What Boost Workplace Performance?

Pulse

oi-Staff

By Staff

Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 16:22

Ever wondered from where you can take better decisions regarding your workplace? Never hesitate…the better decisions for your workplace usually comes from the socially distinct newcomer only.

One of the most-cited benefits of diversity is the infusion of new ideas and perspectives. While that very often is true, the mere presence of a newcomer who is socially distinct can really shake up the group dynamic. That leads to discomfort, but also to a better process that ultimately yields superior outcomes. The benefits of disparate knowledge in a team can be unleashed when newcomers actually share opinions of knowledge with old-timers but are socially different.

It is the tension between social dissimilarity and opinion similarity that prompts heightened effectiveness in diverse teams. However, the newcomer might be threatening for the relationship between the old members of the group. When a member of the group discovered that he agreed with the new outsider, he felt alienated from his fellow old-timers - consequently, he was very motivated to explain his point of view on its merits so that his peers wouldn"t lump him in with the outsider.

The group members are likely to go deep into the discussion that facilitates much better decision-making results. An opinion alliance with an outsider put one"s social ties with other team members at risk. Socially a newcomer can be very threatening too.