What is a Cognitively Diverse Team?

The cognitive diversity of a team refers to how members of the team think differently from one another. A cognitively diverse team is made up of people who process information and draw conclusions in various ways.

How do people think differently from one another? Some people like to think about the big picture while others like to focus on the details. Some people view information using logic while others focus on their emotions. Some people need to read an idea to process it, while others need to talk about it and ask questions. Some people find clarity in numbers, while others prefer words.

No one person on a cognitively diverse team is right or wrong in how they think about any topic, and so far, research has not found that one way of thinking is better than any other. Together, a team of cognitively diverse people can view a problem from multiple angles, creating broader insights and better solutions. In the example below, team members are designing a study comparing treatments for depression. Each team member thinks differently about how to identify the research questions.

Example of a Cognitively Diverse Team

What is Psychological Safety?

Psychological safety is believing that you can share your thoughts or ideas without feeling criticized or dismissed. Although few people intend to make another person feel badly, they may do so without knowing it through certain verbal and non-verbal responses to other peoples’ ideas. For example, looking uninterested, rolling your eyes, or sighing may communicate disdain for someone’s ideas, or worse, disdain for the person themselves. In addition, making judgmental comments rather than acknowledging the idea and then explaining why you disagree can also make people feel psychologically unsafe.

How can teams create an environment where all team members feel psychologically safe?

• Pay attention to and control verbal and non-verbal responses to suggestions and ideas.
• Revisit team norms often, especially those that focus on establishing psychological safety such as showing all team members respect and trying to understand ideas before commenting on them.
• Set ground rules for every discussion. Ground rules are expectations about how people should act based on the team’s norms. Ground rules address how the team should listen and respond to one another. These rules should be framed positively, identifying what team members should do rather than what they should avoid. For example,
  • Share your opinion of the idea, not the person.
  • Give positive feedback and reactions before expressing disagreement.
  • Be specific when disagreeing with an idea.
• Check in with team members outside of team discussions to see if they feel psychologically safe. If they do not, ask them what would increase their sense of safety. Attempt to address their concerns or make changes to team norms as appropriate to help the team member feel psychologically safe.

What is Personal Conflict?

Personal conflict between team members involves negative feelings and judgments about another team member. Personal conflict is an emotional reaction that can range from discomfort to disdain and even to hostility. Often, personal conflict comes from a judgment one team member may have about the character, intelligence, personality, or worthiness of another team member. When expressed, personal conflict can lead to tension, arguing, and criticizing others in meetings, which can make team members feel uncomfortable and undermine the team’s cohesion and productivity. Personal conflict can also affect individual member commitment and involvement as members grow uncomfortable and feel psychologically unsafe interacting with other members of the team.

What Causes Personal Conflict?

• Biases and stereotypes. Individuals may have negative feelings about other people based on their biases. These biases may involve a person’s race, gender, education, profession, ethnicity, age, choice of clothing, or any number of personal characteristics. In other words, conflict can start simply because, on the surface, one team member does not view the other person in a kind way.
• Emotional hot buttons. A hot button is an area of sensitivity someone may have that makes them more likely to have a negative emotional reaction. For example, someone who is insecure about their technology skills may have a negative emotional reaction when someone laughs at them because they are having trouble accessing an electronic document. The hot button in this case is the insecurity in weak technical skills. Team members may or may not be aware of this insecurity or the need to avoid behavior that might “push the button”. Sometimes, team members may push the button on purpose. We all have different hot buttons. It is important to remember that other team members may be completely unaware that someone has a hot button.
• Power differentials. The perceived imbalance of power or privilege can create personal conflict. For example, team members may compete against each other for attention, acknowledgment, or influence on the team. A team member may react to a lack of respect for their title or credentials, or to a team member exercising power based on their position of authority.
• Different work or communication styles. Team members may have different work or communication styles that result in conflict. For example, a team member may assign a motive or a character flaw when they see a team member who communicates more directly than they do, or who waits to start a task.

Strategies

You can use several strategies when you feel a negative emotion about another team member.

• Try to understand the emotional reaction and its cause. Understanding what is making you feel the way you do can help you find solutions to change your emotions. Identify the specific behaviors that are causing the emotion. In some cases, you may adjust how you feel by gaining a new perspective about the person or your interactions. One way to do this is to identify one positive aspect of the person for every aspect that causes a negative reaction.
• Get to know the person better. Some negative reactions are caused by a lack of understanding about who someone is and why they think or act the way they do. Spending time with the person and getting to know more about their background, experiences, and culture can often create more accurate perceptions and soften negative emotions and reactions.
• Openly express your feelings with the intent to resolve them. Sharing how you feel gives you a chance to clarify the other person’s motives or intentions or identify a different way of interacting with each other. It is important to separate their behavior from your emotions. A common technique to do this is called “When you/Then I.” This technique lets you identify and describe a person’s behavior while owning your reaction to the behavior. They can change their behavior, or they can explain their intent or reasons for the behavior so you can react differently.
  For example, you may want to express how you feel disrespected when another team member checks their phone while you are talking during a meeting. Using the “When you/Then I” technique, you might say something like this: “When you check your phone while I’m speaking in the meeting, I feel disrespected.” You can then follow up this statement with a request: “I would appreciate it if you would put your phone away during meetings so you can make eye contact with me when I am speaking.” The other person can then explain why they checked their phone in the meeting and clarify that they did not mean to disrespect you. You may choose to state that you understand but ask that they check their phone less often. In this way, you can arrive at an agreement that works for both of you along with a new understanding of each other’s feelings and behaviors.
• Manage your reactions. Both verbal and nonverbal behaviors can increase personal conflict, so be aware of how you react around the person. Sometimes people avoid talking about the conflict directly, but passively, they still show their disapproval. This passive aggressive communication often looks and sounds friendly but can increase the conflict without resolving the problem.
• Negotiate boundaries. Sometimes you can’t avoid a negative emotional response. For example, the other person may be unable or unwilling to change their behavior. Negotiating your boundaries—deciding when and how you will interact with the other person—can limit your exposure to the person and the triggers to your emotions.
• Use a third party. If you feel unable to address the conflict directly or if you feel unsafe, it may be time to bring in a third party to help resolve the conflict. A third party can help find solutions by making the intent of a specific behavior clear, finding ways to change behavior or emotional reactions, or setting boundaries within the relationship. Many team leaders bring in individuals—who are trained in mediation or conflict negotiation—to take on the third-party role. An effective third-party negotiator should:
  • Have no relationship or an equal relationship with both parties and not show favoritism.
  • Guide the conversation rather than answer for either party.
  • Not express preferences or opinions about the conflict or the people.
  • Keep what is discussed confidential.

Strategies to Maintain Engagement

Strategies to help sustain interest and engagement include the following:

• Communicate regularly and set expectations. During lulls in study activities, update stakeholders on progress or connect them to another aspect of the study. Being up-front about lapses of time between team interactions can help set expectations so that stakeholders don’t feel forgotten.
• Connect stakeholders with activities that match their interests and reasons for involvement.
• Lead and contribute to productive meetings and discussions.
• Acknowledge the impact of stakeholders’ contributions on the study. For example, a team may record and share the results of all stakeholder contributions between meetings. Other teams may include stakeholder contributions as an agenda item at every meeting.
• Foster interpersonal or social connections among team members. Team-building activities are one way to do this.
• Check in regularly with stakeholders. One-on-one meetings with stakeholders are a chance to strengthen relationships and identify and resolve potential negative experiences and conflicts with other members.

Don't Just Sustain Stakeholder Interest, Grow It.

• Give stakeholders opportunities to learn more about research by attending trainings, seminars, and workshops.
• Trust stakeholders to take on certain roles in the study—even leadership roles—such as recruitment, enrollment, or data collection.
• Involve stakeholders and other team members in conferences, presentations, and publications about the study, as well as efforts to share results with research partners and patient support groups.
• Find opportunities for experienced stakeholders to recruit and mentor new stakeholders.
• Make engagement as easy as possible for stakeholders by eliminating barriers and providing the necessary resources.