I’ve been serving as the Integrator at EOS Worldwide since 2016, finding talented people and guiding them to reach their maximum potential.
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The challenges that the pandemic brought to our collective workplace have been widely documented. Most of us are grappling with new levels of flexibility, financial uncertainty and remote/hybrid ways of working—all while learning to communicate with colleagues through new mediums.
Because of these challenges, unforeseen opportunities and possibilities are emerging.
The pandemic has changed the job pool. People are considering options and industries they haven’t before; something about the shake-up of our work routines unleashed people’s ideas about their ideal workplace. The usual barriers and borders have been smudged, if not erased.
For example, a financial services team member with a particular set of skills can reframe them and try out project management at a California-based video company. With virtual options that eliminate or reduce traditional borders for collaboration around the globe, location is not the concern or barrier that it once was.
As a result of this shift, managers may now find themselves leading teams and individuals who come from varied backgrounds. Learning how to lead teams from diverse and varied backgrounds can be both exciting and challenging.
Challenges And Advantages Of Coaching Teammates From Different Backgrounds
One of the biggest tests of this new blended job pool is meeting team members who have advanced experience in other fields. When they enter your company, they might have already mastered their jobs. They might be classically trained and have deeply ingrained ideas about how things should be done. They might be more singularly focused on what they believe to be the best approach than other new hires. If the organization’s history, culture, unique philosophies and mission are not factored into decision-making, tension can flare up in a team.
It is important that new hires with diverse career experience be able to apply their unique abilities and knowledge from past experience to the facets of their new position. You should seek out new hires who can channel their gifts into a new environment and deliver what your team and overarching organization need most in a flexible and collaborative way.
Overall, I believe the benefits of having a more diverse team outweigh the challenges. People from different backgrounds bring fresh points of view and innovative ways of solving problems. They can expose existing team members to new schools of thought and training that broaden their perspective. For individuals to apply their unique gifts to your company, though, you need to share the organization’s vision and mission, which helps them integrate their gifts.
As a leader, recognizing individuals for the differences they bring to the table is important work. Educating yourself on an individual’s perspective can help give you insight. By doing this, you will be able to understand how they think and solve problems. You’ll be able to seize opportunities to get into a deeper, richer dialogue with the new member of your team so that their talents are made known and integrated in a meaningful way.
It takes time and investment to care enough to ask the good, hard questions. If done well, your teams will have greater engagement and better retention.
Strategies For Coaching Team Members From Varied Backgrounds
So, you’ve got a team full of people who you would have never met previously. How can you coach them to get the most out of the diverse experiences and gifts they bring to the workplace?
1. Acknowledge differences.
Acknowledging that you have team members from various backgrounds is the first step. Sometimes leaders are oblivious or unwilling to think about the various backgrounds that comprise their team. Once you’re practicing awareness of the diversity in your team, you can start being intentional about your leadership.
2. Help first.
Embracing the different backgrounds of your team members starts with open, honest and vulnerable conversations. Get intentional and come from a help-first perspective. Engage with team members to learn about their values and experiences. How have they evolved professionally, and how would they like to evolve next? Create a regular meeting cadence throughout the year so you can keep building trust and getting the best (and most) out of each team member.
3. Connect relationally.
Socializing beyond team meetings can be a great way to give people the freedom and ease to share themselves and their gifts with others. Ask yourself questions like: How can you best bring people together outside of work? How can you provide opportunities for the team to know one another personally, not just professionally?
When people are authentically having fun—whether they’re painting by numbers or throwing axes at targets—they can recharge their creative brains and start collaborating like never before.
4. Celebrate regularly.
Just as having fun together provides the raw material for caring and trusting relationships, celebrating can bring a new level of awareness to your team. This doesn’t just mean during holidays. Celebrate who people are at their core year-round. Honor their diverse backgrounds.
This might sometimes mean stepping back and empowering individuals to find their own ways of sharing their professional and personal cultures. Resist the temptation to manage everything; let others take the lead when it comes to their stories. When leaders lead in celebrating others regularly, it often becomes contagious and others will join in.
Seeing the silver lining in the aftermath of the pandemic takes a little creativity. If leaders and managers can find opportunities to encourage people to celebrate differences, they can open up their companies to fresh, innovative approaches and experiences. And then the whole journey together gets a lot more interesting and rewarding.
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