Inclusive culture workshop
The client
A UK based recruitment agency contacted me and told me they had a problem with banter and sexism in the workplace. They wanted to know if this was a problem I could help them with.
A UK based recruitment agency contacted me and told me they had a problem with banter and sexism in the workplace. They wanted to know if this was a problem I could help them with.
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The problem
There are some topics of conversation that almost everyone would agree are inappropriate in the workplace. However, there is a huge grey area. What one employee thinks is “banter” or light-hearted teasing can be construed as bullying or harassment by another in a court of law. I spoke with the client to understand exactly what problems they were facing and what the ideal outcome would be. They had recently completed an inclusivity assessment and the results revealed there were some areas for improvement related to workplace banter and sexism. They knew that they wanted their workplace to be safe and enjoyable for everyone. |
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Creating the workshop
After just one call with the client it was possible to clearly define the problem and design a workshop to meet their specific needs, both in terms of their desired outcome and the time that they had available.
Create a more inclusive workplace culture
The workshop can work for any organisation that wants a more inclusive culture and understands that this is only possible with the buy-in of all its people. We do this by guiding your employees to work together to co-create an inclusive culture manifesto for your organisation.
Tangible outcomes from the workshop:
After just one call with the client it was possible to clearly define the problem and design a workshop to meet their specific needs, both in terms of their desired outcome and the time that they had available.
Create a more inclusive workplace culture
The workshop can work for any organisation that wants a more inclusive culture and understands that this is only possible with the buy-in of all its people. We do this by guiding your employees to work together to co-create an inclusive culture manifesto for your organisation.
Tangible outcomes from the workshop:
- A clear overview of existing problems
- An inclusive workplace manifesto
- Actionable ideas to improve the office culture
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Together alone
A "together alone" style of decision making means that all delegate's opinions are heard and considered. It is not the loudest voices that dominate. All decisions are democratic and weighted fairly. |
Overview of the workshop
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Discuss what it is like in the office now
The first step was to ask them to identify the key problem areas they were experiencing. They were a bit slow to get started but once they realised that individually, they had the time and space to give their own opinions freely, it became much easier. Clear themes and clusters of problem areas were instantly identified |
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Create an inclusive workplace manifesto
A team contract is a simple activity that helps teams negotiate and establish behaviour and rules. It increases psychological safety and reduces potential conflicts among team members. It is a simple matter of agreeing on behaviour that you think should be encouraged and included within a team and then agreeing on behaviour which is unacceptable and should be excluded from a team. The participants quickly reached consensus on the types of behaviour they wanted and didn't want in their workplace |
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Commit to changing behaviour
Creating rules for behaviour is great but it’s no good if they sit in a drawer or in a folder on a computer for the next 5 years. The next step was to generate multiple ideas and select the best ones that would help the team stick to the contract. |
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Summary
At the end of the day all employees had a chance to say what they thought was not going well in the office with regards to banter. Together they were able to identify behaviour that they believed would move their workplace to become more inclusive. They created a number of solid ideas for how they could commit to this change. |
Click to enlarge and see the full overview
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Interested in this workshop or in something similar? Get in touch!
