Several research results in the last years showed that diversity has a significant impact on the success of project teams. In 2005 the HR researcher Egan analysed the meaning of diversity in the most successful Fortune 500 teams. His study showed that heterogeneous teams develop more and more frequently creative ideas than homogeneous teams. The reason is that different perspectives and knowledge areas enrich the effectiveness and creativity of teams. The precondition however is that the team leader respects and appreciates the diversity in the team (Egan, 2005).

But what exactly is diversity? Diversity (from the latin word diversitas) is translated with difference or unlikeness. Aspects of diversity in project teams can be age, gender, education, nationality, origin, language, religion or physical handicaps but also the organisational culture. Diversity Management is defined as the management of the differences and contains the appreciation and active use of diversity in organisations.

The combination of the different capabilities, competences and characteristics of human beings is theoretically well known in team management, however it is still not systematically applied as a success factor in project teams. The advantage of heterogeneous teams lies in the linked competences and synergetic combination which exceeds the pure sum of the capabilities of the team members. However it is important to be aware that the inauguration of the differences in teams can also rise the risk of an unsuccessful project (Harris and Davison, 2002).

How can the differences in a team be implemented profitably in a project? What are the right strategies to integrate the competences of an introverted team member in the project? Why are women needed for the design of the digital future and what are the opportunities for them? These are just some of the topics of the 1. Diversity in Project Management Conference of IPMA. International project management experts meet on April 10 and 11 2017 in s’Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands to exchange their ideas about “diverse project teams deliver better projects for a better world; Gender and Beyond”.

Practice reports, research results, examples of successful inclusion of diverse people and aspects of successful projects not only from Europe but also from Qatar, Canada and Asian perspectives will be shown. Also Geert Hofstede´s heirs will be presenting.

An international voluntary team created an exciting program which can be downloaded on: http://dipm.ipma.world/. Please note that if you register before February 28 you receive a discount.

Bring in your diverse perspective and enrich this first project management conference of its kind!