Women Should Talk More...Really!

            I read a really good article written in the Harvard Business Review by Whitney Johnson. It was about how women need to speak up more in business and if they were to do so, the business world would get new perspectives and ideas. Men do tend to dominate the business world, and the world in general, and yet, they only represent 50% of the population. Granted there are women CEOs, Senators and other positions of power but how serious can they be taken if these women don’t speak up.

           

            Ms. Johnson quotes Tom Peters, a management thinker, when he says that, “There is little disagreement about what businesses must become: less hierarchical, more flexible and team-oriented, faster and more fluid. One group of people has an enormous advantage in realizing this necessary new vision: women”. He is noted for going on saying that having a women on a team can raise their collective intelligence which allows them to solve more complex problems.

           

            This got me thinking about my current group project for my Project and Team Management class. We are fortunate to have a woman in the group and so far she has brought a different outlook on the project. She was the one that came up with idea for us to work with schools and outline a program to keep music in academia. She brought a humane idea to the project rather then just something that would make money or bring notoriety to us. It was an idea to better a situation and that struck me as very noble. However, had she of been more timid and shy, that idea could easily have never even materialized.

           

            Ms. Johnson brings up an interesting point about initiating conversation out of women: let everyone at the meeting give a short introduction of themselves. This gives women the opportunity to show what they bring to the project to the other members. If you give somebody the chance to introduce themselves to the entire group in their own way, you immediately allow the group to get a more accurate picture of that individual.

           

            In management, I believe that is an essential tool because if you can have a more clear picture of the people you’re managing, you can group people together better to make a more effective team. When you have people in the proper area they excel at, you will get outstanding results. This makes the group flow much more smoothly and you lessen the chance of conflict as the project develops.

           

            A smooth, effective and creative team will be awarded with future projects. As a manager, it should be your goal in assembling such a team. By having everyone involved, it will only increase your success rate.