Manage Your Team in a Manner that Promotes Social Justice

In the 1950’s, American psychologist Gordon Allport posited that people with a prejudice against a certain group often overcame it when working with individuals from that group, a phenomenon he called “intergroup contact theory.” Since then, hundreds of studies have proven that contact theory is generally correct and have identified under which conditions it’s most effective. As a result, there’s now actionable guidance for managing teams in a manner that helps members overcome prejudice:

1. Diverse composition: A team will reduce prejudice that relates to the characteristics of its members. In fact, mere exposure to those one is prejudiced against often reduces those prejudices. So, you are likely promoting social justice by merely ensuring your team is diverse.
2. Institutional support: Formal employer support for diverse individuals working respectfully with each other legitimizes inclusive behavior and, thus, augments the prejudice-reducing power of diverse teams. This is one reason why having institutional values, goals, policies and expectations around inclusion matters.
3. Common goals: A team member working toward an individual goal, such as a personal sales target, might consider coworkers to be outside her “ingroup,” defined as the group of trusted individuals who look after her interest. This, in turn, has been shown to elicit prejudice toward them. Establishing team sales targets or other collective goals, on the other hand, nudges team members toward conferring ingroup status to all team members, thus promoting inclusivity. It’s, therefore, preferable to use team goals over individual goals.
4. Cooperation: A culture where team members routinely assist each other, as opposed to work entirely independently, drives more meaningful interactions that, in turn, drive more inclusive attitudes. Try to model helpfulness, assign team members to assist each other and rewarded them for being collaborative.
5. Equal status: When team members have non-hierarchical relationships, the prejudice-busting power team diversity is augmented. Therefore, if possible, give team members equal status.

If you can’t meet all five of the above conditions, don’t worry. While the first condition, diverse composition, is essential for teams to promote greater inclusivity, the other four are not. In fact, research finds that even teams that fail to meet all or most of the bottom four criteria (but are still diverse) often reduce member prejudice, although not optimally.

As a leader, you can help free team members from their biases by applying contact theory. Its application won’t increase inclusivity in every instance, but it typically will. In sum, anybody who manages teams has the power to promote social justice.

Looking for assistance in making your workplace more inclusive? CSR Solutions of Colorado can help. Contact us!