How to be an Effective Member of a Diverse Workplace

Class Summary

Effective work relationships are critical to every employee’s success and are essential for building a cohesive workplace. Diversity brings a richness to the workplace and also can pose challenges. In this half-day workshop, you will learn how to be part of a team in a way that fosters empathy and an appreciation for the diverse needs, skills, talents, and contributions of all members.

COM256 3.5 Combinable
One 4-hour session
Janet Welch-McGrath or Michael Horne

All employees

  • Healthy, productive work relationships.
  • Greater cooperation.
  • High productivity.
  • Improved morale.

By the end of this program, you will be able to:

  • Define diversity and identify how it impacts the workplace.
  • Recognize your attitude toward differences.
  • Identify any perception issues that may contribute to diversity problems.
  • Listen more effectively to what a person is trying to communicate.
  • Devise an action plan to change your personal diversity issues into a positive experience for everyone.
  • Develop a positive team concept approach to diversity.
  • Defining ways in which people are diverse
    • Cultural diversity
    • Functional diversity
    • Background diversity
    • Organizational diversity
  • Perceptions
    • Exercise for identifying distortions
    • Methods for overcoming distortions
  • Eliminating cultural collisions
    • Prejudice
    • Discrimination
    • Stereotyping/Categorizing
  • Techniques for Managing Diversity
    • Three approaches to diversity
    • Solving diversity-based problems
    • Steps to a successful diverse workplace
  • Action Plan for building an effective, diverse work team