Diversify your teams and collaborate: because great minds don't think alike

Abstract

Purpose -This article aims to provide business managers and executives with a framework of how to best utilize and implement teams in the workplace so as to maximize both internal and external diversified skill sets capabilities in team members. Design/methodology/approach -A combination of primary and secondary research was conducted to highlight and strengthen the authors' views and opinions. The original ideas and basic concepts are based upon the authors' own experiences. Findings -Companies have much to gain from utilizing teams and teamwork within and across corporate boundaries. Success is more likely to be achieved if the team has certain core characteristics. In addition, a heterogeneous team composition could optimize efficiency, quality, and innovation. By collaborating and teaming with external parties companies can overcome internal resource limitations and achieve competitive advantage, greater profitability and maximize chances for long-term survival.Research limitations/implications -The article is primarily based upon the authors' own experiences and opinions, which may differ from results of studies and research done on the subject. The secondary research was limited. The survey conducted by the authors was not scientifically constructed. The sample size was small (n ¼ 32) but yet statistically significant and based upon a convenience sample. Practical implications -The article may help company executives and managers who want go get the most out of their employees and enhance their work teams' productivity levels, output quality, and creativity. Originality/value -The article is a clear and concise read relating to a highly relevant business topic. It takes a multi-level approach to the concept of teams in the workplace, and could serve as a good guide to business leaders on how to create the most efficient and effective work environment for their employees that will ultimately result in more successful and profitable operations.

Open innovation practices adopted by private stakeholders: perspectives for living labs

“…Alignment of organisational strategies on OI principles also appears to be necessary, as well as the establishment of information-sharing networks, all of this fuelled internally by an innovation "champion" (Chesbrough and Crowther, 2006;Chesbrough and Schwartz, 2007). Organisations must also develop a culture of openness and permeability as regards the external environment (Holtzman and Anderberg, 2011;Dittrich andDuysters, 2007 in Gianiodis et al, 2010). All those elements facilitating the adoption of OI depend on each organisation and its culture, but there are also external elements, mainly in the form of innovation intermediaries.…”

Selection of individuals to serve on major gift fundraising teams: a study of membership choice criteria

“…Therefore, communication ability needs to be found across the team's membership, not just in a single team member who happens to be a good communicator. Communication ability has been found to be particularly important in diverse teams (Holtzman and Anderberg, ). Accordingly,…”

Creative synergy in interdisciplinary design collaboration : using speedstorming to generate ideas

“…This is because creativity is the first step to innovation; it is essentially the development of ideas while innovation is the implementation and application of those ideas West 2002). As the marketplace becomes increasingly competitive and fast-paced, and advances in technology become more and more rampant, organizations are required to foster creativity to capitalize on their innovation potential and to ultimately develop innovative products, services, and processes (Holtzman and Anderberg 2011;Farh, Lee, and Farh 2010), which is crucial for organizational success (de Jong and den Hartog 2010; Miura and Hida 2004).…”

“…In many cases, this comes down to capitalizing on member diversity. It is believed that teams having members with diverse backgrounds, knowledge, and skills have the potential to perform at higher levels than teams that are more homogenous (Holtzman and Anderberg 2011). In terms of creativity and idea-generation, heterogeneous teams often have a divergence of viewpoints and perspectives which can stimulate creative thinking and the generation of creative ideas, leading to the development of innovative solutions (Barczak, Lassk, and Mulki 2010;Bassett-Jones 2005; Roberge and van Dick 2010).…”

“…In order to be innovative and to compete in a fast-paced marketplace, organizations need to foster creativity and take advantage of the potential synergies that occur through the collaboration and collective efforts of a team (Chen 2006;Holtzman and Anderberg 2011;Farh, Lee, and Farh 2010). These synergies represent performance gains that result from the interactions amongst team members by which the output is something that the members would not be able to achieve on their own (Larson 2010).…”