Conscious Inclusion
Activity One: What's in a name?
- The person born earliest in the year will be the facilitator
- The facilitator will decide on a speaker who will feedback to the whole group, when we return to the Main Room. If you prefer not to be the speaker, choose someone else.
- Please make sure that all voices are heard
Discuss the Case Study below
A new person, Kehinde (keh-n-day), has joined your team. In the meeting the day before they begin, one of your colleagues tells you that they’re not sure how it is pronounced and pulls a face.
When you join a Teams call the next day, another colleague mentions that they have met Kehinde. They say to you “I have no idea how to pronounce his name. I asked him three times and still can’t remember it, so I’m going to call him Ken”.
What do you do? Have you ever experienced it?
Activity Two: Whose voice matters?
- The person whose first name comes first alphabetically will be the facilitator
- The facilitator will decide on a speaker who will feedback to the whole group, when we return to the Main Room. If you prefer not to be the speaker, choose someone else.
- Avoid specific reference to names when using examples
- Please make sure that all voices are heard
Discuss the Case Study below
You are in a weekly update session on performance issues for the week. A female colleague, Dita, raises a good point with colleagues. She is however ignored. A male colleague, Steve, raises the same point and is not only acknowledged, but praised.
This is not the first time that Dita has experienced this and its starting to impact her.
What do you do? Have you ever experienced it?
Activity Three: Micro-aggressions
Instructions
The facilitator for this discussion will be the person who most recently joined the organisation.
Guide your team through a discussion about the hidden messages and impact of the 3 Micro-aggression examples below.
A speaker isn't needed for this activity.
Activity Four: Micro-Aggressions Confidential Chat
Instructions
The facilitator for this discussion will be the person who has been with the organisation the longest.
Facilitate an open discussion on the questions below.
This activity is completely confidential and won't be shared on our return to the Main Room.
A speaker isn't needed for this activity.
■Do you have any examples of micro aggressions that you have experienced or witnessed?
■What was the impact?
■What action was or should have been taken?
Activity Five: Top Tips for Improving Inclusion
Instructions
Your leader for this activity will be the person whose first name contains the most letters.
Your leader will select a speaker for the team.
Make sure that all voices are heard - consciously include all members of the team!
Objectives:
- Consider how we can we tackle Groupthink
- Suggest at least one more Top Tip for Improving Inclusion
- Discuss how this will benefit the organisation
Top Tips for Improving Inclusion
- Discuss the usefulness of these Top Tips for Improving Inclusion
- As a team, suggest at least one more Top Tip for overcoming Groupthink and Improving Inclusion
1. Interrupt the interruption - women get interrupted 2.8 times more often than men, when women voice views they are punished with 14% drop in how competent they are perceived - so hold back from speaking up - hence important to create interruption-free space
2. Share perspectives silently - 74% of people in a group conform to the view of the majority (Solomon Ashe)- write down perspectives and group conformity vanishes - gives equal access to diverse perspectives
3. Conquer ‘Group Think’ - divide groups into many small and different kinds of groups that work independently of each other - compare the outcomes of each group.
4. Flip perspectives. - e.g., present a project as a 90% chance to succeed to one group and a 10% risk of failure to another group, changing the anchoring mitigates group think, compare results
5. Leaders and experts hold back- be the last to contribute and give permission for others to critique your views
6. Reframe ‘conflict’ - often seen as negative - reframe to 'friendly challenging', to uncover blind spots – take it in turns to play ‘devil’s advocate’
7. Take another perspective - what would others/a new leader/a leader whose leadership skills you admire do to deal with this challenge?
8. We can pay attention to the ways we deliberately include people, creating the feeling of being valued, respected and included instead of excluded.
9. Don’t be a bystander – be an ally to those who have been overlooked or those who are on the receiving end of discrimination.
Discuss:
What additional Top Tips do you have for improving inclusion and overcoming groupthink?
What can you do to encourage others to present alternatives, critique a position, or even to express an unpopular opinion?
What could the organisation do to encourage others to present alternatives, critique a position, or even to express an unpopular opinion?
How might this be of benefit to the organisation?
