender, or
ethnicity. Also, it's imperative to give employees clear JOB
DESCRIPTIONS and goals. If clues from management regarding

5. objectives and desired job behaviors are unclear, employees
often can't do a good job no matter how much they want to.
These descriptions should include the criteria for measurement
used in performance evaluations. When you have clear criteria
for the skills and expectations for the job, it's much easier to be
fair with every employee.
It's important to know your team members' backgrounds. In
some cultures, feedback is discouraged, especially from a
subordinate to a superior, or from a younger to an older person.
In cultures that emphasize facts, feedback about feelings may be
particularly difficult.
Some managers think a diverse team achieves its goals in spite
of the team members' differences. But a well-managed diverse
team can make you realize that diverse teams can achieve
deeper, more successful solutions precisely because each person
lends a different perspective. Helpful techniques for managing a
diverse team are to communicate inclusively, consider
individual needs, delegate fairly, and evaluate objectively.
Course: Management Essentials: Managing a Diverse Team
Topic: Techniques for Managing a Diverse Team
Peer review sheet: Paper 1 Writer’s name: Siyuan
Reviewer’s name: Wendy
Directions: Put a check mark below if the statement is accurate
for your peer’s paper. Then write a letter on this page or a page
that you printed out giving some more suggestions for the
paper.
____✓___ Introduction presents Rebekah Nathan (using her full
name), the title of her book, her profession, and an explanation
of her project.
(I would take out the very general first sentence. It doesn’t
seem to belong with the rest of your paper. You can introduce

6. Nathan right away.)
_____ Introduction states the one or two points from Chapter
Four that the student writer is going to discuss and elaborates
enough so the reader understands them.
(I don’t yet see a place in the introduction where you clearly
state the points in Nathan that seemed interesting to you and
that your paper will explore. I have to read the whole paper to
see what points you cover.)
_____At the end of the introduction, the reader finds a thesis
statement which expresses the writer’s main point for the whole
paper.
(I don’t yet see a sentence that states your topic and your point
of view on that topic.)
___?__ The body paragraphs each have just one main point, and
that main point supports/relates to the thesis.
(I have a little hard time understanding what your main point is
in some paragraphs. For example, on page 2, I don’t get a key
point in the paragraph beginning with “On their side…” You
write that American students ask lots of questions, though the
students in Nathan said Americans are usually not curious about
other countries. Do you want to say that your experience is
different? But give examples, too.
That same paragraph ends with the idea of using computers,
which I didn’t understand. How does it belong in the
paragraph?)
✓? The conclusion is more than a summary of what the writer
already wrote in his/her paper.

7. (Your conclusion does offer a new idea, but it is so optimistic
(Americans and international students each continue to learn
about each other’s cultures and their own), that is does not seem
to match your paper. Your paper suggested, like Nathan’s
chapter, that American’s don’t care so much about countries
outside the U.S., that they don’t want to learn about other
cultures! So I wonder which you really believe—the body of
your paper or the conclusion?)
Siyuan,
You have a good beginning that introduces Nathan and tells the
reader about her student interviews. But I still would like your
intro to name which 1 or 2 points from Nathan you are going to
address in your paper and what you want to say about those
points. A thesis statement is useful for telling the reader these
things. One student in our class did it this way: she wrote,
“Like Nathan’s students, I was shocked at how little American
students know about other cultures and disappointed to realize
that they didn’t care much about learning.” (So now we know
her opinion: she was shocked and disappointed. And we know
her topic: American ignorance.)
Check your facts, too. Does Nathan really say that American
students ask lots of questions? I thought her students reported
the opposite, that they aren’t curious about other cultures; they
only ask a few stereotypical questions about food or simple
things.
Sometimes I just didn’t understand your meaning: For example,
I understand that you like the NBA, but what do you mean about
liking a “single”?
If you have not seen Lori, I hope that you can. I think it would
help a lot.

8. Siyuan Chen
English 101
Wendy Schoener
Assignment#1
9-12-2014
Worldliness and Worldview
Teachers who have pursued teaching as their lifetime
profession has a responsibility of changing the life of a student
in order to enable him/her to have a better future.
Rebekan Nathan was a professor of anthropology at Northern
Arizona University and as an author of Voyages she spent her
professional life living overseas in a village location. Rebekan
Nathan went to AnyU where she lived with a group of
international and Native American Students and she prepared
herself to write a book titled “My Freshman Year”. This book
discusses Rebekan Nathan life when she was in college.
In her book, Nathan reports that she was interested on the
perception of the Native American students towards
international students especially on the questions which they
asked. In addition to this, Nathan was interested on the
perception of the International students towards American
native students. Nathan conducted her study through an
interview and she got different responses from those whom she
interview, for example, a Japanese student said that, most of the

9. Japanese students know little about their country because they
are far away from their home country. In addition to this, the
student said that Japanese students living in U.S have no idea
about Middle East and they keep on asking themselves, who is
Ninja?
On their side, UAE’s student said “American students are nice,
but they need to stop being so ignorant about other countries
and other cultures”. Chinese students said “Americans know
very little about China or its culture. Most people think China is
still very poor and very communist-controlled, with no
freedom”. Lastly, a Malaysia student said“When I tell people
that I am Muslim they take me for granted and conclude that I
am an Arab. How can they not realize that not all Muslims are
Arabs when they have many Muslims here who are Americans?”
On their side, American Students know little about other
cultures and they are curious to know about cultures of different
countries. As a result of this, American students ask a lot of
questions especially about countries and cultural practices of
international students. According to Nathan, learning cultures of
different countries is a good thing but one should not ask a lot
of questions that surfaces the differences between one another.
To Nathan, International students come to America because they
want to get the best education, thus asking them about their
cultures makes them proud and that is why they are free to talk
about it. In addition to this, International student cannot
understand why Americans do not use computer to help them
find the answer if they really don’t know.
On the other hand, some of the International students who
have stayed in America for more than 3 years are not proud of
their cultures and they don’t like talking about it. A good
example of this group of students is a Chinese student who will
not be ready to answer questions asked by American students
such as “is China poor right now? Is there freedom in China? Is
TaiWan a Chinese?

10. In Nathan’s opinion, Americans believe they are in the best
country and English is most popular language in the world.
Every time he meets a new American friends and he tells them
about his country. When more and more Americans ask him the
same questions, in which he feels bad, he cannot tell them what
he is thinking and feeling, because it is rude and unethical.
Nathan likes some American cultures more than his own
Chinese culture for example he likes NBA, single, and movie.
As an international student he watches this from the internet
and he believes most of information from the internet is true.
In his book “My Freshman Year”, Nathan tells us the story
that was happening in the college, and we can realize that
American student thinking and international students think
differently. It is quite evident that, different countries have
different cultures and this influences the life of the student. For
example, an American student tries to know more information
about others countries and as he/she continues to learn about
her American Culture. This is also evident among international
students who keep on learning about American cultures and as
he/she tries to spread cultural beliefs and activities of his/her
country to Americans or to other international students. That
might be the best way to improve everybody and our respective
countries.