Managing Employees of Different Cultural Backgrounds, Generations, and Communication Styles
Program Code: 0908
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM (ET)

MODERATOR
Dennis Harpool, MT(ASCP)SBB, Blood Systems, Inc.

SPEAKERS
Judith Sullivan, MS, MT(ASCP)SBB, CQA(ASQ), Blood Systems, Inc.

DESCRIPTION
Research shows that diverse work teams are able to reach higher levels of innovation and creativity. However, studies also indicate that leaders regularly fall short of urging their more diverse teams to collaborate and these teams usually do not outperform more homogeneous teams. Indeed, leaders often are frustrated as to how to balance and align the many cultural preferences, styles and needs of their employees, which results in issues including misaligned loyalties, limited group participation, "triangulation" and interpersonal issues played out in the group. In this program, the speaker will describe what types of diverse teams tend to succeed and fail, review team case studies and provide proven strategies for leaders who want to maximize the hidden potential of their diverse workforce.