David LivermoreDriven By Difference

Lesson 2: Getting Diverse Teams to Work Together

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David Livermore addresses the critical need to align expectations. Watch the short video below.

 

Leading a Meeting to Align Expectations

David shares an example of how to lead a meeting to align diverse expectations.

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Any book on leadership and teamwork will say ‘misaligned expectations’ is the top thing that brings about conflict on teams.

—David Livermore

Think about a project you are working on with a team of people who bring diverse perspectives–either due to different cross-functional roles in your organization or due to different cultural representation. Reflect on the following questions in your journal.

1. What aspects of your work with that team are not going as smoothly as you would like (i.e. lots of conflict, miscommunication, etc.)?

2. If you put yourself in the shoes of the different people on the team, how might they be coming to the project with different expectations?

3. What work have you done to align expectations?

 

 

Do

One way to check to see if people’s expectations are aligned is to just ask them!

  • At your next team meeting, as David suggested, have each person write down what they think the expectation is for the team, project or initiative.
  • If all the responses reflect the same expectation or purpose, you have alignment. If the responses are different, even if it is just one person, there is misalignment that needs to be clarified.

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