Getting Started Phase

Overview

Making a good beginning is the basis for any sound project which involves change, and setting up a diversity management (DM) project is no exception. It is especially important in this case, since it is likely to be a new phenomenon to most organisations.

Given the barriers of lack of awareness of diversity management, it is essential that the DM project is inserted into mainstream of organisational activities as smoothly as possible, and that the early activities in establishing DM are both soundly and broadly based.

As you move through the activities in this phase it will become clear that there is a philosophy underlying the DM process - DM is concerned with promoting the involvement of all relevant actors in the process from as early a stage as possible. In addition, setting up the process should involve using the best practices from project management - it should be treated as any other organisational change project would be. These principles of approach are reflected in the four activities of this phase - Canvassing support and identifying potential stakeholders, Scoping the extent of the problem, Setting up diversity management structures and getting agreement on proceeding with the process.

The success of the DM project relies on a number of factors:

Building a committed project team which has a clear brief to manage and implement the project
Building support for the idea of creating a DM project
Setting up appropriate structures to support the DM project
Scoping the project

This phase of the DM process can often be one of the longest phases, particularly where it is difficult to gain support for the project. Getting started demands persistence on your part and a good knowledge of how projects of any kind develop within your organisation.

Map and Overview

Click on the diagram for more information

Map and overview

What Needs to be Done and How to Do It

There are five principle activities which take place during the Getting Started phase. These are:

1. Canvassing support and identifying potential stakeholders in the process

2. Scoping the extent of the problem/diversity management process

3. Setting up diversity management structures

4. Getting agreement - gaining explicit commitment

5. Monitor how well the phase was run

These activities do not necessarily run consecutively, many can run concurrently, and the order in which they take place is not always fixed.

A variety of tools are provided to support each activity in this phase. Not all of these tools will be necessary for every DM project, but they will be especially useful in large scale projects or within large organisations. Even if the tools are not used directly, the kinds of information which they seek will need to be obtained in order for an effective DM project to proceed.