# Diversity Index Exercise Teams identify relevant categories of background or skill, score their variety within each category, and calculate an overall team index to plan capability changes. **Time:** 15 minutes. Aligned with source time band of 5 to 15 minutes. **People:** 4 to 24. Working teams of 4 to 8 people. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Map and score differences in team skills, experiences, and work styles to pinpoint gaps. **Use it when:** Use during team formation, quarterly planning, or retrospectives when teams need to evaluate capability mix and cross-training needs. **Skip it when:** Skip if the team has low trust, if members feel pressured to reveal protected personal identities, or if staffing is entirely outside the team's control. ## Materials and tools - One printed Diversity Index Worksheet per working group of 4 to 8 people - One pen or marker per group - Whiteboard or flip chart for whole-room debrief ## Before participants arrive 1. Print one Diversity Index Worksheet for each small group. 2. Arrange seating so intact working teams sit together around a shared table or display. ## Say this to open Today we are running the Diversity Index Exercise. You will work in your small groups to pick four to six areas of background, skill, or working style relevant to your immediate work. You will count the variety in each area, calculate a total score, and discuss one practical step to expand your team's knowledge or coverage. Personal identity attributes are completely optional; focus primarily on work skills and functional perspectives. ## How to run it ### 1. Select diversity categories (4 minutes) Small groups review the worksheet and agree on four to six relevant areas for their context (for example, primary discipline, programming language, years in industry, customer contact experience). Write them in the left column. Any member may veto a suggested category if it feels intrusive. ### 2. Count distinct variations and score (5 minutes) For each selected category, count how many distinct options or variations are represented among the members present. For example, if a team of five has three distinct primary disciplines (Design, Backend Engineering, Product Management), the score for that row is 3. Write each row's score on the right, then sum them to find your team diversity total. ### 3. Identify actions to increase breadth (3 minutes) Each group discusses how to balance their mix. Brainstorm practical steps: cross-training, pairing, bringing in guest mentors, or trading tasks with another group. Choose one actionable commitment. ### 4. Room sharing and debrief (3 minutes) Ask one spokesperson from two or three groups to share one key category and their planned action. The facilitator captures common themes on the room board. ## Debrief questions - Which category showed the least variety across your group, and does that create an operational risk? - What is one concrete way to build knowledge in an area where your score was low without hiring new members? **Finished output:** A completed team diversity worksheet with row scores, total score, and one agreed action to broaden capability. ## Remote Run in breakout rooms of 4 to 8 people using a shared digital whiteboard or spreadsheet copy of the worksheet. One member acts as scribe. Return to main room for the final 3-minute debrief. ## Hybrid In-person members gather around a physical table while remote members join a breakout room together with their own digital sheet, or a designated in-person buddy shares screen and transcribes for a mixed pod. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may focus entirely on professional skills and functional roles rather than demographic traits. - Any participant can pass on answering specific personal categories without giving a reason. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants start debating sensitive demographic identities and feel exposed.** Remind the room to anchor the exercise on professional skills, tooling, methodologies, and past project domains. **A group gets confused about whether the score is the number of people or the number of distinct categories.** Clarify that the score is the count of distinct variations represented. If all five people share the exact same role, the score is 1, not 5. ## Terms used here - Diversity Index: A simple numeric sum representing the count of distinct skills, perspectives, or backgrounds present across a team. ## Participant material: Diversity Index Worksheet TEAM NAME: ___________________________ Instructions: Agree on 4-6 areas of skill, background, or perspective relevant to your work. For each area, count how many distinct types are present in your team today. Sum the right column for your total score. Example Row: Primary Technical Skill | Types present: Python, Java, SQL (Score: 3) [Area of Diversity / Capability] | [Distinct Count Score] 1. __________________________________________________ | _______ 2. __________________________________________________ | _______ 3. __________________________________________________ | _______ 4. __________________________________________________ | _______ 5. __________________________________________________ | _______ 6. __________________________________________________ | _______ TOTAL DIVERSITY SCORE: _______ ONE ACTION TO EXPAND PERSPECTIVE OR SKILL: _____________________________________________________________________ ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Management 3.0 practice catalog as 'Diversity Index Exercise'. Retained core mechanic from Management 3.0 source: selecting contextual diversity areas, writing them on the left, scoring distinct categories on the right, calculating a total score, and discussing actions like swapping or training. UWT added explicit psychological safety guardrails focusing on professional skills, a concrete printable template, step timing to fit 15 minutes, and clear hybrid/remote steps. [Management 3.0](https://management30.com/practice/diversity-index/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/diversity-index-exercise-how-diverse-is-your-team/