Product developers and other professionals with diverse backgrounds might boost a project with the varying insights they bring to the table. But what about the classic too many cooks in the kitchen problem? Can managers set guidelines to keep motley teams from sliding into chaos?

“Absolutely, there is a stated goal,” said Vipul Nagrath (pictured), global chief information officer at ADP LLC, which provides human resource management software.

Nagrath described how to mobilize a diverse workforce toward a common goal during a recent interview at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Orlando, Florida. He spoke with Rebecca Knight (@knightrm), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio.

A number of factors may spur companies to hire outside of their comfort zone, according to Nagrath. For one thing, increased reliance on technology is demanding that they hire more employees with software and engineering skills. “In the end, every company’s becoming a software company — and offering some other services with it,” he said.

Development derby

Great problem solving and product development can come from putting tech, business, design and other talent together toward a single end. “When you bring multiple disciplines in together, bring people with multiple backgrounds in together — even a different point of view — I think you open up and realize that you might have had some blinders on some things,” Nagrath said.

All of the different viewpoints will likely clash at some junctures, but that can be turned into an advantage as long as a common goal is kept in mind, he added.

Within ADP, Nagrath is seeing firsthand how a diverse team can innovate faster. The company is organizing into small, nimble, multidisciplinary teams. “They’re given guiding principals and roles, and they go out and be creative and be innovative and figure out how to do this,” he said.

ADP is committed to hiring talented women and men from a broad range of backgrounds. In fact, the company conducted on-the-spot interviews during the Grace Hopper event, Nagrath stated.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.

Photo: SiliconANGLE