Who’s On Your Team?

When we talk about the importance of diversity in the workplace at Emergenetics®, there is a good chance we are talking about the cognitive variety.

Workplace diversity typically refers to putting individuals of different ages, ethnicities, genders and job levels together, and recently, organizations have begun to consider diversity of thought within their initiatives. Research shows that this kind of diversity is vital to building productive teams.

This concept is Principle #4 in my book Work That Works and is entitled, Creating a Meeting of the Minds: WEteam Cognitive Collaboration. At Emergenetics, we are experts in utilizing cognitive diversity, and we take a unique approach to forming teams based on Emergenetics Profiles, bringing together people that represent all of the Emergenetics Attributes.

When representatives of every Attribute are present, we call this a Whole Emergenetics team, or “WEteam.” By tapping into all seven preferences—Analytical, Structural, Social, Conceptual, Expressiveness, Assertiveness and Flexibility—the result is enhanced communication and creativity as well as superior solutions. The technique can be quite powerful.

The first step to creating a WEteam is to check on the composition of your work team. For this week’s Motivation Monday exercise, I invite you to share Profiles within your team. Look at individual preferences as well as the group as a whole. Identify which Attributes have strong representation and which Attributes may be underrepresented.

When you have a better understanding of the makeup of your team, you are better positioned to tap into that diversity or identify ways to move toward a more balanced approach. My next two mini-blogs will provide more activities to help you fully utilize the cognitive diversity at your organization.

For more tips on how to apply the principles in Work That Works, please fill out the form below to connect with a member of our team.