Getting Past Clashes: Valuing Team Diversity

Overview/Description
Target Audience
Expected Duration
Lesson Objectives

Overview/Description
 You've heard the saying, "We didn't all come over in the same ship, but here we are in the same boat." Teams have diverse personalities, skills, and interests that are challenging to put together. You may not get along with every team member, but it's important that you can work together to achieve the same goal. At the end of this course, you'll have the skills needed to work with different personality styles, control your gut reactions to difficult people, and deal with difficult team members.

Target Audience
 Anyone working on project teams.

Expected Duration
2.5 hours

Lesson Objectives:

When Opposites Don't Attract

  • recognize the importance of getting along with team members who are different from you.
  • match each divergent thinking method to its correct description.
  • choose the positive item, given a negative statement.
  • match the interpersonal problem with an effective solution.

    • Contrasting Personality Types

  • recognize the value of contrasting personality types.
  • specify the characteristics of a goal-oriented person.
  • specify the characteristics of a diligent person.
  • specify the characteristics of an agreeable person.
  • specify the characteristics of an open person.

    • Gut Reactions That Get in the Way

  • recognize the importance of stopping your gut reactions when dealing with difficult people.
  • identify the behaviors people traditionally exhibit when clashing with others in the workplace.
  • select the alternatives to assigning negative motivations in a given situation.
  • match ways to conquer your gut reactions with the example of each.

    • Dealing with Difficult People

  • recognize the benefits of finding a way to deal with difficult people.
  • identify ways to deal with a "too good to be true" person in a given scenario.
  • identify the ways to deal with an "un-team" member.
  • identify how to eliminate destructive "social bee" behaviors.
  • identify how to deal with the "backstabber" in a given situation.

    • Course Number: TEAM0213